Mike McCarthy’s failure to see that running stops drives and passing on first down leads to scores continues to hurt the Packers. Despite struggling in games when the run is emphasized, and dominating in games when they pass on first downs and often, McCarthy continues to not get this. Recently, Rodgers came down on the gameplan, McCarthy let him pass a lot against the bears, and the Packers scored on basically every possession to win by a lot. When the Packers run, the games are close, and can go either way. Against Miami this week, the Packers passed on their first drive, scored a TD, then ran on their second drive and punted. When I saw the conservative gameplan, I said the game would come down to the end and could go either way, and that’s exactly what happened. The Packers were fortunate to win a game they should have won easily, but that’s been McCarthy’s gameplan for the majority of his time at Green Bay. He has cost them many wins, and many of their wins were close when they didn’t have to be.
Atlanta’s coach also doesn’t get it. Falcon receivers were wide open all game, but they continued to stall drives with runs. In the third quarter, down 13-10, I said if the Falcons run on second down, they won’t get a first down on that series. They ran, didn’t get a first down, and kicked a field goal to tie. The bears then scored a TD to go up 20-13. On the next drive, I said the same thing–if the Falcons run on second down, they won’t get a first down, and again, that’s what happened. They punted, the bears scored a TD to go up by 14, and the game was over. Coaches just don’t get this. The bears’ top 4 linebackers were out, and the secondary was hurt by injuries. Receivers were wide open, and they were running the ball. Granted, the Falcons dropped 7 passes which hurt them badly, but to not keep passing when the receivers were so open was ridiculous. Three starting offensive linemen were out for Atlanta, so why did they think they could run?