McCarthy - Where is thou sack??

[MadtownPacker]

OK, I was down about the loss yesterday but I am super mega pissed this morning. Why? Well it is simple, the defense did not lose that game last night. Other than the big Felix Jones run for a TD and that no name WR scoring that big passing TD the D was fine. Not bad with the offense not being able to sustain drives and getting the defense tired. Am I pissed off at the O for not being able to sustain drives? Nope. Yes, Grant needs to be benched until he is healthier because at this point I feel he is hurting the run game but the bottom line is you cant expect an offense to get any type of rhythm going with the punk ass playcalling of M3. Why the hell did he feel the need to run on 1st and 2nd down all game???? I recall many criticizing Sherman for this and I agreed back then. Well now M3 is pulling the same stunt and I aint letting it slide.

The cowboys are the better team, I get that, but if you can't honestly say there where several points where the game could have turned in the Packs favor then you are lying to yourself. How the hell is Rodgers suppose to get it going when M3 handicaps him with that BS playcalling? He needed to open the offensive up and open it up early. I honestly wouldnt give a damn if Rodgers had lost the game with his arm but his coach never put him in position to win it and that sucks! The 2nd half was all McCarthy trying to keep the score respectable IMO. He did his team no favors last night and he better find his sack cuz Im starting to be disgusted by his playcalling.

[hoosier]

I don't understand why people get upset when McCarthy calls running plays on early downs. In fact, I would like to see more of it sometimes. In the NFL, history shows over and over again that when offenses become predictable they are less effective. The second half of last year was case in point. Grant frequently had bad runs early on, but by staying with it McCarthy was able to keep the defense on their heels.

Did you see what happened to the Packers offense when McCarthy went shotgun and four wides repeatedly on early downs? He started doing that early in the second quarter, if memory serves, and sure enough the offense started bogging down. The Cowboys began bringing more pressure and pass protection began looking shakey.

The Packers problem last night wasn't calling too many run plays on 1st and 2nd downs. It was their inability to stop the run. Barber and the Dallas OL more or less had their way with the Packers front seven, and when they began overplaying Barber they got burned on the Felix Jones misdirection play (I only saw one replay of that, but it looked like Barnett in particular totally bit on the fake to Barber. No doubt because they were getting run over by Barber at that point).

[MadtownPacker]

In the NFL, history shows over and over again that when offenses become predictable they are less effective.So running it on 1st and 2nd down over and over is not predictable?

[pbmax]

Who cares if its predictable? It was working. We had a lot of reasonable third down distances. We stunk at converting third down. They ran for a TD in the third period against a fresh D.

And with 22 total rushes on 64 some plays, he obviously wasn't running on every first and second down.

[pbmax]

This, however, is some fine reasoning. No sarcasm, seriously.

OK, I was down about the loss yesterday but I am super mega pissed this morning. Why? Well it is simple, the defense did not lose that game last night. Other than the big Felix Jones run for a TD and that no name WR scoring that big passing TD the D was fine.

[MTPackerfan]

I agree on the comment about Grant not being healthy (100%) yet. It seemed to me that Jackson actually ran better than Grant yesterday. He had three or four runs in a row on that one series and gained like 17 yards. Other than the run where Grant fumbled, he didn't get more than about 3 yards per carry.

[bobblehead]

In the NFL, history shows over and over again that when offenses become predictable they are less effective.So running it on 1st and 2nd down over and over is not predictable?

Somewhere around page 13 of the game blog I posted that this was the time we needed to come out and run it down there throats...rest the D and work that DL....MM came out and passed on first and second.

Conclusion..I think we see what frustrates us and don't notice when we get what we want and it fails. There is nothing wrong with the playcalling, play execution on the other hand left some to be desired.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Who cares if its predictable? It was working.

no it wasn't. the controlled offense you advocated was doomed because the opposition was bigger and better. There's a reason the Packers converted a poor percentage of third downs. The Packers needed to open-up the offense on early down to have any chance.

Appalachian State didn't beat Michigan by playing smash-mouth football.

The Packers had their greatest success in the no-huddle offense.

[Patler]

I didn't see the emphasis on running every first and second down that some of you apparently did, except to start the second half when they were very obvious in an attempt to establish a running game after going away from it in the 1st half.

[retailguy]

I didn't see the emphasis on running every first and second down that some of you apparently did, except to start the second half when they were very obvious in an attempt to establish a running game after going away from it in the 1st half.

Eh, well maybe, or maybe not. Perhaps the gameplan was too conservative, might be a better way to place it. There was no seeming sense of urgency to change things in the 3rd qtr, that troubled me.

Dallas was just seemingly patient, knowing that they'd wear out the Packers Defense and it would be all over, and that's exactly what happened.

Maybe Hawk should have drawn the short straw to "shadow" Marion Barber in the second half. He was the ONLY Packers defender that was remotely capable of stopping Barber by himself....

[Harlan Huckleby]

I chose "hell yes, he did", but I would omit the reference to a firey inferno. It probably wouldn't have worked even if they did open up the offense more.

[Freak Out]

Did the Cowboys ever bring the corners up tight? I seem to remember them playing off all night on the outside.

[texaspackerbacker]

I have practically NEVER criticized anything McCarthy does--partly because I like most of it, and partly because he took the team to 13-3/14-4 last year, seemingly against all odds, certainly against the predictions of all "experts".

I voted "yes" here, though. Why? Because that last Packer drive says volumes. The Cowboys were NOT in a Prevent Defense. They were set up to stop EXACTLY what the Packers were doing--short and medium range passes. And they didn't seem to let up on the pass rush from what they'd done all night either. Did Rodgers panic/screw up/throw interceptions? Hell No. It seems to me that McCarthy was kinda babying Rodgers along, even after his first two excellent games, until that drive, when the situation was desperate if not already lost.

Running the ball simply wasn't getting the job done--take your pick of reason, Grant playing hurt, outmanned O Line, outstanding defense, whatever. I think going to what the Packers do best--using the pass to set up the run/passing often, but carefully--like Rodgers did that last drive--woulda worked the whole game. And then, when the defense starts to adjust, you break Grant loose for a long gainer--which the Cowboys second level, NOT their line, was preventing all night.

[mraynrand]

I didn't see the emphasis on running every first and second down that some of you apparently did, except to start the second half when they were very obvious in an attempt to establish a running game after going away from it in the 1st half.

And the running was probably to keep possession since they were already giving up long sustained drives defensively. Second, the Dallas ass rush was very effective. I haven't had time to go back and look at the numbers, but Rodgers was seeing a of of pressure and it was coming quick. You have to run the ball some to counter that. At times the pressure was so quick that Rodgers had his first read and that was it. Especially on the bang-bang slant that just missed Driver.

[Partial]

How can anyone say the playcalling was fine? Was what our longest pass attempt, 20 yards in the air? The reason the offense worked so well last year was the ability to go deep.

[Lurker64]

How can anyone say the playcalling was fine? Was what our longest pass attempt, 20 yards in the air? The reason the offense worked so well last year was the ability to go deep.

You can't throw the ball to guys who are covered, Dallas was playing off and deep, and the middle of the field (the 7-9 yard routes) were more or less open. You throw to where the defender isn't. Dallas schemed to take away the deep pass so we tried to hit them with the underneath stuff. Didn't work as well as it could have, but if we'd have pressed the issue with deep passes, we'd have thrown a lot more interceptions and incompletions.

[Carolina_Packer]

On the short to intermediate routes, when the receiver caught the ball, the Dallas D seemed to be there to prevent a lot of YAC. I never know whether to blame play calling or play execution. Obviously if you call the wrong play against the defensive formation, you're not going to have a lot of success. If you call a fine play but the protection breaks down before the QB can get a pocket, or he has to scramble to set/throw and the receivers have to change their first route, it can be a challenge. There were some plays by the Dallas offense when Romo had all day and he made completions. If he had thrown the ball badly, would it have been a bad play call? Not necessarily.

[Partial]

How can anyone say the playcalling was fine? Was what our longest pass attempt, 20 yards in the air? The reason the offense worked so well last year was the ability to go deep.

You can't throw the ball to guys who are covered, Dallas was playing off and deep, and the middle of the field (the 7-9 yard routes) were more or less open. You throw to where the defender isn't. Dallas schemed to take away the deep pass so we tried to hit them with the underneath stuff. Didn't work as well as it could have, but if we'd have pressed the issue with deep passes, we'd have thrown a lot more interceptions and incompletions.

Yes, you can throw the ball to guys who are covered. I'll take my chances with 6'3" Jordy and Jennings and his solid ball skills. Hamlin is bad in coverage, and with Newman out there corners left a lot to be desired.

When theres 5.5 minutes left and you need 3 scores, you take the shot deep and risk the interception because if you don't score quick you're going to run out of time. Almost 3 and a half minutes on a drive with less than 5.5 minutes left when they're down by 18. That is crazy talk.

[BF4MVP]

I didn't have a problem with the playcalling, really..Pass protection yes, but I thought the playcalling was fine.

[mission]

I love MM as the leader of this team in general but man his playcalling and gametime decision making is grading in the C or B- range for me ...

[Freak Out]

How can anyone say the playcalling was fine? Was what our longest pass attempt, 20 yards in the air? The reason the offense worked so well last year was the ability to go deep.

How long was that pass to 80?

[cpk1994]

I don't understand why people get upset when McCarthy calls running plays on early downs. In fact, I would like to see more of it sometimes. In the NFL, history shows over and over again that when offenses become predictable they are less effective. The second half of last year was case in point. Grant frequently had bad runs early on, but by staying with it McCarthy was able to keep the defense on their heels.

Did you see what happened to the Packers offense when McCarthy went shotgun and four wides repeatedly on early downs? He started doing that early in the second quarter, if memory serves, and sure enough the offense started bogging down. The Cowboys began bringing more pressure and pass protection began looking shakey.

The Packers problem last night wasn't calling too many run plays on 1st and 2nd downs. It was their inability to stop the run. Barber and the Dallas OL more or less had their way with the Packers front seven, and when they began overplaying Barber they got burned on the Felix Jones misdirection play (I only saw one replay of that, but it looked like Barnett in particular totally bit on the fake to Barber. No doubt because they were getting run over by Barber at that point).Exactly. You have to stay with it. YOu cannot abandon a part of the gamelpan becuase its not working. MIke SHerman did that a lot and it cost the Packers heavlily. MM run philospohies on 1st down are no different than Shermans and he was pretty successfull with it no matter how annoying it got to fans.

[pbmax]

64 plays. 21 rushes, 43 passes or sacks.

Apparently, we had 11 first down plays, 10 second down plays and 43 third down plays. I didn't think this was mathematically possible.