Expanded McCarthy comments on execution, defense and Sanders
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Dec. 8, 2008 1:48 p.m.
Green Bay - Coach Mike McCarthy talked in depth on a few topics. A live blog couldn't properly convey his thoughts, so there they are:
(Where did the defensive gameplan go awry?)
Well, we had plenty of corrections to go around. You could start with the run game defense. There were times where we didn't get to the right gap, our tackling wasn't what it needed to be. The pass defense, the pass rush did not factor and our pass defense was put in tough situations and they (the Texans) won the one-on-one routes, particularly in third downs. If you just want to take the third-down statistics as a whole, it's really the case of one side getting it done and the other side not. We had the one-on-ones on our third downs on offense. We were 3rd and 1-5 seven times if I recall correctly and we were 1 out of 7. I mean, those are favorable down and distances that we expect to win week in and week out that we did not. They converted theirs. Their ability convert third downs and explosive games I thought were the two biggest factors in the game.
(Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders looked like he put some new blitzes in for this game and was aggressive with his playcalling. Considering LB Brandon Chillar -- your best blitzer was out -- was that wise to do? Would you have been more safe playing more Cover 2?)
Uh..I don't even know how to answer that question. I think it's convenient to say we could be in one coverage over the next. It's still about playing the game. When the defense is called, we need to play the defense. It's not difference than on offense. When the run is called or the pass is called, we need to convert that. As long as we're not putting our players in bad angles, overload situations or things they can't win in, that's really I think the key to evaluating your gameplan. I thought Bob tried to be aggressive because of the lack of pass rush. The pass rush coinciding with the pass defense, it all works together and we didn't do a very good job of it.
(You said in the preseason the defense would be the identity of your defense. Obviously that hasn't worked out. Is it a case of overestimating the scheme or overestimating players coming into the season?)
Well I don't think it's either one or the other. I mean the scheme and the players, it all has to fit together. I think we've had a number of obstacles on the defensive side of the ball that we've had to overcome. Injuries play into -- it's not an excuse, I'm not trying to make an excuse. The ability to a) stop the run and b) put pressure on the quarterback, those are the two things you look for from a consistent standpoint in your defense because that's what stops the offense. And when we gameplan, that's what we look at. And we haven't been able to do that consistently at all, frankly, the last three weeks. And that's why we've had large numbers from our opponents put up against us. Now, on the other side of it, our defenders are doing a much better job in our time here of taking the football away and we'll continue to emphasize that. We had a few opportunities in the game that got away from us. We could have been looking at a lot higher takeaway situation than what resulted. But that's why you play the game, we just have to keep working on those things. They're all fundamental, all the corrections are fundamental, they're all things we can fix and that will be our focus as we get ready for Jacksonville.
(Where is your faith in Bob?)
Well, I work with Bob everyday. From a personal side of it he's a tremendous human being, it's very important to him. And professionally, he has a system, a scheme and he's doing the best job he can to put players in a position to be successful. I hate to be redundant here. It all fits together. I have confidence in Bob and we'll continue as we move forward.
(This season you've talked about execution and "we'll get it fixed." I guess people want to know why it hasn't been fixed yet? Is it the players? Is there a disconnect between the coaches and players? Where is the problem?)
Well, that's a pretty general statement and I understand it. We haven't won a game in three weeks. If it was just one thing that we're doing over and over again then I would take full responsiblity for that and it really all starts with me. We're 5-8 and we're not getting it done at critical times and those specific plays are really highlighted. It's really the little things. Going through the film again today. We're talking about pad level, we're talking about beating second reaction, we're talking about leverage and things like that. That's the game of football. You're always coaching it and trying to clean it up week to week and we're not doing it at a high enough level to win games right now. And that's the facts.
(Have you ever been around a team -- you've been in his league a while -- where a team has struggled with those basic things for an entire season?)
Well we've had some really good play during the season so I don't think our whole season has been a bunch of negative plays. I wouldn't agree with that assessment. I would say we've played some really quality football but we're not winning games and I understand as well as anybody and that's what you're judged on. Our philosophy has always been winning and improving. We haven't won in a month and we're not improving so the only way I know to go back at it is working hard and getting it done in practice. They work very hard in practice. They have very quality practices. We're not playing at the level on Sundays that we need to play. So that's our challenge.
(You were able to overcome being the youngest team in the league last year. Is this a byproduct of youth or is this coming from veteran players as well?)
Well, there's plenty to go around. You could probably point more towards the youth. We've had some situations where guys don't have as much experience in certain situations where it's not clean for them. And frankly the number of conversations I've had with some of our younger players last week and the week before, in some of the one-on-ones that I've had, that was one of the topics that came up. That's part of the growth that you have with younger players. Everybody goes through it. Some of the older players, I think, maybe they're trying to do too much. We've talked about that. So there's not a real....The coaches and players, we're all pushing, fighting and scratching to get over the hump here and we'll continue to do so.