This game was lost for only one reason. Mike McCarthy is afraid to try and win PERIOD.
I have supported him time and time again since he was named the head coach but despite the poor coverage on kick returns, poor play by the defense in the 4th quarter and so on GB still had a chance to win and Mike McCarthy surprised the whole world by running the ball 3 straight times and then left it to a kicker who has struggled late in the 2nd and 4th quarters all year long. Add to this that the kicker has a brand new holder so they have very little experience together in crucial situations.
I will not shed a tear if he is canned.
I want a coach that has the guts to try to get a touchdown.
On series before the Bears tying TD, GB faked the run and completed a 16 yard pass to Driver then ran Grant for 3 and -6 yards and threw an incompletion on 3rd and 13. When they got the ball again after the Bears TD they were in great field position. They could run any play they wanted. They threw a pass to a wide open Martin (who fell down on the play followed by a horrible pass behind the line of scrimmage to Jenkins who got 2 yards on the play and then got the ball to Jones for a 1st down. All three times the receiver was covered by only one defender. The center of the line was a mass of defenders who were selling out to stop the run. I could see it. The announcers could see it. The fans in the stands could see it. Only the pompous McCarthy couldn't see it.
I don't know about any one else but it sure seems to me if they want to move the ball the key was to pass and pass often. After the 2 minute warning 3 straight running plays and a blocked FG attempt ended the game for the Packers.

All game long I was calling the plays that the Packers were going to run. it is not that I am very bright but the Packers are very predictable. I even called the fake punt by the way and I did not see Flynn out on the field.

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There is very little raw talent on this team. We reek of average IMO. Our Big Time players are of average talent that play with a massive amount of heart. Driver, Jennings, and Kampman aren't natural superstars. Not the fastest, not the strongest, etc. The problem is that when you surround those guys with average guys that don't play with the heart and passion those guys do, on top of injuries, you get 5-10. JMO

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wpr you have good points. We were tearing them up through the air so the switch to the run game when the game is on the line was a surprise.

Our defense was stopping the Bears all game. That late in the game, why chance a pick by throwing it? You EXPECT your FG kicker to make that kick.
But like everything else this year, it all went wrong.

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MM played right into the Bears hands in the end. It was the most painfully obvious thing I have ever seen. Quite disappointing... so much so that I hardly want to trust anything he says in any press conference from this point forward.

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If Crosby had made that kick, would everyone still be questioning McCarthy's decision to run 3 straight times at the end? No, because it's what EVERY OTHER TEAM would have done. It just got blocked, bad luck, bad playing pain and simple. Sure, your kicker sucked earlier but it doesn't mean you do something crazy.

A voice of reason!!!
+1!

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I don't buy that. I think that most NFL teams have a lot of talent, and so does ours. I think Driver, Jennings, and Kampman have better than average talent, and so do players like Woodson, Harris, Cullen Jenkins, and Nick Barnett. I'm not crazy about the O-line, though, and obviously the defensive backups have not come through this season.

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Yes, but they have an impressive resume of failing to stop last-minute drives. Why risk putting the game back in their hands when it really counted by allowing the bears to tie it with a field goal? It's a heck of a lot hard to drive all the way down the field for a touchdown than three-quarters of the way down the field to field goal range.



Because you respect your quarterback, who just so happens to be the best red-zone quarterback in the NFL, who hasn't tossed a pick in the red zone all year, enough to put the game in his hands and win it for you. To have him handing it off like a third-stringer when you still have another chance to get a first down and put the game on ice just smacks of disrespect.

If you don't have enough confidence in your QB to win it in the last minute, why should he have any confidence in himself?

The season's already over. Give the kid a chance to make some big plays in clutch situations -- and, if necessary, to make some mistakes. Let him go through the growing pains now when it doesn't count, so he'll be ready to assume the mantle next season when it will count.

Playing the percentages = mediocrity

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MM's playcalling has been not too good most of the year. I am just not feeling that it is so unreasonable to continue to give him breaks because it is what every other coach would do. Lots of things are not living up to their potential right now and McCarthy is one of them.

I am not mad though. Everything will be better next year 🙂

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