I will agree to this. But no way in the world should the middle of the end zone had been left open on that last TD they gave up 1, and 2 they should have used Joe Thomas their Best pass covering lb in that situation vs Jake Ryan who had no chance at staying with Sanu. You can't have those type of personnel blunders in a tight game.
Other than Jones who was doubled low/high all day, it's pretty clear Caper's chief concern with this call was Freeman. To your point regarding Thomas vs. Ryan, you have to keep in mind it was 1st. and 10, Atlanta having 2 timeouts and plenty of time to run a several plays. Having the standard nickel D on the field to hedge run or pass is hardly a bad decision.
Here's a little more breakdown that puts a little different slant on it:
So, Capers dialed up a 3-stack zone coverage on the defense's right side, with Hyde having underneath zone and (picking up Freeman) with Gunter and Dix low/high on Jones. Check and check.
Burnett was near the hash on the opposite side in position to defend the middle, but when Martinez released the TE Burnett had to go with him to the corner opening the middle. Martinez stayed stuck in the short middle. When the opposite wideout crossed short, Goodson went with him. It looked like Goodson had man on that side...he stayed with him all the way from press to the throw.
Martinez and Goodson could have shook hands when the ball was thrown, not a good look.
What was Martinez doing? This wasn't even play action. Spying Ryan? That would not make much sense. Hyde was in short right zone, Ryan was in the middle, Burnett could have kept the high middle position if Ryan went with that 4.70 TE.
If one wants to do woulda, coulda, shoulda, I would say Martinez should have stayed with the TE allowing Burnett to defend the middle high zone. I have not watched Butler's play breakdowns this season. He'll probably go over this play this week. I'll be interested to see what he has to say about it; remind me if I forget. I doubt the Packers will ever specify where the breakdown occurred; they rarely do for good reason.
There's another possibility I might entertain:
We were told at the start of the season that Martinez would be making the defensive calls. I've noticed from week 2 forward that Ryan is doing hand signals and moving guys around. Even on this play, he turns to the right side D backfield and gives a signal.
I don't read much analyst coverage anymore, so if it was reported that the signal calling responsibility was changed, somebody let me know. It not being reported doesn't mean it wasn't, but it would be nice to know if it can be confirmed.
It's possible there was a Ryan-Martinez miscommunication.
But we should keep in mind it was first down, with time and timeouts remaining. I suspect if it had not been this play it would have been one of the next handful.
