Greg Jennings scored against the Saints after catching a back-shoulder throw from Aaron Rodgers. Credit: Tom Lynn

By of the

Green Bay - Nothing is said at the line. Nothing is signaled. This is a sixth sense.

Two receivers to his left and two to his right, Aaron Rodgers is in the shotgun on third and 4 from the New Orleans Saints' 7-yard line. The Green Bay Packers quarterback knows exactly how his first offensive drive of the season will finish. Zeroed in on Greg Jennings - wide left - from the snap, he zips the ball to the receiver's outside shoulder for a touchdown.

Saints cornerback Patrick Robinson slips, falls and Jennings drops to one knee to pray.

Poetry in motion.

"It's something that you can't anticipate," Jennings said. "It's a feel throw, a feel play."

It's also become one of this offense's go-to weapons in a hurry - the back-shoulder throw. After years of burning defenses with the deep ball, Rodgers' pinpoint accuracy has led to timely back-shoulder throws this season. The play is an obvious sign of just how far Mike McCarthy's offense has come, as it's complete football telepathy.

Both the quarterback and receiver - without saying a word in the huddle or on the line - must pull the trigger.

If the cornerback's blanketing the wideout tight on a 'go' route, Rodgers will sling it to his back shoulder. The pinpoint throw resulted in Jennings scoring touchdowns against Cleveland (21 yards) and Arizona (20 yards) in the preseason. Against the Saints, the duo struck for a third score and another 22-yard gain.

"Timing," Rodgers said. "It's all about timing. If you're good with your timing then you have a good chance. It's tough to defend. But if you're late and the defender turns his head, it can be an easy play for him. So it's all about the timing. It's a tool I think you need to use sparingly."

Rodgers didn't devise this throw in a lab with his superiors.

As quarterbacks coach Tom Clements deadpanned, the back-shoulder throw has been around forever. This is nothing new. When Clements played at Notre Dame and then in the Canadian Football League, he also used the throw. Just, you know, "not as well as Aaron," he said.

Accuracy and arm strength are both important. But here, timing is paramount.

"It's not a predetermined thing," Clements said. "You basically read how the defender's playing. If he's playing behind him, you throw it over the top. If he's running over the top, you throw it behind him. You're throwing at his disadvantaged leverage."

The main objective is to go for the slam dunk, to have the wide receiver flat out burn the cornerback deep.

Rodgers has had absolutely no problem with that. Almost instantly as the starter, he beat teams deep. Rodgers had a completion of at least 40 yards in 24 of his first 33 starts. Naturally, cornerbacks were drilled to be careful, to play the Packers' receivers a little looser. Either that or be posterized.

And Rodgers adjusted. Now, more and more, he's Michael Jordan in the late '90s. He's burning defenses with the 15-foot pull-up jumper.

Jennings, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson and James Jones have shown a comfort level with the back-shoulder throw. Even rookie Randall Cobb says he has caught a handful in practice.

No, Clements says, Green Bay has not made a specific effort to use it more. Rather, this has occurred organically. It's the latest evolution in McCarthy's West Coast offense.

"It is, it is with the success we've had with the deep ball vertically," Jennings agreed, listing all of the Packers' wideouts. "It really catches a DB off guard. It's something that you really can't defend.

"I've always said a perfect ball and a perfect route, you can't defend it anyway. But when you're throwing that back-shoulder with those two elements, it's impossible."

This throw is any offense's counterpunch to a purge of stronger, faster cornerbacks. Use that speed against them. Stride for stride, cornerbacks are helpless. The nonverbal read is disguised within an encyclopedia-dense playbook. Fitting that Jennings has a camouflaged safari hat perched in his locker.

Green Bay doesn't use the pass regularly, maintaining it's element of surprise. Despite Jennings' success with the play the past couple of years, defenses still haven't stopped him.

That doesn't mean it's easy. The pass must be perfect and the receiver must adjust in a millisecond. When the ball arrives, the receiver must corkscrew his body 180 degrees in an instant.

"You have to torque your body in a real funky way where you're not accustomed to doing on a down-to-down, day-to-day catch," Jennings said. "When the quarterback can put it where it needs to be, in the area you know it should be . . . we have a pretty good one that can do that."

A year ago, on a free play, Jones caught a 30-yard touchdown against Buffalo on a back-shoulder throw. There's no prejudice with this play. All receivers are aware Rodgers may go to it at any time. Of course, there's bound to be lemons. A glaring warning label is attached to the play.

If the receiver isn't in tune with the quarterback at that precise moment an interception is almost guaranteed.

Jones points to Green Bay's crushing 23-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins last season. Up the right sideline, he didn't turn quick enough and Rodgers' pass was easily picked off by Miami's Jason Allen.

"I had a bad release, the corner was running side-to-side with me and he tried to throw back shoulder," Jones said. "When I looked, the guy looked. He made a play on the ball."

The Packers have reached a point where such kinks are rare. Jones estimates these back-shoulder throws work 90% of the time during the game.

Chemistry is fortified behind those covered-fence practices. Green Bay's own corners have seen this play so much that Jones also says it only works 50% of the time in practice. Working against Tramon Williams, Charles Woodson and Sam Shields has forced them to break the play down to a science, forced them to make every inch count and develop that sixth sense.

Now?

"You can't stop it," Jones said. "The DB doesn't see it coming. It's difficult to stop. He's running full speed, thinking you're going to run a 'go' route, and the ball's back shoulder. Only we have a clock in our head at when we're supposed to look back."

This would seem to be one stark difference between Rodgers and his predecessor, Brett Favre. One prides himself on accuracy, on ball placement. The other was more riverboat gambler.

Wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett, who played five seasons with Favre, said the quarterback had the back-shoulder throw "in his toolbox." Still, he didn't use it as much as Rodgers.

As for those receivers who caught passes from Favre and Rodgers? Jones won't go there.

"I'm not answering that question," said Jones, smiling. "I don't answer Brett Favre questions."

Fair enough. With Rodgers, the play is working just fine.