Aaron Rodgers isn’t the first quarterback to draw opponents offsides with hard counts and burn them on free plays. But he’s the first to weaponize that skill.
Aaron Rodgers is the master of the free play
First Aaron Rodgers draws penalties. Then he destroys defenses.
On Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, Rodgers drew Tamba Hali offsides with a hard count. Center Corey Linsley snapped the ball while Hali was offsides, and Rodgers threw a 27-yard touchdown to James Jones:
Later, the same thing happened when got Dee Ford got caught offsides, and Rodgers completed a 52-yard pass to Jones:
In just three games, the Packers have drawn eight offsides penalties, resulting in eight free plays.
Rodgers’ hard count is a thing of beauty. Last year, Ben Shigpel of the New York Times got in with Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers to talk about how he became so effective at it. It involves a lot of film study, as Rodgers apparently intensely studies his cadences to see if he has any tells and weaknesses.
Of course, the credit on these hard counts doesn’t just go to Rodgers -- Rodgers needs perfect communication with Linsley, and the rest of the line needs to know not to bite. They can’t buy into the hard count and accidentally false start. And while offensive linemen are often trained to immediately react to a offsides rusher to ensure the penalty call, Green Bay’s players have to stay still to preserve the possibility of the free play. They’ve done their job: none of the eight offsides calls against Green Bay’s opponents have resulted in the play being blown dead before the snap, so each one has resulted in a free play for Rodgers.
But it hasn’t just been the hard count -- Rodgers has also been routinely snapping the ball while the opponent is trying to substitute and still has 12 men on the field, an automatic penalty:
It’s not a coincidence: The Packers run up-tempo no-huddle, and if they don’t substitute, the referees don’t have to allow time for the defense to properly substitute. When teams try substituting anyway, the Packers get up to the line ASAP and try to catch the 12th player. If you think the Packers aren’t paying attention, they actually challenged a play against the Seahawks when the officials didn’t catch the penalty live.
When the Packers snap the ball and the opponent is lined up illegally, Rodgers has already won. He can throw an incomplete pass, and his team gains five yards. He can throw an interception, and his team gains five yards. The worst case scenario is that he faces the same down and a slightly more favorable distance.
Knowing he can’t fail, Rodgers takes chances. He tosses the deepest, lowest-percentage, riskiest passes he can throw, knowing nothing bad can happen. (Of course, they still aren’t particularly risky, because he is Aaron Rodgers and at this point we’re not sure he could throw interceptions if he tried.) And with the potential for failure removed, he’s achieved massive success.
Through three games, Rodgers has snapped the ball with the defense offsides or with 12 men on the field 11 times, almost four per game.
vs. Chicago, offsides on Willie Young: 32-yard pass to James Jones
vs. Chicago, offsides on Jared Allen: incompletion
vs. Chicago, offsides on Willie Young: incompletion
vs. Seattle, 12 men on field: incompletion
vs. Seattle, offsides on Michael Bennett: 22-yard pass to Randall Cobb
vs. Seattle, offsides on Michael Bennett: 29-yard touchdown pass to James Jones
vs. Seattle, offsides on Michael Bennett: 52-yard pass interference on Richard Sherman
vs. Kansas City, 12 men on field: incompletion
vs. Kansas City, 12 men on field: incompletion
vs. Kansas City, offsides on Tamba Hali: 27-yard touchdown pass to James Jones
vs. Kansas City, offsides on Dee Ford: 52-yard pass to James Jones
He’s 5-for-10 with 162 yards with two touchdowns, a 134.4 QB rating, Pretty good, I’d say.
His completion percentage isn’t great, but that’s because every pass is a bomb. All five incompletions were listed as “deep” in the NFL box scores, and that’s how there’s a 52-yard pass interference in the mix. Even with half of his passes falling incomplete, he’s getting 16.2 yards per attempt.
But of course, those incompletions aren’t really incompletions. The team still got five yards on those plays, because there was a defensive penalty. If we include the yardage from those five penalties and the 52 yards from the PI call, the Packers have gained 239 yards on 11 free snaps.
That’s 80 yards a game, just off free plays. This is a concerted strategy by Green Bay, and it’s working brilliantly.
Here is our advice to teams facing the Packers: First, scramble off the field on substitutions. The Chiefs defenders in the above GIF are kinda lolligagging. Don’t do that. I’d even recommend limiting subs, because they give Rodgers the opportunity for free plays.
Secondly, to defensive linemen: If you get caught offsides, don’t even try to fix your mistake by hopping back onsides. Rodgers is too smart, and he’s going to catch you. Just keep rushing, even if it’s against your natural instincts.
Green Bay’s lineman isn’t going to move, because if he does, that ruins the free play. That gives you the rare opportunity to rush a second ahead of the line, and you need to take advantage of it. No, even if you get to Rodgers, your sack won’t count. But it will prevent him from taking advantage of the free play.
And trust us: Rodgers will take advantage of the free play.
* * *
SB Nation presents: The 5 most impressive teams in Week 3
See More:
