If you diligently watch Green Bay Packer football games, and I’m guessing you do because you are reading this article, I’m willing to bet you can tell the outcome of many plays, long before they are completed. When Jordan Love and the offense are hot, there is a rhythm you can almost dance to. Ball is snapped, Love drops back, hits the back foot, releases the ball, and voila! Completed pass.
By contrast, ball is snapped, Love drops back, hits the back foot.......but then holds the ball. Every time this happens, I say to myself, “this won’t be good”. And I’m almost always right. That’s going to be an inaccurate throw, a sack, or worse. Whenever the ball doesn’t come out right away, on schedule, the odds of a successful play go down drastically. Now, occasionally, Love will escape the pocket, make a nice run, or find somebody downfield with a great throw. Once in a while he will launch a desperation long ball that his receivers will adjust to and make a great catch. But most often, nothing positive comes from extended time with the football in his hand.
This last game against Pittsburgh is a good example. Love throws a quick out to Tucker Kraft, who runs 16 yards for a touchdown. Later Love hits him quickly and Kraft turns it into a sprint across the middle for a 24 yard score. Short, timing passes to Romeo Doubs, Malik Heath, Emanuel Wilson and Josh Jacobs all gained eight yards or more. The touchdown throw to Savion Williams was a quick toss, followed by an eight yard run. All of these plays were first read, rapidly developing designs.
It is true there were two long bombs to Kraft and Christian Watson, but a closer examination reveals those were prayers, ad-libbed late in the play, both of which probably should have been intercepted, save for the receivers making a great adjustment. There were also two long misses to Romeo Doubs.
The Packers move the ball when Love throws quickly and short. Not so much when the called routes are mid-range or deep. Hitches and Sticks. Those are the names for those quick, shallow routes that seem to work consistently. A hitch is where the receiver runs hard downfield for about five yards, just enough to get his opponent back pedaling, then stops suddenly and turns around, making himself available to the QB. A stick is when the receiver does a short sprint downfield, then “sticks” his foot in the ground, and makes a hard break left or right.
The reasons these routes work so well are clear: they unfold rapidly, preventing the pass rush from getting home. Defensive backs don’t have time to react, so the threat of an interception is minimal. Pass catchers are allowed to use their run-after-the-catch talent. They enable the quarterback to notch easy completions, getting him in a groove. The Packers should have little trouble recognizing this strategy. It’s the same one opponents have been forced to use against them because of the increased ferocity of Green Bay’s pass rush after the addition of Micah Parsons.
Of course, circumstances always dictate what type of play can be called. Hitches and sticks aren’t nearly as effective if you’re in a long yardage situation. That’s why they work better on first and second down, or third and short. It’s also why a viable running game is important. However, If you execute enough of them, you set the defense up for a double move, which may open up the deep ball.
It was largely hitches and sticks that allowed Jordan Love to tie a franchise record by completing twenty passes in a row against the Steelers. Those quick, short tosses can add up. So much so that the coach calling them, Matt LaFleur, had no idea his quarterback was approaching history. “I can’t say that I’ve (ever) been a part of that,” LaFleur said on Wednesday. “In game, I had no idea, to be honest with you. Matter of fact, the PR guy for the Steelers had to tell me that after the game.”
The Carolina Panthers are coming to town Sunday. There’s no telling which Green Bay team comes out of the tunnel, the mistake-prone one, or the smooth, efficient one. But one thing is sure: If the Packers fall in love with mid-range and deep passes, the offense will stall out. A solid running game would be nice. Carolina is 23rd in rushing yards allowed per attempt. But rushing daylight has been hard to find for this team. Chances are, LaFleur will have to go to the hitches and sticks to get the offense moving.
Want an early key to the game? Take note of how quickly Love gets the ball off. The sooner, the shorter, the better.