Please don't get me wrong. I love Mike McCarthy. The guy is solid, and a brilliant offensive football mind. Someone mentioned "ego" in another thread. I question whether his ego as a "genius" OC has inhibited his own success and that of his team's by putting more emphasis on the passing game v. the running game.
For instance, the ego in calling a brilliant passing attack with one of the NFL's best, if not THE best passer, may have tipped the scales, and thus our offense out of balance.
As it stands, Mike's offense has allowed Rodgers to be sacked 16 times in just 3 games. That is outrageous. Through 3 games our RBs have only gotten 53 carries, averaging 17 att/game.
v. SEA our RBs had 3 carries in the 1st half. One of those, Cobb busted 20 yds. Benson had 2 carries for 4 yds. No wonder Rodgers got pummeled for 8 sacks in the half. Our RBs rushed 15 att in the 2nd half, for not a whole lot of yds, but Rodgers wasn't sacked.
v. SF our RBs had 6 carries in the 1st half. Benson gained 12 yds total on those 6 carries. SF scored 4 times in that half. Rodgers was sacked 2 times in the half. Benson got just 3 more carries the rest of the game. Add another sack and an INT for Rodgers. Benson was the only RB to carry for us, rushing a mere 9 att all game for 18 yds.
Oddly enough, v. CHI our RBs had 14 carries for 78 yds. and a 5.4 yd average in the first half. We won that game, rushing for a total of 25 att by our RBs for 112 yds. Rodgers had -6 on 3 carries for the game.
I'm merely pointing to the figures from the 3 games we played, and how they might correlate to our success or lack thereof. All 3 teams we've played either had a great pass rush, or augmented their pass rush via the draft this year. We will be facing plenty of top tier front sevens as the season wears on. I just hope McCarthy puts more emphasis on the run to get our team moving offensively, by showing more confidence in our personnel and letting them pound away on the run game. Rodgers just might make it through the season that way, and he may have more success.
What we've done thus far certainly has not been working all too well. I believe Mike McCarthy can show true genius by ADJUSTING his philosophy to counter the adjustments other teams have made defensively against our offense. We've been figured out, and we need to counter. That is all up to Mike, ultimately, to get this addressed.
2010 was a different year, as was 2011. Our opponents have had more than a year to figure out how to beat us, how to face our O. Looks like they've done it, going back to KC.