The red zone, formerly referred to as the gold zone in Green Bay, was the focal point of Thursday’s training camp practice, with the defense competing against the offense to see who would be doing up-downs at the end. The defense emerged victorious for the second consecutive day, but not without a valiant effort from second-year wide receiver Christian Watson.
Watson hauled in two touchdowns during the red zone period, both coming on back-to-back possessions, according to Packers Wire contributor Paul Bretl. On the first touchdown, Watson found space moving right to left across the field and caught an accurate pass from Jordan Love. Then, on the second touchdown, Watson ran a quick five-yard out route and made a contested catch with corner Rasul Douglas closing in a fraction of a second too late. After practice, Watson described the play’s impeccable timing.
“It was kind of like bang-bang. If it would have been an eighth of a second earlier or an eighth of a second later, it probably would have been different. It was a perfect ball, perfect placement by J Love, and the timing was just perfect.”
Green Bay hopes the chemistry Love and Watson build throughout training camp will turn into a deadly connection during the regular season. For that to happen, the two must be on the same page in crucial moments, like when the offense is deep inside the opponent’s territory.
As a receiver who tends to rely on his downfield speed to get open, the red zone presents a unique challenge for Watson. The field is more condensed, so the windows are tighter and it can be more difficult to beat defenses over the top. However, Watson appears to have a good grasp of what it takes to be successful inside the 20.
“I think it really comes down to understanding concepts and being at the right spot on time,” he said. “Everything happens a little faster in the red zone, so the faster you go out there and play and understand leverages and play off the (defensive back) quickly, the more plays you can make.”
“The concepts down there, it’s a lot of mesh stuff, it’s a lot of just finding the holes and sitting in the holes. So, the faster you can get to where you’re supposed to be, the faster Jordan can put it on us.”
As a rookie, Watson was in the right spot more times than not in the red zone, catching eight out of 13 targets for 54 yards and four touchdowns. Unfortunately, Green Bay’s offense as a whole struggled in that portion of the field for much of the 2022 season. Teamrankings.com ranked them 23rd overall in red zone efficiency last season with a touchdown percentage of 51.85. It was a considerable drop off from the 2020 offense scoring touchdowns on 76.81 percent of their red zone attempts and finishing first in the NFL. Former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett famously changed the name to the “gold zone” during that stretch.
Green Bay’s red zone offense may not be historically good in 2023, but it at least hopes to be better than it was a year ago. Matt LaFleur made it very clear that the red zone offense wasn’t up to their standard at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
“There is a lot we have to study this offseason,” LaFleur said after losing to the Detroit Lions in Week 18. “Whether it was poor play design, or lack of execution, or all of the above, it wasn’t good enough. We did a piss poor job in the red zone.”
What the team plans to do to improve their red zone offense this season remains to be seen, but competitive periods like the one at Thursday’s practice is an important part of the process.
