The playcalling improved. Still not as balanced as it should be

"tromadz" wrote:

Um, maybe because they are getting looks they have not seen before? Like Rodgers said after the game Sunday night, teams have 2 years worth of film on them, and they are using blends of coverages and pressures that are not showing up on film.

For example, usually in pure Cover-2 you do not play man-to-man or press-coverage. Rodgers talked about how this time around the Vikings played Cover-2 shell, but went man-to-man underneath. In other words, it's something unexpected, and Rodgers wanted his receivers to adjust by cutting their routes short and coming back to the ball. His WRs reacted differently. Frankly, when your O-line is playing as well as ours was that night, it's not a stretch to expect the QB to have a couple of seconds extra to throw, therefore you try to use your speed to get separation for a big play. The QB and WR were not on the same page; it happens when you are not expecting certain things.

Now we can blame McCarthy for not having them prepared. But if you are going to do that, then please give us some idea as to how you want McCarthy to prepare his team for things they do not see on the film. Surely you do not expect McCarthy to prepare his team each week for all the possible coverages known in the NFL that they could encounter, do you?

For the record, it is actually position coaches that go through film with their position players, not the Head Coach. You'd expect the HC to prepare a game plan based on what the tape tells him about the other team.

"nerdmann" wrote:

As for this bit, let's start at the top. If you think you they are going deep too often, surely you must realize that the QB is the one making the throws. In other words, the QB certainly has the option to throw underneath, if his reads merit it. Hard to blame McCarthy.

For the coverages teams have been playing - where the safties are kept outside of the box to play pass first - a good way to clear underneath routes in to have a deep route that forces the safety to double-team the receiver running the deep route. You have to have deep routes.

To sum, it is unfair to criticize McCarthy for too many deep passes because he is not specifically highlighting that the ball be thrown deep (Rodgers can exercise caution to whom he throws). On that point, it is also unfair to criticize him because receivers are running deep routes, because we need them to so that the underneath can open up more. After Mike McCarthy's first year as HC, Ted went out and drafted David Clowney, because one of the issues was that there was no WR with deep speed to open things up underneath. Of course, Clowney was cut but Greg Jennings developed and emerged his second year with that speed we desperately needed. FYI, McCarthy has never claimed to run a pure WCO, he runs a variation of the WCO. He has claimed to be influenced by the way Bill Walsh did things leading up to the game, like the "First 15" (google McCarthy's article for the GB Press Gazette a few years back), but he has not stated he tries to fully emulate Bill Walsh with his offensive system.

I'm all for criticizing McCarthy; I totally agree with your last paragraph, I think it is a very valid critique of McCarthy as coach. However, if I think you are unfairly criticizing McCarthy then I will also call you out on it. Just last week I wrote up a post in response to NSD where I lashed out at McCarthy's terrible play calling - especially in the Dolphins game. Yes, McCarthy has had moments where he has failed as a play caller and coach. But some of the issues you cited about the game in reference to McCarthy are unfairly blaming McCarthy for something he should not solely be blamed for.

"nerdmann" wrote:

The playcalling improved. Still not as balanced as it should be, and I don't care what anybody says that fake FG was MONEY. If we weren't down to our 8th string Tight End, that woulda been the game.

Turns out we had to wait a little longer to win it.

Bring on the JETS.

"tromadz" wrote:

I think the talk of a "West Coast Offense" is over rated. We don't run a West Coast Offense, in my opinion. We run Mike McCarthy's offense. Simply because it shows some influence of a WCO does not mean it is. It has evolved. Whether or not you or I agree with the way Mike McCarthy runs his offense is of little importance. He doesn't run a strict WCO and isn't trying to. Not sure why some think he is and that he's calling bad plays because they're not "WCO."

"doddpower" wrote:

I see you've never bothered to read my research, which I've spent hours on.

I agree with #2 and #3, but my research shows that #1 is completely not necessary. That is, if you want to win games, which apparently isn't your goal.

"zombieslayer" wrote: