The Packers do a LOT of self scouting, so I would hope that they see this trend as well as the Bears did

GB does so much with formations, packages and alignments that it creates a real problem for defenses to match up, and keeps them guessing.

Going no- huddle or snapping quickly adds one more weapon to the arsenal for the stretch run and would mess with DC's even more

Good call Aaron

It seems to me that running the play clock down all the time gives the defense an edge on pressure. They can check the play clock, count down mentally and start their rush a tad earlier than the snap an have an advantage over the O lineman. This is especially true for LB's.
that was a problem I saw on a few occasions yesterday.
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Hadn't thought about that, good observation Aaron.

I don't know, against most defenses, the play-clock draining works wonders. Especially against 3-4 defenses that rely on blitzes. Favre did it to us, and Rodgers did it against the Cowboys, Niners, and Ravens. But against teams like the Bears who run a 4-3 and get pressure with their 4 man rush, it's a lot tougher to get an advantage, since you basically tip YOUR hand by giving the 4-3 more time to check their assignments.

That's why the Bears gave us fits, and that's why the Vikings gave us nightmares when it came to protection. Those teams got pressure with their d-lines, and could shy away from blitzes and use delayed blitzes more-so than other teams.

I think against the Steelers this week, the drain of the play-clock will once again be a powerful weapon. But if we play the Vikes or Saints in the playoffs? Yeah, you have to change it up.

Great observation, Aaron. I wonder if McCarthy tries to drain the play clock more when we're ahead. I don't know for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if he does.

Oh, and did anyone else hear at one point on their second TD drive, Cutler was calling out the blitzes at the line? I heard him correctly yell out "cross dogs" twice, and there was another time he correctly called the number of a DB that was blitzing, I think it was Woodson, and they stoned the blitz immediately and hit a quick gainer. The crazy part was, I couldn't see ANYTHING that would have tipped him off, they were just lined up normally. So was it just lucky guesses? Or did they see something subtle to tip them off on the overhead photos on the sideline or during halftime? I don't know, it bothered me a bit, but then the blitz on the Collins pick was perfect, so I stopped worrying. It just seemed odd to me, like for a 2 drive span, it seemed as though Cutler had figured us out. Then he lost it.

Exactly. They need to get plays off faster to keep the defense unbalanced. This might be a bad example, but if Flynn had been able to get off the snap on the fake field goal, then the Pack might actually have gotten a decent play out of it than only letting the Bears spend a timeout.

Agreed.

Btw for anyone who thinks Cutler complains touch... Follow the above link and click on the link in the first post that says "complains too much." Pretty funny picture.

I heard someone yell out "cross dogs" a couple of times too. Is the blitz getting that predictable??

Totally agree, Aaron. Actually, I was thinking about it in the last games.

Early in the season, the snap count was allways 7 seconds left, or something. Then the Cowboys game, we started using a long snap count, down to 3-1 seconds, to use more the playclock. Which I thought was an awesome adjustement. Then I started thinking (yeah, burn me): Favre uses that long snap count too, but every once in a while, he gets the defense unprepared with a quick count and burns them.
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That, Rodgers, or MM, could've learned from Judas... He is pretty good at clock management and snap count. Well, after 70 years in the NFL, you got to learn a thing or two...

I agree with you, Aaron. I think Brett became a master of varying the snap count. This may have been a key contributor to our success in 2007, with effectively the same offensive line.

With maturity, Rodgers will at least equal Brett.