Am I the only one who actually likes McCarthy's playcalling? A lot of people seem to criticize him of being to conservative. Then others complain that we don't run the ball enough. What are your problems exactly (specific instances preferred)?
I'd prefer to keep it entirely on the playcalling. I agree that penalties and sloppy play are a problem and that's a discipline problem (i.e. coaching), but as far as just playcalling goes, I've liked what I've seen.
In the Vikings game he was aggressive and I liked it. We went for it on 4th down twice. The first time we converted but two plays later was Rodgers' pick. The second time Lee dropped Rodger's low pass in the endzone. Again, I liked the aggressiveness even though it didn't pay off. But you play to win the game.
I remember reading a criticism about how we ran a draw on 3rd and long deep in our own territory. But that was immediately after Colledge went down, and I thought that was the smart move given the beating Rodgers was already taking. We didn't run a whole lot in that game. Again, I thought it was a good move since our running game is absolute garbage. If you looked at our numbers, we had a good average, but that's because we ran only when they weren't expecting it. Draws, misdirections, or directly to the fullback. Anytime we tried to straight up run the ball we got stuffed. Got to work with what you got.
Given all the "off with his head" sentiment on the website, I feel that McCarthy's playcalling is one area that has been very solid. Does anyone remember Mike Sherman's playcalling? Now that drove me nuts. I don't know how many times I saw him punt on 4th and 1 at the opponents 40 yard line when we had been cramming the ball down their throats with the run game (A specific instance was in the infamous 4th and 26 game). McCarthy doesn't do that.
Now, in all honesty, I'd prefer if we were a smashmouth offense and we could run it every down and set up playaction that way, but we don't have the personnel to do it. We have a bottom 5 offensive line. The zone blocking scheme sucks (yes - that's McCarthy's fault). I felt like we were finally getting away with it with drafting guys like Sitton and now starting Spitz over Wells at center.
I'd say the only thing I'd like to see more of is maybe rollout passes. Rodgers seems to do well on the run, and if we move the pocket, he might get hit less. I do believe that McCarthy is calling shorter passing plays, but Rodgers is not releasing quickly enough. Although when Babre was guarding Ogunule(sp?), the only way Rodgers could get rid of that ball is if he was in some sort of temoral disturbance.
Bottom line:
What are your problems with his playcalling? Specifics preferred.
Let's discuss.