wpr
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11 years ago

Chicago — With 4 minutes 41 seconds left in the game and his team facing the end of its season, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy wasn't going to take the gamble it seemed so many were sure was the right decision.

McCarthy wanted to punt.

His team was trailing, 28-27, and facing a fourth and 1.

Given the ball was at the Packers 22 and running back Eddie Lacy had failed to get the first down on third and 1, McCarthy had good reason to punt. Failing would have put the Bears in scoring territory with a chance to push its lead to eight points.

So, as the officials brought out the sticks to measure for a first down on Lacy's run, players on offense started motioning for the punt team to go back.

"It was fourth and 1 and we kind of had to talk coach into letting us go for it," guard T.J. Lang said.

Several players gathered around McCarthy, who ultimately decided to go for it.

"When we came to that first fourth down and Coach was calling the punt team out, we were like, 'No, let us get this. This is our time; this is our moment,'" Randall Cobb said. "We were able to come through in that moment. Later on we had another fourth down and everybody was calm. Go out there and handle your job and make some plays."

McCarthy came out with quarterback Aaron Rodgers under center, receiver Jarrett Boykin split wide to the right and tight ends Ryan Taylor and Andrew Quarless on the line of scrimmage.

In the backfield, John Kuhn was the fullback in front of Cobb.

"It was a very tough call," McCarthy said. "We only had one timeout. Clearly the response of the players with one timeout — it was the right call. If I didn't go for it, I might have looked back at that with some regrets."

JSOnline  wrote:



Mike can be too timid to be an effective HC. He has lost games in the past by not trusting his team. By switching styles and trying to run the cloc out when they clearly were not that type of team. He could have messed things up again if the players (Aaron) didn't intervene.
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Zero2Cool
11 years ago
I added a little more of the article for archival reasons. 🙂

I thought they were going to punt too because I think there was 4? minutes left and thought he was going to let the defense try and win it.
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rabidgopher04
11 years ago
That concerns me that McCarthy was going to punt on 4th and 1. The Bears were nearly unstoppable in the second half. You don't give them back the ball. you go for the win and milk the clock while doing it. Really scary to think what other bonehead decisions he might make in the playoffs.
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Porforis
11 years ago

Mike can be too timid to be an effective HC. He has lost games in the past by not trusting his team. By switching styles and trying to run the cloc out when they clearly were not that type of team. He could have messed things up again if the players (Aaron) didn't intervene.

Originally Posted by: wpr 



What happened to the days of the surprise onside kicks and fake punts?
Cheesey
11 years ago

That concerns me that McCarthy was going to punt on 4th and 1. The Bears were nearly unstoppable in the second half. You don't give them back the ball. you go for the win and milk the clock while doing it. Really scary to think what other bonehead decisions he might make in the playoffs.

Originally Posted by: rabidgopher04 



But the fact is, he did NOT punt!
And the players rewarded him for letting them control it.
Had the Packers NOT make the first down, that might have made MM not make that kind of decision in the future. But the players showed him that in crunch time, they CAN get it done.
It gives me hope for the future!
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Zero2Cool
11 years ago
There was something like 5 or 6 minutes left in the game and the Packers defense wasn't doing entirely that bad. I'm not worried.
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dhazer
11 years ago
I was thinking you go for it and if the worst thing happens and the Bears get the ball you stack the box to stop the run and use your timeout. Make them kick a FG or in worse case scenario let them score a TD and then your down by 8 with a chance to tie.


But we don't have to worry because we WONNNNNNNNNNNN[palm]
Just Imagine this for the next 6-9 years. What a ride it will be 🙂 (PS, Zero should charge for this)
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DakotaT
11 years ago
If only Sherman would have had any of these cojones in the 4th and 26 game. That was an incredibly gutsy call.
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nerdmann
11 years ago

If only Sherman would have had any of these cojones in the 4th and 26 game. That was an incredibly gutsy call.

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 



Mike goes for it in those situations fairly often. Doesn't always make it, but he's got a pretty good track record imo. (Not to jinx him of course.)
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Bigbyfan
11 years ago
I still hate those dumbass toss plays that he kept calling on 3rd and short. Let your big rb's go straight up the middle (behind our best linemen), instead of trying to stretch everything out. That play sucks.
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