Break It Down: The Packers' four sacks against Washington

A struggling offensive line is nothing Aaron Rodgers is new to, but unlike like Week 1's showing against the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers' offensive line gave up four sacks on non-fluke occurrences (such as the first sack of the season, which featured a missed cut block and wrong route.)

Sack 1

[1] This is probably the worst sack of them all, because it was just a full-on 1-on-1 mismatch, that lead to the sack. There were four Redskins rushing the passer with five linemen to block them, so in theory, Rodgers would have time to throw the ball, but Don Barclay, a 2012 UDFA who's likely a guard on 80% of NFL rosters, is the Packers' starting right tackle. He's matched up against Washington's #91, Ryan Kerrigan.

[2] Kerrigan get full extension on one arm, which means he has a much longer reach than Barclay could ever get with two. As long as Kerrigan can still get a push, this play's a disaster.

[3] And indeed he does, not only pushing Barclay, but shoving his right shoulder enough to open a lane straight to Aaron Rodgers.

[4] Eventually, Kerrigan gets the sack, pushing Don Barclay, again, the right tackle, all the way to where the left tackle, #69, David Bakhtiari, stands.

Sack 2

[1] Again, this one sack is caused by Kerrigan, who's highlighted. He and the defensive tackle are going to use movement and a stunt to get to Rodgers. This sack also only involves four men rushing.

[2] Right before the play is snapped, the tackle goes from lining up in the A-gap to moving on top of the center. This leads to the immediate attention of center, Evan Dietrich-Smith. Pay attention to right tackle T.J. Lang, #70; he's looking at #59, a linebacker who's not going to blitz. This is going to be important.

[3] Now, this is when the stunt starts to develop. Lang's looking for a blitz to pick up, coming from the second level, but there's nothing there. Kerrigan is starting to make his way to the opposite A-gap, while Dietrich-Smith and Josh Sitton, #71, the left tackle, are both paying attention to the tackle, which was once right on top of the center.

[4] Washington only sent four. Green Bay had six potential blockers. the 1-3 split of the rushers should have been able to have been combated by the 2-4 split of the offense's protection, but the blockers on both sides of the offense's right A-gap have no idea that Kerrigan's closing in on a straight shot to Rodgers.

[5] Which results in a sack.

Sack 3

[1] Like the first sack, this is a 1-on-1 breakdown, this time by another former UDFA, though.

[2] Evan Dietrich-Smith, who you could partially blame for the second sack, is at fault here. #96, who was lined up slightly to the right of him, was able to beat him from the start, and was well on his way by the time the center made first contact. 

[3] Rodgers saw it coming at his face, and he tried to escape.

[4] But there wasn't enough room for him, leading to the sack.

Sack 4

[1] This is the first, and only, sack Green Bay allowed to rush of more than four. As you can see, six were showing blitz, but two dropped back into zone. Instead, the fifth rusher came from the slot corner hovering over Randall Cobb, #18.

[2] Rookie David Bakhtiari had to go out wide to engage his rusher, which allowed the corner to zoom in the space he left behind. Unfortunately for Rodgers, T.J. Lang and Evan Dietrich-Smith were already engaged in their own rushers, meaning he was on his own.

[3] Rodgers, again, saw the rush coming at him and tried to flee the pocket.

[4] But again, he has no such luck.