GREEN BAY, Wis. — It was pretty clear to everyone else that Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy’s decision not to throw at Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman in the season opener was a bad idea.
As he begins preparations for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Seahawks, McCarthy was not quite willing to admit his plan was off, but he did indicate that his offense has taken a different turn since the three-receiver, no-huddle form it took in Week 1.
And that would seem to indicate he was not going to line up leading receiver Jordy Nelson on the left all game long, away from the All-Pro corner.
“We’re a no-huddle offense and my thought was, and I told Jordy in the game plan, ‘Just line up on the left side,’ ” McCarthy said. “We thought Richard would come over there and play him on the left side.
“It didn’t happen, and how the game sorted out, the ball went where it went was just really how the game was played. There was never a ‘Don’t throw right’ in the game plan. With that, I think we’ve played a lot differently since then.”
Watching the nationally televised opener was former Packers and Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren. Grounded in Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense and a master tactician, Holmgren sees Pete Carroll’s team on a regular basis from his home in the Seattle area.
As he saw the game play out, he recognized right away that throwing away from Sherman, arguably the best cornerback in the game, wasn’t a good idea.
“Mike, I respect him a lot, he’s a good coach,” Holmgren said. “But you can’t not throw at Richard Sherman. That was a mistake. You’re taking away half the field. You can’t do that. Now, Sherman is good. You don’t want to throw it up to him a lot. But you can’t stay away from him all game.”
McCarthy’s offense has roots in the Walsh-Holmgren system, and while the Packers coach has added much to it, the principle of having the quarterback go through his progressions and find the best matchup remains the same.
By not putting Nelson on the right side, where Sherman almost always lines up (on the left side of the defense), McCarthy eliminated some of the favorable matchups Randall Cobb and rookie Davante Adams might have had. It allowed speedy free safety Earl Thomas, who always plays the deep middle, to continually shade toward Nelson without fear of giving up anything on the other side. The result was this: quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 23 of 33 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown with an interception.
Nelson was targeted 14 times and caught nine passes for 83 yards, none longer than 16 yards. Cobb caught six of nine targets for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Andrew Quarless caught three passes for 26 yards, but no other receiver or tight end caught a ball.
Asked how he would attack the Seahawks, Holmgren said that he would throw on first down and run on second because Carroll tends to have his big linemen in the game on first down and replace them with his pass rushers on second down.
“They’re going to bring their ‘quicks’ in on second down,” Holmgren said. “They substitute a lot on second down. When they go to their ‘smalls,’ you run and try to get in third and short. Then you have a chance. That’s what San Diego did (in a 30-21 Seahawks loss).”
The big difference for the Packers from Week 1 to now is the diversification of the offense. Besides relying more on running back Eddie Lacy, McCarthy has incorporated Quarless, rookie tight end Richard Rodgers and rookie receiver Davante Adams into the offense.
Both Rodgers and Adams caught touchdown passes in the 26-21 playoff victory over Dallas, and Adams finished with seven catches for 117 yards on 11 targeted passes. Cobb was targeted 11 times (eight catches for 116 yards) and Nelson was targeted five times (two catches for 22 yards).
It was a sign that McCarthy is now willing to let a defense take Nelson out of the game because he’s confident his other players can make up for it, especially when it comes to a defense playing a safety over the top of him. That look makes it more favorable to run Lacy, who has rushed for at least 97 yards in six of his last seven games.
McCarthy will have to protect Aaron Rodgers, who he did not have a strained left calf muscle was sacked three times against the Seahawks, including once on fourth down and once for a safety. He lost Bryan Bulaga in the middle of that game to a knee injury and played with rookie Corey Linsley making his first start at center. But the line is healthy now and Rodgers may be a little more mobile.
