The Green Bay Packers inability to run the football effectively in the early portion of the season is tied to their learning the new zone blocking scheme. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that the struggles are due in part to being able to shut down the backside pursuit. Obviously the Packers need more work.
Question is, how does a team that's having a hard time with the scheme and the fundamentals of blocking in that scheme get any better if they don't work on it? McCarthy will tell you that they do enough drill work in practice and the players should be able to figure it out. But a big part of the zone blocking scheme, especially blocking the backside is done by cutblock. The cutblock is a legal block, but most defenders will tell you it's cheap and causes injuries. Therefore, the Packers are unwilling to cutblock their own defenders in practice.
My thinking process here is, if you're unwilling to cutblock your own players in practice, then maybe the practice should be outlawed. Mike McCarthy has repeatedly said they teach the cutblock properly and within the rules. But maybe the NFL needs to figure this one out. If teams won't practice the cutblock against their own people because they fear injury, then why is this practice allowed at all. Perhaps if it wasn't, the Packers might be a little further ahead in where they stand with their run game.
I haven't found anybody that likes the cut block, so maybe the NFL should just get rid of it.