Mike McCarthy continues to cost the Packers games with a conservative offensive strategy on first downs. This strategy has cost them numerous games over the years and makes wins much closer than they should be. Previous posts have documented many examples. Today’s opener against the 49ers is just another example of him not understanding this.
The Packers should come out aggressively offensively in every game, and not ease up until the game is in hand and the other team can’t come back. The few times they do this, they win easily, but when they run on first downs, they lose or games are close. In addition, their defense didn’t play well last year and didn’t play well today, which makes it even more important to score a lot of points.
I’ve said many times the tone of games can be set in the first half or first three quarters. If you aren’t aggressive and don’t build a big lead, you let the other team hang around and get confidence. I’ve also said when the Packers throw on first down, they get a first down on that series, but when they run on first down, they punt. Let’s look at today’s game, possession by possession for the first three quarters.
First quarter:
Pass for first down. Run for 1 yard, get sacked, get first down on a penalty. Run for 1 yard, get first down. Run for 4 yards, punt.
Run for 3 yards, pass for first down. Pass, get first down. Run for 2 yards, punt.
Second quarter (down 3-0 to start quarter, but down 10-0 when get the ball):
Pass for first down. Pass, get first down. Pass, get first down. Run for 1 yard, get first down by passing. Pass, get first down on penalty. Pass for TD.
They got the ball back with less than a minute to play in the half and punted.
Third quarter (down 16-7):
Run for 2 yards, punt. 49ers score TD on their drive to go up 23-7.
Pass for first down. Run for 1 yard, pass for first down. Run for 3 yards, punt.
Pass, get first down. Pass for first down.
The Packers were down 23-7 after 3 quarters due to the ridiculously conservative gameplan, which has never worked for them. The one drive they did throw almost every play, they scored a touchdown. When they were down 16-7 at halftime, I said they needed to come out aggressively on offense to score, cut the deficit, and get momentum. What does McCarthy do? He runs on first down on the first possession, punts, and the 49ers score a TD on their drive. He then runs on 2 of the 3 first downs on the next drive and punts again!
When McCarthy plays against a very good defense, such as the 49ers’, he tends to get conservative and run a lot on first down, instead of being aggressive and passing on first down. The run-first strategy has not worked for the Packers since the beginning of the Favre years, yet he continues to do this and it continues to cost them.
In addition, the 49ers lined up for a 63-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, which would tie the NFL record for distance. Instead of having a tall player at the goal line to possibly block the kick, such as Jermichael Finley, McCarthy has his regular returner deep. The ball hits the crossbar and bounces through, while Finley could have blocked this.
Larry, Larry……….first of all I am pretty sure that it would be illegal for
a guy to stand in front of the goal post and block the field goal if he could,
because the ball would be on it’s way “down” and that is illegal to block at
that point. They would have to block it on it’s way up which would be impossible
at the goal post!
Also, don’t you think Larry would give the S.F. 49’ers some credit for clearly
“dominating” a game in Green Bay? Of course not, because he is a Vinciest and
they believe that the Packers should never lose!
If you are correct that you can’t block a field goal on its way down, I will take back that statement. I did not think that was a rule. Give the 49ers credit for what? It looked like they dominated (and only won by 8) because the Packers kept running on first down and punting. That makes them look bad and gives the other team confidence and momentum. Had the Packers passed on first down and almost every down, the Packers dominate. This is the pattern that’s been obvious for years, including the entire Favre era. The Packers basically made no effort to score for most of the first three quarters. The one drive they did pass a lot, they scored a touchdown.