Luke Getsy, the new offensive coordinator, was the wide receivers’ coach the next two years after working under McCarthy in Green Bay from 2014 to 2015 as an offensive quality control coach. Joe Philbin, a veteran offensive assistant hired by the Raiders more recently, has been acquainted with McCarthy for almost twenty years.

After McCarthy took over as head coach of the Packers in 2006, he appointed Philbin as offensive line coach. The next season, McCarthy promoted Philbin to offensive coordinator. Before taking over as head coach of the Miami Dolphins and going back to Green Bay in 2018 to take up his position as the team’s playcaller, the latter held that position for five seasons. In addition, from 2020 to 2022, the two coaches collaborated in Dallas.

Edgar Bennett, who has been the wide receivers coach for the Raiders since 2018, worked under McCarthy in Green Bay from 2006 to 2017, serving as the offensive coordinator for a brief period of time.

In summary, the offensive that the Silver and Black will use in 2024 may resemble that which the Packers ran under McCarthy. Now, let’s examine one of the coach’s best teams, the Cheeseheads, from 2014, when the squad led the NFL in points scored. Even though Philbin was not a member of the particular staff, Getsy and Bennett were on the team, and the system was comparable to his work.

Playing a Running Game

Antonio Pierce has stated that he wants an offense that is based on running the ball ever since he became head coach of Las Vegas. Well, Pierce will receive the kind of play calling he desires if the Raiders adopt the 2014 Packers strategy.

According to Pro Football Reference, Green Bay was just 20th in passing attempts that season and rated 14th in running attempts. On the ground, the offensive proved to be remarkably effective as well, placing 11th in rushing yards and 10th in yards per rush. Eddie Lacy, a powerful bruiser for the Packers, was a major contributing factor in that.

Of all running backs with at least 78 attempts, Lacy tied for eighth place with 4.7 yards per carry during the regular season, having gained the seventh-most with 1,140 yards. With 161 carries, or 65.7% of his total attempts, he had the eighth-most zone runs, according to Pro Football Focus. The Raiders may switch to a more zone-based rushing style in the upcoming season because that rate was comparable to that of Green Bay’s other backs.

That year, gaining yards after contact was one of Lacy’s strengths. He was seventh in the league in total yards after first contact (690) and tied for fifth in efficiency (2.82 YCO per carry) as a result of gaining more than 60% of his rushing yards in this manner.

To put things in perspective, Zamir White averaged 3.21 yards per attempt last season and gained 74 percent of his rushing yards after contact. However, White’s sample size was far smaller than Lacy’s (245 carries vs. 104 for White), and those numbers would probably decline with further touches. Additionally, White’s split between zone and gap runs was about equal, with the latter being where he fits best, so regression from his 2023 stats could result.

Attacking Passively

In my last analysis of Getsy’s strategy, I focused on Aidan O’Connell’s role. When examining the play-action tendency of the 2014 Packers offense, I found some consistency.

According to PFF, that season, Aaron Rodgers used a run fake on 24.1% of his dropbacks, ranking him 11th out of quarterbacks with at least 140 dropbacks. Since the league has recently pushed for more play-action, Rodgers’ standing here is more important than the percentage to account for the different eras. If the bar is raised to 300 dropbacks, he goes up to the eighth-highest rate.

Expect the Raiders to assault the middle of the field in 2024 as well, as Getsy’s offensive and the 2014 Packers team share the same motif in that area. Sixty-one percent of Rodgers’ 388 passes made after the line of scrimmage were in between the numbers.

Deep attempts are one area where Getsy’s play-calling varies from Green Bay’s attack from a decade ago.

56 times in 2014, Rodgers completed a pass 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage, tying him for 16th place among quarterbacks. Even after accounting for every throw he attempted, Rodgers only made deep throws on 10.8% of them, which tied for 31st place. As the Packers’ coordinator of the passing game, Getsy never saw his percentage drop below 13.0 percent.