McCarthy will have to learn from this

[BallHawk]

when they needed to sustain a drive they couldn't. they kept trying to take big chunks of yards instead of 4, 5, 6 yard chunks. the kind that move the chains, and wear down a team. this is on MM and offense.

Exactly. We scored TDs twice. First time was on one big play. Second time was on great field-position by Tramon's KR.

Bad coaching and bad execution.

[Jimx29]

First of all, cold had NOTHING to do with this loss. This is about inexperienced coaching.

First Bears game showed had has a way to go.

[Partial]

His biggest folly was not sticking with the run. Inexperienced coach making a knee-jerk reaction in a big game.

McCarthy is going to be a great coach, but he's got a lot to learn.

In my first half of viewing the game they could not move the ball at all on the ground. 2-3 yard gains don't win games.

Time to go watch the game. I'll be on from the lapper.

[CyclonePackFan]

Biggest mistake was 3rd and 3 at the 17 and we run a swing pass to the left. The ball was thrown 2 yards backwards. We get that first down, and possibly get a td out of it and go up by 4. But we had to kick the FG. I could not believe that pussy play call

Not a bad playcall. Lee missed his block. At that point the last thing you want to do is have a turnover. A screen reduces that chance.

That's exactly the point. If you don't want a turnover, why would you throw a backwards pass? Grant barely had time to catch the ball before he got hit, if he'd have dropped it we would have had a fumble.

[BallHawk]

A big problem was we would always pass on 1st down. To be an effective team you have to be able to put yourself in manageable situations. Having 2nd and 10 every drive puts you in an awkward situation. Run the ball on 1st down, then evaluate. Unfortunately, MM tried to go big on 1st down too often.

[Harlan Huckleby]

McCarthy looked about 15 years old with his chubby cheeks stuffed inside that face mask.

[4and12to12and4]

McCarthy looked about 15 years old with his chubby cheeks stuffed inside that face mask.

He sure looked better than Coughlin, huh? Talk about red in the face!! He probably still can't talk!!

[Harlan Huckleby]

coughlin looked about 90 years old with dead skin flaking off his face

[Bretsky]

Great year for a team that overachieved

That being said MM let us all down with his playcalling tonight. Played right into the Giants hands

[Fritz]

You hit it exactly on the head, Bretsky. Rookie-schmookie. Any coach - even the fans sitting in front of tv's, like us - could see that lateral passes and fifteen yard outs and other deep patterns were not working, period. One of McCarthy's strengths this year has been adjusting his game plan, but he did not do that at all last night.

It was terrible, terrible play-calling. M3 did not put his team in position to win. At some point the offensive line needed to be called upon to run-block for more than one in every four plays. At some point you ought to be using the bread-and-butter route of the west coast offense - the slant over the middle. Why M3 gave up on the run, and why he called so many A) lateral passes (ball travels fifteen yards - receiver gets it two yards behing the line of scrimmage) and B) long passes - the fifteen to twenty yard variety - is beyond me. And also, the screen was not working all night. Give it up.

Here's a case in point: overtime, your ball. Second and eight. What say you give the ball to Grant, and he ekes out two yards. Now you have a third and six, something that a short route over the middle can gain for you. But no.

Consistently M3 would call for long, difficult passes on first and/or second down. Then on third and ten, he'd finally call the little five/six yard gainers he should've called on first or second down.

I thought his game plan - outside the first two plays of the game, which we rarely saw again - was abysmal. Atrocious. Sh_tty. He did not put that team in a position to win.

[pbmax]

I don't think the players put the team in a position to win either. Bretsky had it right in the Where was Bretsky Thread. Who had a good game? The O Line was good in pass protection. But they blocked exactly one run well. If M3 had tried that running game more this thread would be the same except the terrible playcalling would be runs that clearly weren't going to work instead of screen passes.

The corners struggled, especially Harris. Down the stretch, they looked old.

Poppinga had a good game against the Jacobs. Hawk whiffed on a run stuff of Bradshaw. Barnett was MIA.

No pass rush except the greatest snap anticipation of all time with KGB. Of course, since it was KGB, he did nothing else all night. I was worried about pass rush last offseason and it came up and bit us hard in the second half.

What worries me most is that with money and draft picks, our defense moved up a notch, but that was it. Cole and Jolly being lost really hurt as by the 4th quarter, we were out of gas.

I do second the notion that we need Harrell and Muir and I didn't see them giving the DTs a rest.

[Fritz]

I don't think the players put the team in a position to win either. Bretsky had it right in the Where was Bretsky Thread. Who had a good game? The O Line was good in pass protection. But they blocked exactly one run well. If M3 had tried that running game more this thread would be the same except the terrible playcalling would be runs that clearly weren't going to work instead of screen passes.

The corners struggled, especially Harris. Down the stretch, they looked old.

Poppinga had a good game against the Jacobs. Hawk whiffed on a run stuff of Bradshaw. Barnett was MIA.

No pass rush except the greatest snap anticipation of all time with KGB. Of course, since it was KGB, he did nothing else all night. I was worried about pass rush last offseason and it came up and bit us hard in the second half.

What worries me most is that with money and draft picks, our defense moved up a notch, but that was it. Cole and Jolly being lost really hurt as by the 4th quarter, we were out of gas.

I do second the notion that we need Harrell and Muir and I didn't see them giving the DTs a rest.

some good points, oh mad rat, but I disagree with the statement about the running game. Again, I think M3 called a bad game. How many times did he try longer routes, only to end up with third-and-tens during which he'd finally call that short route over the middle - the one that gains the team six or seven yards.

More running plays - even of the two to three yard variety - would set up the third and sixes that become manageable with the short passing game.

And where were the slants?

[Patler]

Again, I think M3 called a bad game. How many times did he try longer routes, only to end up with third-and-tens during which he'd finally call that short route over the middle - the one that gains the team six or seven yards.

...or screen passes that required 15 yac to get the first down.

Lots of passes the first couple drives didn't surprise me. Do it while you can, before everyone freezes up, and maybe to loosen up the defense a little. But it seemed most passes were thrown 20 yards downfield, or behind the line of scrimmage. That's not the offense that got them to the Championship game.

[pbmax]

Patler (and others) have made a good point about this. At some point, midseason, Redskins?, the opponents began to take extraordinary measures to stop the inside passing game. Play inside technique on slot receivers, move a safety down into range, not for the run D, but for routes in the middle.

I understood when we adjusted to such coverage by throwing outside and deep more, especially when Grant began to roll.

But sometime, it might have been good to go back to the inside stuff, wouldn't it? Did defenses adopt the Redskins measures for the rest of the season?

Again, I think M3 called a bad game. How many times did he try longer routes, only to end up with third-and-tens during which he'd finally call that short route over the middle - the one that gains the team six or seven yards.

...or screen passes that required 15 yac to get the first down.

Lots of passes the first couple drives didn't surprise me. Do it while you can, before everyone freezes up, and maybe to loosen up the defense a little. But it seemed most passes were thrown 20 yards downfield, or behind the line of scrimmage. That's not the offense that got them to the Championship game.