More Banjo: Week 3 vs Lions

[pbmax]

This is just wrong.

Detroit was eating up possession in the second half with long sustained drives (due to Packers thin D).

We had one drive stall for a FG due to a holding penalty.

One drive end due to a drop by Cobb

Another drive basically end due to a Trevor Davis drop

In the above drives McCarthy called excellent plays, I believe. You want to run the clock out and put the team in manageable 3rd down distances. That was achieved but the players did not execute as well as they should have.

On the final drive Lacy made some great runs to end the game.

Now please explain to us how the foot was taken off the gas? Should we throw every single play and eat up only 20 seconds off the clock on a drive? Then we will be reading posts from you about how the play calling sucks and McCarthy didn't feed Lacy who had a great day?

Lacy had 17 carries. 6 in the first half when they forgot about the running the football more and had four straight scoring drives. In the second half, they gave him 11 carries and had one scoring drive. On their sole scoring drive, they gave him the ball 5 times, threw twice and had Rodgers scramble twice.

EDIT: Most likely, that's four called pass plays.

It was a good drive killed by a penalty. But that happens more often when you run.

My evidence of foot off the gas is first downs by half: 1-8-2 (run-pass-penalty) for a total of 11 in the first half. Second half? 1-5-0 for six total.

The offense disappeared on the scoreboard, field position and first downs when they ran more. The defense needed more help than just bleeding time.

[red]

Lacy had 17 carries. 6 in the first half when they forgot about the running the football more and had four straight scoring drives. In the second half, they gave him 11 carries and had one scoring drive. On their sole scoring drive, they gave him the ball 5 times, threw twice and had Rodgers scramble twice.

It was a good drive killed by a penalty. But that happens more often when you run.

My evidence of foot off the gas is first downs by half: 1-8-2 (run-pass-penalty) for a total of 11 in the first half. Second half? 1-5-0 for six total.

The offense disappeared on the scoreboard, field position and first downs when they ran more. The defense needed more help than just bleeding time.

haven't we seen the defense come out decent at the start of seasons before, only to be run down by the time the playoffs get him. losing the TOP battle by as much as we did today will to that to a defense over the course of the season, and games

[pbmax]

haven't we seen the defense come out decent at the start of seasons before, only to be run down by the time the playoffs get him. losing the TOP battle by as much as we did today will to that to a defense over the course of the season, and games

I am not a huge believer in TOP over the season causing an issue.

In a game, if its hugely one-sided? Yes.

But its more comfort and the ability to call ALL your offense and ALL your defense. If you are playing a style to bleed slowly, it becomes easier to take advantage of the defense. Same with the O. Nothing easier to defend or substitute for than run-run-pass.

[King Friday]

The offense disappeared on the scoreboard, field position and first downs when they ran more. The defense needed more help than just bleeding time.

I think I agree more with max and red that the offense became too conservative in the second half, which is certainly a trait of McCarthy when he gets a big lead. That isn't necessarily a trait that will doom your team, but it isn't one that is going to help your team either. With the Packer defense today basically trying to hold itself together with duct tape and band-aids, the offense needed to be more aggressive and score as many points as possible.

While the Lions certainly played better in the 2nd half and made sure we weren't going to score 31 additional, the fact that we only got a field goal in the second half and couldn't really put the dagger into a very hapless Lions team is concerning. I'm not lighting a pitchfork on fire and storming the Packer front offices on Monday, but there is a certain level of accountability that needs to happen...McCarthy should stand up and admit that he and the team need to work on this issue.

[red]

I think I agree more with max and red that the offense became too conservative in the second half, which is certainly a trait of McCarthy when he gets a big lead. That isn't necessarily a trait that will doom your team, but it isn't one that is going to help your team either. With the Packer defense today basically trying to hold itself together with duct tape and band-aids, the offense needed to be more aggressive and score as many points as possible.

While the Lions certainly played better in the 2nd half and made sure we weren't going to score 31 additional, the fact that we only got a field goal in the second half and couldn't really put the dagger into a very hapless Lions team is concerning. I'm not lighting a pitchfork on fire and storming the Packer front offices on Monday, but there is a certain level of accountability that needs to happen...McCarthy should stand up and admit that he and the team need to work on this issue.

except in nfc championship games of course

[Joemailman]

Lacy had 17 carries. 6 in the first half when they forgot about the running the football more and had four straight scoring drives. In the second half, they gave him 11 carries and had one scoring drive. On their sole scoring drive, they gave him the ball 5 times, threw twice and had Rodgers scramble twice.

EDIT: Most likely, that's four called pass plays.

It was a good drive killed by a penalty. But that happens more often when you run.

My evidence of foot off the gas is first downs by half: 1-8-2 (run-pass-penalty) for a total of 11 in the first half. Second half? 1-5-0 for six total.

The offense disappeared on the scoreboard, field position and first downs when they ran more. The defense needed more help than just bleeding time.

It was a good drive killed by a penalty on an attempted pass play. The fact that Rodgers had to twice pull the ball down and run on that drive might indicate that the Lions and had made some defensive adjustments, and what had worked so splendidly in the 1st half wasn't working as well now.

The main difference between 1-8-2 and 1-5-0 may have been the fact that the Lions had some long scoring drives in the second half. I understand the frustration people have. But I wonder how many coaches with a 21 point half time lead and a defense minus 5 starters wouldn't have tried to run the ball.

[ThunderDan]

We ran 30 plays in the 1st half. 1 FG, 21 passes and 8 runs. First half mix 28/72 run/pass mix.

This is probably why the 2nd half seemed so run heavy.

TOP by half

11:33 - 13:20 total 24:53.