Greg Cosell's Week 16 Review: Aaron Rodgers and Packers' versatility making it tough on defenses

As the Green Bay Packers prepare for an NFC North championship showdown against the Detroit Lions in Week 17, we can see how their offense has evolved in recent weeks.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is playing very well, as everyone knows by now. There have also been some strategic wrinkles that have helped the passing game click.

The Packers are doing more with different formations, which have created matchup issues for opposing defenses. Tight end Jared Cook returned from injury and the Packers are using him practically anywhere in the formation. Receiver Jordy Nelson has also moved around. About 30 percent of his targets this season have come out of the slot. He’ll line up as the traditional slot when the Packers have two receivers to a side, or as the inside slot in a trips set.

Here’s an example of how the Packers use Cook. The Packers came out in a 3×1 set, with three receivers to one side and Cook as the “X iso” to the other side. The Vikings had cornerback Trae Waynes matched up man-to-man on Cook, a tough matchup because of Cook’s size. Cook made an outstanding catch against Waynes’ excellent coverage for 30 yards. That’s the value of Cook and what he brings to Green Bay’s passing game.

Note the formation and personnel grouping on that play. The Packers used a “01” personnel package on this play (and at other times last week) with Davante Adams offset in the backfield. That presents matchup issues for the defense, especially for nickel defenses in man coverage. The Packers can run this set effectively because of Cooks’ versatility.

Cook can line up just about anywhere, and because of that the Packers have the freedom to move Nelson around too. Having the dangerous Nelson line up at the inside slot creates a coverage issue. The Lions will have to figure out how to handle Green Bay’s formation versatility.

Here’s a way Nelson and his alignment impacted the Vikings’ coverage last week. Nelson, from the inside slot, ran a deep over route to occupy back-side safety Andrew Sendejo in “quarters” zone coverage (four defensive backs each responsible for a quarter of the deep part of the field), and Adams ran the dig route in front of the front-side safety Harrison Smith. Rodgers, in good rhythm, threw it to Adams for 19 yards on the dig route in the intermediate void in the “quarters” coverage.

The Packers had a great feel for the Vikings’ zone coverage concepts and how to break them down. That play to Adams was a perfect call to beat that coverage. You could see right away that Rodgers was once again playing within the rhythm of the offense, something that has been a key factor in the offense’s improvement during this five-game winning streak.

Here’s another play in which the Packers had a good play call to beat a specific coverage, and Rodgers threw it in rhythm. The Vikings had an overload zone blitz concept with “quarters” coverage behind hit. Adams ran a deep post and Geronimo Allison ran a wheel route from the slot right behind him. This is a concept to beat “quarters” coverage. You can see how the area cleared out due to Adams’ deep route. Rodgers under quick pressure had a defined throw. He hit Allison for 32 yards.

This play was pitch-and-catch between Rodgers and Nelson, an example of a quarterback and receiver both on the same page. The Vikings were again in “quarters” coverage, and off play action, Nelson attacked Sendejo vertically, then ran a deep cross after creating space for himself. That made for an easy 33-yard pass from Rodgers to Nelson.

A few other things stood out from last Sunday that might factor into this week’s game at Detroit, too. Coach Mike McCarthy put the game in the hands of Rodgers, with 26 called passes and seven called runs in the first half. There was no concern for offensive balance; the Packers were willing to win or lose with Rodgers carrying the offense. That could happen again Sunday. Also, the Packers got great pass protection from left tackle David Bakhtiari, something that might get overshadowed during Green Bay’s winning streak. And we saw an offense that looked very efficient in the first half against the Vikings, with a well-designed attack against a division opponent whose defense they knew well, and Rodgers executed it with a great sense of rhythm and timing. The Packers also know the Lions’ tendencies very well.

The Lions have done some good things this season and are a win away from a division championship. But as we can see from this breakdown of last week’s Packers performance, they have a big defensive challenge ahead.

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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.