Counter Strong Cutup with Matt LaFleur and the Packers

Counter is an auxiliary run for the Packers. In recent seasons, Matt LaFleur and his staff have designed some nice variations.

On counter Strong, the addition of a FSTE allows the offense to block 5-down fronts with more combinations instead of 1 on 1’s.

The FSTE and the lead blocker (U/F) have the first two off-ball players. The front will dictate who blocks who. The FSTE will usually arc against a 6-technique for the safety, or work down with the PST against a wide-9.

This first example utilizes some misdirection off escort motion from a pistol set. The Odd front from the defense stunts play side, and they bring the weak safety off the edge. This gives the blocking scheme some trouble. The stunt takes away the angle of the PSG on the nose, and the blocking scheme is not able to account for the safety.

Tough look, but creative way to get to a core gap scheme.

Later in the season, Green Bay would incorporate an RPO on the back side to help account for the issue we saw above with the free safety. This version is of the GT variety, swapping the BST for the off-ball TE as the lead blocker.

The Stick combination is designed to account for secondary pressure on the back side. The read for the quarterback in this design is the nickel/secondary player. The use of 11 personnel helps clear up the read for Love, using a slot receiver as the sift block.

Normally, the PSTE will be arcing for secondary support. With the Mike triggering right away, the TE takes the most dangerous. I drew up the typical blocking assignments for teaching purposes, but the cutup below will show how it played out.

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The cutup below shows 15 clips of Counter Strong runs from the 2025 Packers: