Mike McCarthy, as he did last week, allowed a vastly inferior team to hang around and have a chance to win the game. Last week, the Packers led the Rams 10-6 at halftime, and this week they led the Jaguars 14-12 at halftime at home. It was a 21-15 game in the fourth quarter, meaning a Jaguar TD could have won the game. It would also have been important to get an early big lead, since the Packers were playing without many key starters on both sides of the ball, who were injured. So, what did McCarthy do?
First drive: Run on first down for 2 and punt. Drive stalled by first-down run.
Second drive, down 3-0: Pass for first down/run for 5, run for 3, scramble for first down/run for 1, pass for first down/run for 7, pass for 20/pass on first down for 5 yards and a TD.
Third drive: Pass incomplete, pass for 9, scramble for 1/run for loss of 1, pass for 6, pass incomplete, punt. Drive stalled by first-down run.
Runs continued to stall drives. Green, the Packers’ running back, finished 22 for 54! Dan Dierdorf, the announcer, said after another unsuccessful run, “You have to say the Packers are being consistent in trying to make their running game work.”
Late in the half, I believe Rodgers was 7 for 12 for 75 yards. The lack of emphasis on the passing game kept the offense out of synch all game, let the Jaguars hang around, and almost cost them the game. Green was 9 for 22 midway through the second quarter, I believe. When you let a team hang around, injuries, turnovers, fluke plays, etc. can all hurt you. An example was Rodgers’ fumble at the Packer 12 in the last minute of the half, resulting in a Jaguar TD.
Since the Jaguars scored at the end of the half to pull within 2, it was important for the Packers to be aggressive and score on their opening second-half drive to get the momentum back. What do they do? Run for 2, pass for 6, fumbled where the Jaguars recovered and returned it to the Packer 38, but keep the ball and get a first down on a penalty. A first-down run could have resulted in a critical turnover with the Jaguars having momentum, but they were fortunate the penalty occurred. Then, run for 4, pass incomplete, pass incomplete, and punt. Another drive stalled by a first-down run.
When it was 21-15, the Packers needed to score to go up 2 scores. They ran on first down for 3 and punted. The next time they had the ball, they ran on first down for 3, ran on second down for 0, then threw an incomplete pass, but got the first down on pass interference.
McCarthy hasn’t learned this yet, and it happens game after game. Two years ago it cost them 6 regular-season games and almost cost them more, and almost cost them 3 of the 4 playoff games.