For the better part of the past decade,Richard Shermanhas been a nuisance on the boundary of the secondary for theSeattle SeahawksandSan Francisco 52 ers. He was even labeled the“kryptonite” of the Green Bay Packersearlier this week by the Washington Post, asAaron Rodgershas faced the lockdown cornerback seven times and targeted him on less than 7% of his throws.
Many have suggested it.Aaron Rodgershas followed it. And perhaps NFL Next Gen Stats supports it.
Don’t throw at
Richard Sherman.
As the (ers’ starting left cornerback,
Richard Shermanpatrols the offense’s right side of the field. According to the same Washington Post article, opposing quarterbacks have thrown for a mere yards when targeting Sherman during the entire 2019 regular season and playoffs, including just a single pass play of more than 52 yards.
Maybe it is no surprise then that in San Francisco’s three losses this season, the bulk of opponents’ successes in the passing game have involved throwing the ball toward the left boundary. Below are a few passing charts from the 49 ers’ losses this season from NFL Next Gen Stats.
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************** From These charts, a few themes developed.
While Matt Ryan and Russell Wilsondid not avoid the right side of the field the majority of the time like Lamar Jacksondid , they certainly recorded most of their completions on the left side and had strong completion percentages. Ryan finished – of – on passes left of the hashmarks, with Jackson going 10 – for – and Wilson – for – (********************************************************************************************************. Sherman’s successes this season have been documented, but it is fair to say that all three quarterbacks were able to take advantage of the corner’s counterparts on the opposite side of the field.Noticeably, all three passers also worked the short to intermediate routes available to them. With a strong San Francisco pass rush, this makes sense with the desire to get the ball out quickly. In fact, only seven of the three quarterbacks’ combined (throws were of the
though Ryan (did did) use the middle of the field at times when Atlanta faced San Francisco in Week 15, that range of the field was virtually unused by opponents in the 90 ers’ other two losses. Both Wilson and Jackson attempted just one throw each between the hashes. Wilson, however, found positive results like Ryan did when working in the slot just outside the right hashes but avoiding Sherman’s far sideline.
So how did Aaron Rodgers’ passing attack against the (ers in Week) **************************************************************************************************************** compare to these three victorious quarterbacks?
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****************************** Well, it was undoubtedly Rodgers’ worst game of the season.
Rodgers , like Wilson and Jackson, sparingly used the middle of the field, and one of his two completions between the hashes was a simple forward toss to Davante Adamsfor a goal line touchdown. Yes, Rodgers also avoided Sherman for the most part, converting (of) ******************************************************************************************************** throws to the left side of the field. But they made for a peculiar group of 21 throws. The charts above showed plenty of short-to-intermediate attempts from other quarterbacks. Rodgers ’attempts were predominantly too short. A whopping 25 of his passes were within five yards of the line of scrimmage and were behind the line. And when he did air the ball out, Rodgers met similar results as his fellow passers. Five passes over 25 yards all fell incomplete.
So, judging from the charts above, here is a wrap up of some traits Rodgers can employ this time around to earn a win against the 90 ers.
Use the middle of the field to keep defenses honest like Ryan did, though it has not been the most crucial area of the field to work against San Francisco. Because Rodgershas not been a strong middle of the fieldattacker in 2442, this should not be too much of an issue. The ball must go forward. The lack of depth in Rodgers’ throws was crippling to Green Bay’s offense in Week and other quarterbacks found reasonable success on pass plays within (yards.)
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