Packers’ Jon Runyan Had ‘No Idea’ About NFL’s QB-Sneak Point of Emphasis

Packers guard Jon Runyan talked about his two offside penalties that ruined the Packers’ success on fourth-and-1 sneaks last week.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On fourth-and-1 with about 6 minutes to play in the first quarter on Sunday, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love took the snap and burrowed ahead for the required yard and a first down, but Jon Runyan was flagged for lining up offside.

On fourth-and-1 with about 8 minutes to play in the first half, Love took the snap and drove forward for 2 yards and a first down. Once again, Runyan was flagged for lining up offside.

“I guess it was a point of emphasis with the officials,” Runyan explained on Wednesday. “I wish I would’ve been told that for the first one. It’s something that’s got to be communicated better. That’s the NFL trying to phase that play out slowly.”

Asked later if it’s rare for the NFL to have an in-season point of emphasis, Runyan offered an interesting answer.

“I think they have a point of emphasis every week,” he said. “Apparently, they send out a weekly video talking about that. Apparently, that was in the weekly video but I had no idea. I didn’t even know they sent out a weekly video on points of emphasis. That was on it (last) week and you can tell they were definitely looking for it because they called it twice on us.”

Presumably, the Packers got that video. Why it wasn’t shared with Runyan is an interesting question. Runyan was in midanswer when the clock ran out on the daily media availability.

Jon Runyan :: Photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports Images

The Packers have not been a big quarterback-sneak team over the years but they ran three against the Rams. All three were successful – with the obvious yellow-flag asterisks.

Why? Good matchups inside, with Runyan, center Josh Myers and left guard Elgton Jenkins providing the muscle vs. the Rams’ front. 

So, just because they 3-for-3 against the Rams (sort of) doesn’t mean they’ll be sneaking on their first fourth-and-1 play on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I think it varies week to week with what body types we’re going against,” Runyan said. “I remember going into this (last) week talking to Josh and Jordan, we thought that we could use it to our advantage and save our more creative short-yardage plays for further down in the season when we need it and looking to change something up.

“We liked the matchup inside on the quarterback sneak and were able to get them three times. Two of them got called back but that’s just how it is.”

The first two were old-school quarterback sneaks. The third, which officially wrapped up the 20-3 victory, took a page form the Eagles’ famous “Tush Push.”

It’s even got a name.

“The Love Shove.”

On fourth-and-1 from the 47, Love got some help from his friends for 2 yards.

“It’s an effective play,” Runyan said. “I think defenses are going to have start trying to game plan. I really don’t know how you can stop it; it’s tough. It’s going to be difficult to cover and I feel like as long as it worked, we’re going to keep doing it.”

The victory over the Rams snapped a four-game losing streak. They had gained 230, 285, 331 and 270 yards in those games. Against Los Angeles, Green Bay piled up a season-high 391 yards.

Now, they’ve got to do it again against a typically strong Steelers defense.

“Even last week, there’s a bunch of mistakes,” Runyan said. “Bunch of bad penalties: We had the offsides, a few false starts, couple holdings. There’s still a lot of stuff out there to clean up. We had a pretty good game, threw the ball well and rushed for almost 200 yards. Anytime you can do that, it’s going to be good for us.

“The defense played outrageous. They didn’t even give up a touchdown and barely gave up a field goal. That’s just who they are. I feel like we’ve been putting them in some bad spots all year. I think it’s up to us to try to carry them along because they’ve been playing really well for us all year. It’s up to us to put some points on the board, especially in the first half. We can’t have them trying to pitch a shutout every game.”

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