Cardinals Defensive Gameplan For Aaron Rodgers
by Andrew602 on Jan 5, 2010 1:49 PM MST
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How good is Aaron Rodgers? In a nutshell - he's been unbelievable, despite playing behind a poor offensive line. So does he have a weakness?
It was only two season's ago that Packers fans were wavering at the idea of losing the great Brett Favre to an unproven quarterback that had stood in the shadow of #4 for three seasons.
Now as it stands, Rodgers has become a Pro Bowl quarterback who's already led his team to the playoffs in just his second season as a starter.
When looking through Aaron Rodgers 2009 stats, you won't find many flaws, and rightfully so. But there have been some situations in which Rodgers hasn't been at his best. In particular, it's been his production on 1st down - precisely with 8-10 yards to go. On that down, Rodgers has thrown 5 of this 7 interceptions. At the same time, his completion rate drops to 61.7%(-3), his yards per average drops to 7.49(-.71), and his quarterback rating drops to 82.5(-20.7). He's also been sacked 18 times out of the 50 for the year, and has only thrown 5 of his 30 touchdowns in that span. If the Cardinals can open each Packers set of downs by blitzing Rodgers and avoiding the big play down field, they'll force the Packers into 2nd/3rd and long situations.
To put that in perspective, on 3rd and 8-10, Rodgers completion rate is only 58.1% and he's only thrown 1 TD. On 3rd and less then 6 yards to go, Rodgers has thrown 10 TDs, 0 INTs, completed 73.1% of his passes, has a 154.6 QB rating. The Cardinals defense will have a long day if Rodgers is given that distance every time.
Therefore, the obvious area of focus will be to force Aaron Rodgers into a third and long circumstance. With a defensive line led by Darnell Dockett, the Cardinals need to get in Rodgers face and force him out of his comfort zone. To be fair, 17 of the Cardinals 41 sacks have occurred on 3rd down, meaning they have turned up the pressure when opponents have needed to convert.
I realize the Cardinals can pick their poison at times, either by dropping more men in coverage and giving the quarterback more time to make a play, or by sending more defenders after the quarterback and leaving a receiver wide open. In this situation I'd prefer the Cardinals to keep the pressure coming.
Bill Davis didn't show his hand in their loss to the Packers, which is why I believe the Cardinals are winding up for this Sunday. Third down has been Rodgers strong-suit, and the Cardinals will need to keep the blitzes coming even if the game is one the line.
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I would love
if the cardinals blitzed the living daylight out of rodgers. He will make plays no matter what the pressure is, he is used to people being in his face all the time. The key stat is – this season, Rodgers has thrown ZERO touchdowns on drives where he has been sacked at least once. He can hit the big play, but not when he is forced into 10+ yards to go distances. Bring the pressure early, often, and without mercy.
By the way, Calais plays. I have no doubt in my mind.
Bring back the Baltimore Chop!
Hope you're right.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
I'm with dima and Andrew
everyone is going to be hyped, I can’t see a broken thumb keeping a 6’8" dude out can you?
I agree with you Andrew, I want to see more pressure in this game than in any all year.
http://undrafteds.com/
GO PACK!
DON’T WORRY, aROD AND THE PACK WILL BE READY ALTHOUGH THEY REALIZE IT WILL BE MUCH CLOSER . BUT I LOOK AT A RED HOT TEAM IN THE PACK TAKING THE BIRDS OUT AGAIN WITH THEIR SOLID DEFENSE, OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER, AND DESIRE TO MEET UP WITH POSSIBLY A GUY NAMED FAVRE FOR THE 3RD TIME TO PROVE THEY ARE THE ONE’S IN THE NFC GOING TO MIAMI! TAKEM ALL THE WAY aROD!
Next time, take the capslock off. There is no need for that.
A man from Dallas who bleeds red, not silver and blue.
This Will Be A Shootout
but I like the Cardinals in a close one. I am a Broncos fan but since I served my Mormon mission in Tucson and you guys are in Mountain Time (the non-changing kind) so I hope for the Cards to do well. I went to college with Deuce Lutui, so that’s my Cardinal connection. Good luck. I’ll be watching!
Brad James
by the new Bradfather on Jan 5, 2010 5:19 PM MST reply actions
Huh?
17 interceptions? Pretty sure it was 7. What’s all this junk about not showing your hand? I keep hearing this drivel and it makes no sense. They’d played 15 games up until last week so what would anyone be worried about showing or not showing. Do you think the Cardinals coaching staff got a whole lot to game plan with from last week that they couldn’t have gotten from watching film of the previous weeks? I don’t know why the Cardinals bent over but I’m having trouble believing that Bill Davis is really that dense. I hope he is… but I doubt it.
Man, I hope we see the Viqueens again.
They took out the starters to let the back ups get real game time, and to help prevent possible injuries to starters. Obviously the latter part of that strategy failed. There is no way that Whisenhunt is sitting around thinking he sussed out the secret to the Packer game plan from this pointless contest. After the Vikings won the Cardinals had no reason to even show up. Next week will be a game.
My mistake
Proves my point even more. 5 of his 7 INTs have been on 1st and 8-10. If you are a Cardinal fan then I’m sure you noticed that the Cardinals did nothing special on defense on Sunday. Do you expect the Packers to take game film from the Rams, Lions, and 49ers games? Who have completely different quarterbacks and offenses then the Packers? I don’t.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
+1
Teams know our D but look how we came out against the Vikings. A lot of different and new looks. I am sure the Pack will have something up their sleeve too.
Also, how we blitz and what packages we blitz from is what Cards fans are referring too.
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Jan 6, 2010 12:18 AM MST up reply actions
Rodgers is a machine on 3rd downs, it's true.
As a Packer fan, he’s been fun to watch. While this is a good analysis, I would recommend that you re-parse your numbers to only include the second half of the season. The first half, he was holding on to the ball too long while looking to make the home-run play. Combined with Allen Barbre at RT, who was basically a turnstile for pass rushers, and you got 37 sacks by Week 8. After Tampa, Rodgers has been a different (read, far-and-away better) QB.
Since the Dallas game, Rodgers has more closely embraced the West Coast Offense and relied on shorter passes to negate the rush. His numbers on 3rd down have still been spectacular, but he’s less of a liability on 1st down than he was early in the season.
If you get Rodgers reverting to the pre-Tampa tendencies, then, yes, rush the passer early and often. Be careful, though. Our screens have come on of late, and he’ll burn you down in and down out if you aren’t smart with your blitzing.
Also...
If you’re looking at Yahoo! statistics, you may consider that Rodgers also has a rating of 99.1 in 3d-and-11+ situations. So…just something to keep in mind if you’re gunning for those 3d-and-long situations.
I think it’ll be a heckuva game, though. We haven’t faced a safety like Adrian Wilson yet.
Truthfully..
I’m not worried about our offense. It’s the defensive play calling that worries me. The last time we were in a close game against a good passing offense somebody decided that rushing 3 down linemen with minutes left in the game, against a guy that had thrown for over 400 yards that day, was a good idea. The Cardinals passing game is a far sight better than the Steelers so Capers needs to call a good one.
Yeah
I saw that last drive, and if I was Capers I would have blitzed the hell out of Big Ben. And it helps when the Refs have been in the Steelers pants since Super Bowl XL.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
I think that most of what worked against Brett Favre can work against Rodgers.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
Blitzing isn’t necessarily the solution to shutting Rodgers down. Your best hope is to get pressure on him only rushing 3-4 guys. He is a smart Qb, and always seems to find the check downs on blitzes, and is able to get out of the pocket on them sometimes because of his athleticism as well.
In the beginning of the year our o-line was horrendous as well as our play-calling. Though we run the west coast offense, our coach loves to call plays downfield. Obviously, when you have an o-line who can’t hold a pocket for my then 3 seconds, the deep plays aren’t going to work. That is largely why it appeared that Rodgers was holding onto the ball too line. When the o-line improved, him holding onto the ball too long virtually disappeared.
Not to be cocky or an ass or anything but I don’t know if shutting down Rodgers is possible. You’ll just have to hope that your offense can outscore yours, which is certainly a possibility.
Pressure vs. Coverage
…is always the tradeoff when blitzing. You can almost see a sharp quarterback smile when he recognizes the impending blitz. Well disguised blitzes or pressure with the d-line will do well, obvious blitzes or 6-7 man pass rushes are typically an easy gain for a quick throw to sure hands.
I think this will be a shootout as the Cards abuse the depleted Packers secondary early leaving the Packers having to go to the air to keep up. The only way out of this is for either team to establish a time-eating run game early in an attempt to keep the ball out of the other QB’s hands.
I think this will be a shootout as the Cards abuse the depleted Packers secondary early leaving the Packers having to go to the air to keep up. The only way out of this is for either team to establish a time-eating run game early in an attempt to keep the ball out of the other QB’s hands.
I would agree with this. I have to say I like our chances of establishing a run game more so then your chances though :) haha.
It really should be a great game. If we can contain Dockett and Campbell I like our chances against you guys. I’m not really too concerned about our defense just because I think we’ll be able to put up points on your defense, and I’m sure you feel the same haha.
by packallday555 on Jan 5, 2010 9:42 PM MST up reply actions
over confident
555, you have to understand how comical it sounds especially to a Cardinals fan stand point to say to us that you don’t know if Rodgers can be shut down. Any QB can be completely shut down on any given Sunday. We have a Hall of Fame QB of our own who can be shut down. Brett Favre can def. be shut down, we have already done that to him once this season whereas the PAckers could not. The Packers very well may win the game this coming Sunday but do the Cards or Cards fans really fear the Packers and Rodgers? No. Two 10-6 teams that have both played very well and very bad this year. Neither team is dominant and both can be shut down. As much as I like Rodgers, when he gets rattled he is like any other QB in the league, he starts pressing and his decision making suffers. If the Cards are to win this game they simply need to do one of the things they have done best all season which is to put pressure on the QB. But there is no fear for either team coming into this game. Both teams have the ability and talent to get on a roll and go to the Super Bowl. Should be a great game.
http://undrafteds.com/
Pack are 11-5 thanks to a late Christmas present from the Cardinals
I agree Undrafteds, Rodgers can certainly be shut down – but it would be very difficult. It’s his first playoff game and I’m sure we remember Matt Ryan choking last year. I seem to remember Vikings fans saying that nobody could stop their offense and the Cardinals handled them pretty easily.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
I'll play devil's advocate.
I think the way to beat the Pack is to outscore them. Green Bay has given up at least 30 points in 5 games this year. 31 to the Bengals (game 2), 30 to the Vikings (game 4), 38 to the Vikings (game 7), 38 to the Buccaneers (game 8), and 37 to the Steelers (game 14). They are 0-5 in those games.
In the other games they have allowed an average of 11 points per game and are 11-0. The Packers have won 7 of their last 8 and the only team to beat them was a team that outscored them 37-36.
Green Bay is averaging over 30 points a game in the second half and have scored at least 27 points in 6 of those games (week 9 17-7 win over Dallas and 21-14 week 13 21-14 win over Chicago. It seems unlikely that the Cardinals will hold the Packers under 21 (only Dallas did that this year). The question is whether the Cardinals will break the 30 point mark on offense.
Good points, interesting
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
whoops
yeah I keep thinking of the pre-Week 17 game, that final “W” for the Pack seems so hollow you know?
http://undrafteds.com/
Maybe it sounds silly, and I acknowledged that I probably came off as arrogant but it’s truly how I feel. Since our o-line has improved, our offense has been very good. We’re 7-1 in our last 8 games, and in the game we lost the offense put up 30+ points. The way to beat us is to outscore us. We average 28 points a game, and when we have lost it’s been because other offenses have scored a lot on our defense. I think your offense is more then capable of putting up a lot of points on our defense, and that’s what scares me about your team. We’ll just have to hope that our front 7 can get some good pressure on Warner.
As far as Rodgers goes he really doesn’t get rattled and make poor decisions. He’s thrown 30 TDs to 7 INTs. And he did this with what was probably the worst o-line in the league for the first 7-8 weeks. As you probably know good Qb’s generally throw INTs as a result of being pressure and making a quick decision. Rodgers faced pressure all game, every game up until week 8 and still only threw 4 INTS. I don’t think it’s out of the question to say he can’t be shut down, because this year, he has never been completely shut down. He’s had quieter games some weeks but never has he been shut down.
by packallday555 on Jan 6, 2010 12:46 PM MST up reply actions
Pack running game will dominate..
With Az injury on d-line it may open up a lot for Grant an co. Packers o – line has been so much stronger since the return of Tauscher . Go right on ahead and blitz on first downs…
We don't even know if Campbell won't play
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
Scheming for Rodgers
Rodgers is a young talented QB but he has no playoff experience. This will effect Rodger’s nerves early in this ball game. Build off of that with defensive fronts and alingments that create hesitation in Rodgers mind from a coverage standpoint pre and post-snap. This will take great dicipline by Wilson & Rolle in the back half of the defense.
The Packers OL line has been stout as a pass protection unit when their specific assignments have been more defined and simplified in the last eight games. That great cohension that the the Packers have enjoyed must be broken down pre-snap with Wilson giving his signature “sugar looks” (at the line of scrimmage) and Rolle “skying” off the edge post-snap or vice versa.
When the Cardinals are in base defense, movement from the Cards DL in the form of end/tackle stunts and twist along with the green dog biltz ( if RB stays in to protect LB rushes the QB) is another effective way to get to the QB and break down a teams protection schemes. This will force the Packers OL to be more reactionary as opposed to proactive in their specific pass pro responsibilities. If this stratagem is employed successfully by Billy Davis, McCarthy will be forced to adjust his game plan and this in turn will allow the Cardinals to dictate the tempo with match-ups and personnel more favorable to the Cardinals.
Under no circumstances can Rodgers be allowed to get comfortable. Pressure is paramount with or without Calais Cambell on the field.
I don't expect Rodgers to get rattled.
He’s not a rookie. Has 5 years in the league and supreme confidence. The Cardinals can force his hand with heavy pressure and exotic blitz packages though. Hopefully DRC isn’t slowed down by the knee. The Cards’ D picked 2 from Favre when he had only thrown 3 all year, so I don’t doubt their ability to pick off Rodgers as well, even if he has only thrown 4. We know he’ll be looking for Adams’ # any time he’s on the field. Wouldn’t surprise me to see the Cardinals use him as bait and set it up for DRC or a safety jump the route.
Shutting down the run game is just as important. Need to get back to that top rated run D the Cardinals had the first part of the season.
meant +1 to CF 81
hadarius, I’ve seen Rodgers rattled. Believe me, it happens. It will just take a lot of pressure consistently
http://undrafteds.com/
Not saying he can't be.
I just don’t think he will fall apart. I do think he can be forced into mistakes.
I think that Billy Davis has some new stuff he is waiting to throw at Rodgers.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
I wonder if Packer fans even know of A-Dub...
I imagine Rodgers will be having some nightmares of 24 before the day is done.
A man from Dallas who bleeds red, not silver and blue.
I'm sure the players know who he is.
Should be one of their primary concerns.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
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