What to watch for in tonight’s Packers’ game

One of the reason’s Jags had to hold his press conference at night, and flew out so quickly, is that he still has obligations to his current employer, the Green Bay Packers. Tonight the Packers play their penultimate game of the season on the NFL Network. While the focus will surely be on Brett Favre, there are two things to look out for.

The first is the obvious BC plug. Amidst all the Favre talk, I bet someone along the way will mention that his offensive coordinator is the new Head Coach at Boston College. No one gets the NFL Network, so I don’t expect this to create a wave of publicity for Jags or the program, but it will be nice to hear.

The second thing to watch is the Packers offense. Jags doesn’t call the plays, but his imprint can be seen by watching the offensive line play. Since leaving BC Jags came under the tutelage of Offensive Line Guru Alex Gibbs and has been implementing Gibbs zone blocking scheme ever since. BC currently uses many zone principles and has since Jags first run at the Heights. But the Packers Gibbs/New Jags’ scheme is much more rigid. In his new program the linemen, for the most part, fire out in the same direction. The idea is to push the defense in one direction. The Center’s primary duty is to get to the MLB first. From there, the RB has two or three running lanes he can choose and is likely to cut back from the flow of the line. But just because this is their primary scheme, the Packers do have some flexibility. They will still pull lineman against the flow and will also mix protection during pass plays.

There is a fear that BC’s mammoth guys won’t be able to adapt. I doubt it. Jags was able to use huge guys during his first tour, I am sure he will again. Plus, as he mentioned in the press conference, Dan Koppen was a tiny 245lb kid “sitting in the library” when Jags first got a hold of him. Obviously Jags made sure he got bigger and obviously helped make him better.