A look at the snap counts from the Green Bay Packers' 44-31 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday:

Offense (76 total plays)

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers 76.

Offensive line: David Bakhtiari 76, Don Barclay 76, Evan Dietrich-Smith 76, T.J. Lang 76, Josh Sitton 76, Marshall Newhouse 5, Lane Taylor 1.

Receivers: Jordy Nelson 68, Jarrett Boykin 66, Myles White 58.

Running backs: Eddie Lacy 62, John Kuhn 29, James Starks 11.

Tight ends: Andrew Quarless 52, Brandon Bostick 26, Jake Stoneburner 2.

Rob Demovsky  wrote:

Coach Mike McCarthy used seven offensive linemen, adding Taylor and Newhouse as extra blockers, plus Bostick and Quarless, and Lacy still was stuffed for no gain.

When I first saw the play I was sure it was a 2-3 yard loss. If he was a no gain he really had to bust his chops to get back to the line.

Originally Posted by: wpr 

Don't get me wrong, there's a LOT to be happy about with the Packers in this game and in general, but I absolutely hated this play. It typifies the plight of our O Line. The only way they can do anything good is by hitting the opponent by surprise. If they basically man up and go toe to toe, there's just no way. That weakness manifests itself in pass blocking also - with Aaron Rodgers constantly pressured.

Thus, a pass-first attack is still absolutely the way to go - NOT wasting early downs with runs, just letting Rodgers hit them repeatedly, then handing it to Lacy for change of pace runs.

Originally Posted by: texaspackerbacker 

Last I saw the Packers were the top team in average yards gained on 1st down. I say they keep doing what they are doing on early downs.

Originally Posted by: steveishere 

Sunday night they got very little on first down runs.

Originally Posted by: wpr 

Averaging 5.5 a pop on 1st downs isn't very little. Anyways my point is they've done a good job of mixing things up this year and not being predictable and It seems to be working. I see no reason to focus more on passing than they have been recently.

Originally Posted by: steveishere 

You cut out over half my quote. Look at all the plays where they got little or nothing. And they played MN. If they do that against a quality team they would not be able to march down field like they did despite losing yards on first down. They had a lot more success passing than running on first down.

GB averaged 3.4 per run on first down in the first half. It jumped to 4.8 in the second half most of that coming on the first series of the 3rd quarter.

Passing average was 7.4 for the game.

Originally Posted by: wpr 

Based on what? They have overall been very successful on first down running this year despite facing some quality teams. I dont see where what theyve been doing is any sort of detriment. Should they just pass every down because thats what they are best at? Minnesota defense was obviously gassed in the 2nd half, gbs offense kicked their ass and I thought they had a great scheme for the game

Originally Posted by: steveishere