i ran a correlation between winning % and TOP.


There isn't any. The graph looked like a shotgun pattern.


It is a complete myth. It only sounds logical. In reality, it has no effect.


Time of possession is not directly tied to points. If you hold the ball for 7 minutes and throw a pick 6, then hold the ball for 7 minutes and punt, to have it run back for a TD, you are up 14-0 on the clock and down 14-0 on the score board.

If you have long drawn out drives of 10 or more plays, there are more chances to screw up and give the ball away before you score.

If you have a quick strike offense, your opponent still has to score to keep up with you. If you score fast but every time you touch the ball, they have to do more than burn clock. They have to actually put up points.

It doesn't matter how long it takes you to score as long as you do.

Originally Posted by: Dexter_Sinister 

Well Dexter_Sinister, that sounds good, but let's put this into perspective. We didn't lose Benson until week 5 against the Colts. Our 3rd loss in 5 games.

""I feel like we underachieved, to be frank," said coach Mike McCarthy. "And it starts with me."

Some of the offensive linemen wondered what McCarthy was up to by throwing on his first seven calls of the second half. It got him an interception and a punt, giving the moribund Colts hope and probably creating doubt among his players.

Later, it was a 41-yard gain - yes, on a good, old-fashioned running play - by Alex Green that provided the Packers a brief 27-22 lead. Then a monumental cave-in by the defense enabled Andrew Luck to drive 80 yards for the winning touchdown.

"We're up 21-3 at halftime and we sort of changed our game plan in the second half and we couldn't do (expletive)," an obviously angry guard T.J. Lang said. "They knew all we were doing was throwing the ball so they were coming with everything they had."

The Colts, 2-14 a year ago, overwhelmed Rodgers, his blockers and McCarthy's scheme in the second half. The five sacks, their most in a game since Week 4 of 2009, were the result of Rodgers' indecision on two and Marshall Newhouse, Tom Crabtree and Jeff Saturday just getting beat on the three others.

Cedric Benson's departure (mid-foot sprain) on the fourth play of the second quarter hurt. So did the losses of B.J. Raji (ankle) a series later and Jermichael Finley (shoulder) early in the third quarter."http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/173026821.html

We lost our 1st game of the season FAILING in the rushing dept. Cedric Benson was the ONLY RB to receive ANY carries, a grand total of 9!!! Holy crap!

We lost our 3rd game of the season FAILING in the rushing dept. 19 measly carries between Benson, Cobb and Kuhn for the entire game. Oh, let's do look at the 1st half! Rodgers was sacked EIGHT TIMES!!! McCarthy ran Benson 2 times in the first half and Cobb once, the only running plays we called. THREE rushes!!! Compared to 23 pass plays by Rodgers.

That's where stats lie, 17 carries in the game by Benson, 15 of which came in the 2nd half after Rodgers had been freaking killed... what the hell was McCarthy thinking? How could he let that happen, with a healthy Benson to go to? Unbelievable.

I'm hopeful this changes with the addition of Lacy and Franklin this season, and that we never again have to revisit this massive failure to run the football.

Originally Posted by: play2win 

You cannot win in this league rushing only 9 attempts for an entire game (vs. SF), or only 3 attempts in a half (vs. SEA).

Those comments after the IND game were from our own unnamed OL!

Originally Posted by: play2win 

You can win a Superbowl with 11 rushing attempts for an entire game I think. When you are only getting 2 yards a run you aren't going to win a game by running 20 times either.

Originally Posted by: steveishere 

Well Dexter_Sinister, that sounds good, but let's put this into perspective. We didn't lose Benson until week 5 against the Colts. Our 3rd loss in 5 games.

""I feel like we underachieved, to be frank," said coach Mike McCarthy. "And it starts with me."

Some of the offensive linemen wondered what McCarthy was up to by throwing on his first seven calls of the second half. It got him an interception and a punt, giving the moribund Colts hope and probably creating doubt among his players.

Later, it was a 41-yard gain - yes, on a good, old-fashioned running play - by Alex Green that provided the Packers a brief 27-22 lead. Then a monumental cave-in by the defense enabled Andrew Luck to drive 80 yards for the winning touchdown.

"We're up 21-3 at halftime and we sort of changed our game plan in the second half and we couldn't do (expletive)," an obviously angry guard T.J. Lang said. "They knew all we were doing was throwing the ball so they were coming with everything they had."

The Colts, 2-14 a year ago, overwhelmed Rodgers, his blockers and McCarthy's scheme in the second half. The five sacks, their most in a game since Week 4 of 2009, were the result of Rodgers' indecision on two and Marshall Newhouse, Tom Crabtree and Jeff Saturday just getting beat on the three others.

Cedric Benson's departure (mid-foot sprain) on the fourth play of the second quarter hurt. So did the losses of B.J. Raji (ankle) a series later and Jermichael Finley (shoulder) early in the third quarter."http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/173026821.html

We lost our 1st game of the season FAILING in the rushing dept. Cedric Benson was the ONLY RB to receive ANY carries, a grand total of 9!!! Holy crap!

We lost our 3rd game of the season FAILING in the rushing dept. 19 measly carries between Benson, Cobb and Kuhn for the entire game. Oh, let's do look at the 1st half! Rodgers was sacked EIGHT TIMES!!! McCarthy ran Benson 2 times in the first half and Cobb once, the only running plays we called. THREE rushes!!! Compared to 23 pass plays by Rodgers.

That's where stats lie, 17 carries in the game by Benson, 15 of which came in the 2nd half after Rodgers had been freaking killed... what the hell was McCarthy thinking? How could he let that happen, with a healthy Benson to go to? Unbelievable.

I'm hopeful this changes with the addition of Lacy and Franklin this season, and that we never again have to revisit this massive failure to run the football.

Originally Posted by: play2win 

Let's look at the history of Mike's teams.

These teams always struggle early in the season. Even in the Superbowl year, they had to have that "come to Jesus" meeting. In '11 we went 15-1, but then again, they were airing it out that entire time, it's just that for the most part it was working. It doesn't always work that well.

It seems to me that Mike will be more prone to abandoning the run and stat whoring early in the season. That Seattle game should never even have been close.

And let's talk about that game. IF, we had put Seattle away instead of letting them tee of and not even pretend to guard the run, we win that game. AND, we get a playoff bye. We get a week's rest before we face the Niners. That's a HUGE difference.

But it just seems to me that this team struggles early in the season, every year. And it usually revolves around neglecting the run game. Mike will try to start playing for real in the playoffs, but in a situation like last year, the damage has already been done.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann