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Was Green Bay's NFC Championship Loss Mike McCarthy's Fault?

" ...“If you want to question my play calling … I’m not questioning it."

"I came in here to run the ball. The one statistic I had as far as a target to hit was 20 rushing attempts in the second half, I thought that would be a very important target to hit for our offense.” ..." Mike McCarthy ...Fr. Article


Comment woodbuck27:

This is a tough day in the life of Mike McCarthy having learned yesterday (Wed. 21 Jan. 2015) that his younger brother Joe McCarthy passed away suddenly. That tragedy for Mike McCarthy is being covered in it's own thread.

I expect he'll try to deal with this tragedy by simply getting back to work and trying to be as effective or purposeful as possible. We all know the effect short term of such loss can be somewhat or more a negative. Mike McCarthy has to be smart enough to seek any support he may require.

This thread is about football and looking at the past to understand it hopefully for an improved future. The fact that a large part of the loss in Seattle is on Mike McCarthy's election of how to call the game; is made clearly evident in this article.
We often see Mike McCarthy make a change in his play calling that's not sensible. It's the old saying:

"Why change what's working for you."

Many of us have a stubborn streak at least..... sometimes.

As I observe Mike McCarthy one of my observations is that he often gets the blinders on.

I believe I suggested early in the Game Day thread what MM might do to give his team a decent chance against a team that was expected to defeat the Green Bay Packers. I certainly did so in other posts. I wrote of the battle I had to want to will a win for the Packers but that gut feeling escaped me. I ended the post predicting the final score.

Back on point:

Mike McCarthy damned himself in this game (before it even started) by trying to meet a target of a certain number of running plays when he has the NFL MVP playing QB for him. The way he changed up his play calling in the second half was a clear error. Aaron Rodgers knows that and anyone worth their salt as an analyst knows that TRUTH.

The proof of that was in the pudding. Mike McCarthy spoiled his pudding in the second half with the Green Bay Packers leading 16-0. Mike McCarthy became as he often is 'anal' in his style of play calling. Mike McCarthy fails to drive the stake home.This article makes that fact clear.

Studying ** the Play by Play for yourself makes that very clear. Mike McCarthy's play calling leads all in terms of why the Green Bay Packers suffered it's worst defeat in history.

As Jordy nelson said (and I paraphrase):

"Just four more points on the board for the Packers makes that a different game."

Just 1-2 more first downs would have likely done it.

The two '3 and outs', late in the Fourth Quarter before the drive for the game tying FG hurt !

The Game Play by Play:

** http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201501...yze=playbyplay

Final Comment woodbuck27:

No one can learn from their error if they refuse to admit error. Real living means learning every single day.

Mike McCarthy has a lot to learn from 'how he failed ' as a play caller in the second half of the Packers collapse.