Greg Cosell's Film Review: Cowboys will have their hands full with Aaron Rodgers

The problem the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive staff will face this week is there’s no obvious way to slow down Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers if he plays like he did in the second half against the New York Giants.

The Giants tried a little bit of everything. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was multiple with his coverages and his pressures, and it didn’t matter. The Giants tried blitzes. Rodgers beat them. The Giants disguised coverage and switched at the snap. Rogers beat them. New York tried different zone coverages, and man coverage. It didn’t matter.

What the Cowboys will see on film this week is a quarterback who is diagnosing defenses quickly and knows how to beat them. An underrated aspect of the Packers’ offense lately is protection. The offensive line was great against the Giants, especially left tackle David Bakhtiari against Giants end Olivier Vernon. Vernon was a non-factor in the game, and the Giants got very little pressure when they rushed four. That has to be a concern for Dallas.

This play is Rodgers at his best (and you can also see how well the Packers’ offensive line, especially Bakhtiari, played in front of him). The Giants were in “Cover 3” zone, and Rodgers didn’t have an open receiver within the timing of his drop. So Rodgers started searching for a throw. When single-high safety Leon Hall jumped Jared Cook on the in-breaking route, Rodgers saw Randall Cobb on the deeper dig route across the back of the end zone. He snapped off a strike with velocity and accuracy for a 16-yard touchdown. When Rodgers makes late-in-the-down throws like that from the pocket, he’s at his most difficult to defend.

That play was Rodgers’ second half against the Giants in a nutshell. He was outstanding both within the timing of the play and also late in the down when he had to be.

This play came late in the first half, on Green Bay’s first touchdown drive. Watch how quickly Rodgers picks up the defensive switch. The Giants showed a split safety look, then rotated late, with Hall moving into the middle as part of “Cover 1” man coverage. Rodgers read the rotation and threw to Davante Adams on a go route against Eli Apple for 31 yards. Adams ran by Apple and Rodgers made a great throw. Rodgers’ reaction time to the defensive rotation is remarkable.

Here’s another nice play by Rodgers on a late defensive rotation. The Giants rotated from “2 man” (man coverage with two deep safeties) to “Cover 1,” with Hall dropping down to match up to Cook. Rodgers read Hall’s movement and went right to Cobb in a one-on-one matchup against slot cornerback Trevin Wade for a 30-yard touchdown (it’s worth noting that Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie’s early injury cost the Giants their best slot cornerback, which made things easier for the Packers). Cobb ran a great route, threatening Wade outside, then breaking back inside on a seam route. With safety Landon Collins rotating to the deep middle, Cobb had room to run. Rodgers diagnosed all of that instantly and knew how to beat the Giants on that play.

There was no hesitation in Rodgers’ play in the second half. He read coverage and blitz immediately and got the ball out within the timing of the play.

When the Giants tried to go “zero blitz” with no deep safety to get pressure on Rodgers on third-and-9 in the fourth quarter, Rodgers read it immediately and hit Adams in the slot against Coty Sensabaugh. It’s not like the Giants sat back and let Rodgers pick them apart. It’s just that whatever they threw at Rodgers, Rodgers had an answer for it.

The Giants did have some success early in the game, and the Cowboys will study that too. On one sack, Sensabaugh blitzed from distance as part of a five-man rush with “quarters” zone behind it. Rodgers didn’t see Sensabaugh here, initially looking to the slant-flat combination to the right, coming back left and having nowhere to go with the ball. On some of the first-half sacks, Rodgers didn’t feel as if he had a throw against a split-safety zone.

It’s worth noting that the Cowboys had good success against Rodgers in a Week 6 meeting. Their primary strategy in that game was to play dime defense on third downs, rush only three, and use linebackers Justin Durant and Sean Lee underneath to take care of in-breaking routes and to react if need be to Rodgers’ movement. They did not blitz Rodgers once on third down. That worked well in the first meeting but Rodgers is playing much better now, especially with getting the ball out quickly within the timing of the offense.

Once Rodgers got settled in on Sunday against the Giants, nothing they did worked anymore. Whatever they tried, Rodgers countered. When Dallas puts together its game plan for Sunday’s game, it will be hard to find something that Rodgers struggles to handle, especially if his offensive line keeps playing this well.

– – – – – – –

NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.