1. Is there someone upstairs who is responsible for telling Mike McCarthy which plays he should challenge?

2. If so, why hasn't been fired?

3. Why are we challenging a call on a 3 yard pass when we are up by 300 points?

Yes there is somebody upstairs. They do not make the call, they only give their opinion on the odds. It is McCarthy's call on what to challenge based on the booth opinion and sideline opinions.

And he clearly realized the mistake and was joking about it on the sidelines after.

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The Packers went into preseason mode when they had the game basically over with. It sure seems like it was a ploy to give the defense more time to scheme something and Mike McCarthy being the leader he is doesn't mind taking the heat for a goofy challenge. Maybe he saw a player winded and wanted to give them more time to catch their breath? A challenge gives you a lot more time than simply calling a timeout.

That being said ...

1- most likely
2- helping the economy
3- read above

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I am fine with Mike doing this. Either he screwed up and was laughing about it afterward or like Zero says was buying a little extra time for the guys on the field.

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I don't care about it. If this is the worst thing that happened during any game, Mike McCarthy did pretty dang good.

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I assumed that, as they had put new guys in to get some reps on the field, they were breaking some new guy in up in the booth, as far as being the spotter.

But this is something that Mike does need to work on in general. His history of challenging calls leaves something to be desired. In this case it was just a minor thing, but this offense wastes timeouts like they're going out of style.

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Thanks Zero. Mike McCarthy pretty much hit the nail on the head. I just wish this wasn't a recurring problem. It seems like about every other game, he wastes a challenge on a call that is obviously correct.

Initially I thought he did this to set a tone with his team to stay attentive and engaged in the game despite the score.

Now looking at his comments, it looked like he just f'd up. He owned up to it, it happened when it could not have mattered any less than it did. No big deal.