Quote Originally Posted by gbgary View Post
we've all said mm gets conservative with a lead, doesn't go for the jugular. that's all he said. no biggie.
No, that's not all he said, he said that McCarthy's supposed conservativism is the difference between Green Bay and New England, the difference in comparison to which every other difference is a difference without distinction. But is that really true? Which of the Packer playoff losses can be fairly attributed to McCarthy "not going for the jugular" when ahead? I can think of one example in which it could be argued that conservatism could be argued as the contributing factor to a loss. But there's a lot more to the story, don't you think? For one, there is the fact that the vast majority of playoff losses (six to be exact) did not happen because McCarthy took his foot off the gas--the Packers didn't even have 4th quarter leads in most if not all of them. But there's another piece too. I remember after the 2010-11 SB win Jennings was bemoaning what seemed like the offense's inability to seal the deal. He was speaking most immediately about the last 4th-quarter drive where GB had a chance to finish Pittsburgh off with a TD after they drove deep into Pitts territory but had to settle for three. But the wins at Philly and Chicago were also closer than they had to be. My question is, was it McCarthy's fault that the wins were a little too close for comfort because he took his foot off the gas? Or was it the offense's fault (failure to execute)? Or should we recognize, as the poster named Vince would say, that McCarthy's "conservative" strategy was actually successful in those games? The idea that McCarthy gets too conservative with the lead is based primarily on one disastrous playoff loss that does not guarantee its general validity.