Packers: Back to basics on offense under Joe Philbin

Overall 2018 for the Green Bay Packers has been a disappointing one, but under interim head coach Joe Philbin, the Packers got back to the basics which resulted in a convincing win against Atlanta.

The Green Bay Packers were victorious in Joe Philbin’s debut, but schematically there was little difference from what former head coach Mike McCarthy had installed.

So what was the difference?

Well it’s a simple answer, the Packers did the small things right and executed on the field.

In the week leading up to the Atlanta game, Philbin had mentioned that his main goal in practice was to focus on fundamentals, something that the Packers had gotten away from.

Green Bay is a team that at times has appeared undisciplined and would repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot. From week to week this year, nothing seemed to change.

However this past Sunday focusing on the fundamentals paid off, as many of the issues that had ailed the Packers this season were conquered against Atlanta.

1. Packer fans have been calling for more Aaron Jones all season long, and on Sunday Jones had 20 touches totaling 106 yards and a touchdown. This amount of touches should be a minimum weekly requirement for Jones.
2. The play-calling was much more balanced than what it had been. Coming into the week, Aaron Rodgers had been averaging nearly 40 attempts per game. But last week Rodgers recorded just 32 pass attempts and there were 21 rushing attempts between Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.
3. Green Bay was successful when in the red zone. Although better as of late, at one point this season the Packers scored a touchdown just 40 percent of the time when in the red zone. Yet the offense was able to go 3/3 against Atlanta.
4. Third down conversions have been a big issue this season. Green Bay hasn’t had a game where they converted more than 50 percent of their third downs since Week 4 against Buffalo. But for the most part, Rodgers avoided those momentum-killing third-down sacks and the Packers went 7/13 this past week.

In what has been a frustrating season, Green Bay has a lot to build on heading into the final three weeks of the season.

If Green Bay hopes to keep their playoff hopes alive, they need to continue going back to the basics and executing.