The Packers would have eliminated the bears’ chances of making the playoffs with a victory tonight, and would easily have won this game despite having lost numerous starters to injury, had Mike McCarthy had a basic understanding of his opponent and his own team. The Packers lost in overtime due to McCarthy’s inability to gameplan. Here are some examples:
- As always stated here, the Packers are successful when throwing on first down and not successful when running on first down. On their first possession of the game, they threw on first down and got a first down, then ran on first down and punted.
- The Packers ran Ryan Grant 25 times for 61 yards, an average of 2.44 yards/carry, thereby wasting 25 plays when they could have been aggressive and tried to score by passing.
- With 6:10 to go in the first half and the Packers up 7-0, the Packers were kicking off. The bear offense had gone nowhere, and since Danieal Manning, the bears’ kick returner, leads the league, I stated before the kick that the Packers should squib kick deep, as the only thing that could hurt them was a big return since the bear offense was doing nothing. McCarthy had them kick off normally, Manning ran it back 70 yards, and the bears got a field goal. That was a gift 3 points.
- Throughout the year, I have mentioned that the players on the Packers’ punt-return team that are near the ball when it lands (not the returner) don’t face the ball and risk getting hit by it. Tonight, they did get hit by the ball at the Packer 27, the bears recovered, and scored a touchdown. Again, the bear offense was going nowhere and the only thing that could hurt you is a turnover such as this, but McCarthy never adjusted this punt-return team. That was a gift 7 points and kept the bears in the game.
- Up 17-10 with 9:36 left, the Packers had the ball with a chance to go up 2 scores. On first down, they threw for 16 yards and a first down. They then ran on first down and punted, allowing the bears to score the tying touchdown with 3:11 left.
- The Packers attempted a 38-yard field goal to win the game with 25 seconds left. The bears get a great push up the middle on field-goal block attempts, so I’ve always said when it’s a short FG attempt against the bears, the kicker has to just chip it up and not kick it with the normal force since that can make the kick low. McCarthy never made this adjustment, Crosby kicked low, and the bears blocked it to send the game into overtime.
- In overtime, on 3rd-and-nine from the Packer 34, I stated the only play the bears could run here was a pass to Forte. Did McCarthy also realize this? Obviously not, as the bears threw to a wide-open Forte for a 14-yard gain to the Packer 20, putting the bears in range for the winning FG.
I don’t believe the Packer management even realizes that McCarthy doesn’t understand these basic concepts. The Packers have lost 7 games this year by a total of 21 points. Smart coaching would have won all of these games.
Larry says
1. Leo on December 23rd, 2008 10:03 pm
The Bears lost at least as many players with injuries as the packers, so let’s not cry about that.
The Bear coaches also did stupid things. The packers don’t have a monopoly on being stupid.
Running the ball wins football games! It controls the clock…..keeps the other team’s defense on the field and gets that worn out…..it opens the passing game, etc. The packers won in Green Bay by running the ball!
Stop crying about Green Bay losing……their season was long over!
2. Larry on December 23rd, 2008 10:12 pm
The Packers have far more injuries than the bears, and the Packer players are good, so each injury is a loss. I agree the bear coaches also made bad decisions, but the Packers are a better team and would have won had it not been for these decisions. Running wins games and controls the clock? The Packers dominated time-of-possession, but since they kept running and not trying to score by passing, it kept the game close, allowing the bears to come back. The Packers won the first game in G.B. by running because the bears sold out to stop the pass. Normally, running costs the Packers, as evidenced by their record. I agree the Packers’ season was over, but that doesn’t change the fact they dominated the bears and would have won easily if not for terrible coaching.