The game of football is constantly evolving. Offenses adjust to the latest defensive trends and defensive counters, and offenses find counters to the counters. Nowhere is that more apparent than in how the league adjusts to the Kyle Shanahan tree of offenses with their wide zone running schemes and their middle-of-the-field-based passing games.

Matt LaFleur is no exception. The good coaches find ways to tweak their base concepts, even if they run them two or three times the next season. When yards and points are at a premium and offenses struggle to score this year, LaFleur’s tweaks have kept the Packers offense humming and generating 27.1 points per game, 7th in the NFL.

One adjustment to a staple concept in recent weeks was made to their dagger/stick concept. Dagger/stick was a common concept for the offense last season and won them a couple of key games versus the Chargers and Vikings.

The play is a dagger concept on the backside of the play and a basic stick/flat combination on the front side as the primary progressions. It is a pure across-the-field read going from the flat to the stick to the backside dagger. The inside crossing route is an alert route, one that Jordan Love hit to Christian Watson last season versus the Chargers.

On Sunday night in Seattle in Week 15, Love hit a big-time third down conversion to Watson with an off-schedule throw on the tagged adjustment to the concept the offense installed this year.

The adjustment to the primary concept is to tag the backside dig route as an out route or “shake” route. On the front side, there is no stick/flat combination. Instead, it’s an out-cut for the slot and clear-out for the outside receiver. The out-cut to Love’s left is the primary receiver.

On a shake route, the receiver should sell the dig portion of the stem for at least five steps and come out flat away from the defender.

The shake route puts the flat defender in a high-low conflict whereas the traditional dig route to that side would put the weak hook defender in conflict. Against Seattle, the Packers are getting man coverage here disguised as zone. The ball is designed to go to the slot receiver here on the quick out to the sideline.

Love doesn’t throw and resets as pressure is pushing up the middle of the offensive line. He escapes to his right and finds Watson for the nice completion.

But notice on Watson’s route how he sold the in cut and broke back outside as soon as the defender covering him went to cut off the dig portion of the route stem. He jumped inside hard as Watson burst back outside. Love puts the ball low and away from the defender as he’s rolling right and Watson makes a nice grab going to the turf.

Here’s the play in Week 13 against the Dolphins too.

The weak hook defender bails with the flat so Love threw the stick immediately.

Here is a small cut-up of the key dagger/stick play calls from last season.