These are the things Mike McCarthy DOES understand: He understands the Packers were going on the road to play one of the best teams in the league. He understands the team they were playing was coming off a bye week, so they had two weeks to prepare for the game. He understands the Packers are decimated by injuries, missing many key starters and backups on both sides of the ball, and are playing with third-string players in some key positions, such as offensive line, which has to go against the great Giant defensive line. So, I’m sure McCarthy realized this would be a very difficult game to win under any circumstances, mostly due to the injuries.
This is what Mike McCarthy DOES NOT understand: When you take all of the above into consideration, especially the injuries, it becomes extremely important to try to get an early lead and momentum to give your team confidence, hurt the other team’s confidence, reduce the pressure on your team to score and defend since you’re playing with backups, and put pressure on the opponent to have to score and defend. So, let’s see what McCarthy does.
The Giants scored a touchdown on their opening drive, of course through passing. On the Packers’ first drive, McCarthy did run on first down for 3 yards, but got the first down. They then passed and scored a touchdown to tie the game at 7. The Packers held the Giants, and got the ball close to midfield after the punt. I said at the time that this was a chance to stay aggressive offensively, score another touchdown, keep the offense in rhythm due to touchdowns on consecutive drives, and put pressure on the Giants. Instead, McCarthy ran the ball, the drive stalled, and they missed a 55-yard field-goal attempt. I immediately said that McCarthy just took the Packers’ momentum and gave it to the Giants, and the Giants would definitely score on this drive. What happened? The Giants scored a touchdown, making it a 14-7 game. McCarthy’s strategy was not only a 14-point turnaround, but gave up the momentum. With the momentum change, Rodgers threw an interception on the next offensive play at the Packer 33, and the Giants got a field goal. So, this was now a 17-point differential while also giving up momentum.
Down 24-7 with 9:37 left in the second quarter, the Packers had a chance to score a touchdown and cut the lead to 10 points with a lot of time left. Here is McCarthy’s drive: Run on first down for no gain, run on second down for 1 yard, defensive offsides so third-and four, pass for 32 yards and a first down. Run on first down but offensive holding, so now first-and-20. Before the next play, I said “Why don’t we run again and make it second-and-17?” The Packers ran on first down for 3, making it second-and-17. I obviously know McCarthy. They then scrambled for 6 yards, but defensive holding gave them a first down. They threw on first down for a first down at the Giant 20. They dropped a pass on first down, and passed for 9, making it third-and-1. They then ran for a half-yard, making it 4th-and-inches at the Giant 11. Instead of doing a quarterback sneak to cut the lead to 24-14, McCarthy kicks a field goal. At the end of the half, down 31-10, with the ball at their own 42, it didn’t look like McCarthy was going to call a timeout to try a Hail Mary pass. For some reason the Giants called a timeout with 5 seconds left.
The Packers, down 31-10 at the half, needed to come out aggressively on offense to try to get back in the game. What does McCarthy do? He throws on first down for a first down. A false start on the next play makes it first-and-15, so he runs for 4 yards on first down and punts. He’s down 3 touchdowns and he runs on first down, not understanding that would stall the drive.
On the next drive, starting from their own 9, still down 31-10 and needing a TD to get back in the game, he runs on first for 5, runs on second for no gain, scrambles for the first down. He passes incomplete on first down, but holding on a second-down run for the first down makes it second-and-20. He runs on second-and-20 for 3 yards and then has to punt. Again, runs are stopping these drives.
It is obvious Mike McCarthy does not understand these things, although they happen game after game, year after year.
I just “love” the way Larry claims that on the Pack’s 2nd possession they would have scored if they threw the ball instead of running it. I guess he thinks they would score on every possession if they just threw the ball and not run the ball. Of course, on their 3rd possession (and now down 14-7) the momentum had switched and therefore Rodgers threw an interception leading to a Giant field goal. Now the game was certainly “over” according to Larry! But was it still in the first half or what?
Also, I thought Rodgers was sacked at least 5 times, and pressure was on him almost all the time, but Larry never mentioned this……..why not? Maybe because he really feels that the Packer passing game can’t ever be stopped by anybody!
As good as Rodgers is, NFL football is a game of emotion! The giants had much more emotion that the Packers and that’s why they won!
Green Bay Why??