Zero2Cool
13 years ago

McCarthy, Rodgers agreed on aggressive air game before the Super Bowl 

DALLAS The first clue came about two hours before kickoff when the inactive list was released for Super Bowl XLV. Packers fullback Quinn Johnson was not on the active 45-man roster for the final game of the 2010 season.

Apparently, bruising blocking backs would not be needed Sunday afternoon. The Packers tied an NFL record held by the Rams with the fewest rush attempts (13) by the winning team.

Coach Mike McCarthy wanted to be aggressive through the air with Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers.

The play-caller and the quarterback are on the same page, McCarthy said Monday. Just the conversation we had in the locker room before the game. It was simply, Let me be aggressive as the play-caller; you have to be the disciplined one and keep us in favorable plays and throw it away if you have a bad look. And he did a great job with that. I think he has the best set of skills in the league as far as his pinpoint accuracy, his athletic ability, and all of his best football is in front of him

He let the play-caller be aggressive and he managed the football game.

The run was an absolute afterthought in the second half. The team had six rushes and two were scrambles by Rodgers. Only four handoffs were called after the break.

Rodgers took over on both second-half scoring drives. He and Jordy Nelson connected for a 38-yard slant on third-and-10, one play after Nelson had a drop. Rodgers found Greg Jennings for an 8-yard touchdown two plays later to go up 28-17.

The quarterback responded again late in the fourth quarter when the Steelers cut the lead to 28-25. Only one run was called as the Packers tried to work the clock down. He completed passes to Nelson, Jennings, James Jones and Tom Crabtree en route to a 23-yard Mason Crosby field goal.

The entire gameplan was to live or die on Rodgers performance.

I felt good about the plan, felt good about the way I practiced, the way I prepared, the way I studied and just knew I was getting a lot of opportunities and expecting to make those plays that were going to be there, Rodgers said.

Bling-bling

One of the favorite postgame topics has been the fact that McCarthy had his team measured for rings Saturday night. The decision seems like an overt show of confidence, but McCarthy downplayed the ploy some.

I wish Id have made a bigger deal out of it, McCarthy said. I just told them that were going to get measured for rings tonight, at snack. I felt it was the right time to do it. I talked to Sean Payton about some of the things he did from a scheduling standpoint. Scheduling is so important during the course of the week, and you want to do certain things at certain times, and I felt that was the appropriate time.

I thought it would be special. I thought it would give us a boost of confidence to do it the night before the game. But thats about as far as I took it.

Rodgers, however, didnt get measured. He was in the shower.

Hopefully, I can still get sized with that, Rodgers said.

Defensive player of the year AWOL

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was named the NFL defensive player of the year last week but was largely ineffective in the biggest game of the year. He finished with three tackles and came into the picture late on two touchdown passes by Rodgers.

Rodgers explained how he was able to dictate the game to Polamalu, not the other way around.

Hes a guy that you have to be aware of him, where hes at all times, Rodgers said. Hes a great player, had a great season, but guys have to respect where my eyes are looking so it was important to me to use good eye control on the field and not stare anybody down because he can cover a lot of ground quickly and when he was down in the box, we made sure he was picked up in the protection schemes.

A couple of times when he came on blitzes, we adjusted the protection to make sure we had him picked up because hes a very talented blitzer and when hes high, a deep safety, you just have to make sure you are good with your eyes.

New wheels

Being named Super Bowl comes with all kinds of perks. Rodgers got a shiny new trophy. He looked into the camera and shouted, Im going to Disneyland! And Rodgers will be a guest on the David Letterman Show on Monday.

He got a car, too. Super Bowl sponsor Chevrolet presented Rodgers a brand new, 426-horsepower Chevy Camero convertible.

Chevrolet Director of Advertising Kevin Mayer announced that Rodgers will get to pick the color.

"Kareem Copeland" wrote:


UserPostedImage
Zero2Cool
13 years ago
Didn't think I'd ever see this.

Let me be aggressive as the play-caller; you have to be the disciplined one and keep us in favorable plays and throw it away if you have a bad look.

"Mike McCarthy" wrote:


UserPostedImage
DGB454
13 years ago

Didn't think I'd ever see this.

Let me be aggressive as the play-caller; you have to be the disciplined one and keep us in favorable plays and throw it away if you have a bad look.

"Zero2Cool" wrote:

"Mike McCarthy" wrote:



Same here. I guess Aaron Rodgers earned his confidence.
musccy
13 years ago
I was a little curious about the decision to COMPLETELY abandon the running game for nearly 2 quarters, but I like that he attempted to put the foot on the throat, never reverting to a passive attack (even though the execution made it appear to be).
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Zero2Cool (4h) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (18h) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Badgers got hosed vs Oregon
packerfanoutwest (16-Nov) : damn,he hasn't played since week 2
Mucky Tundra (15-Nov) : poor guy can't catch a break
wpr (15-Nov) : wow. That three different things for the kid.
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