Just last week, I heaped praise on Mike McCarthy, and the defensive coaches as well, for formulating a great game plan, and showing some creative play-calling, in the defeat of the Cowboys.
That was then, this is now.
Can anyone name me one creative offensive play call, out of 65, against the Minnesota Vikings? Virtually all the sweeps and outside-the-tackle plays from last week disappeared. Screen pass completions — were there any? Long gainers – one play of 20 yards or more, the 26-yarder to Jordy Nelson. Trick or gadget plays — zero. Quarterback rollouts (as opposed to flush-outs)? Did Big Mike call one play that might have surprised or confused the Vikings’ defense? I can’t think of any.
I can hardly count the number of 2-yard, 1-yard, no-gain, and lost yardage plays the Packers had – which constantly put them in third down and medium or long distances to go. Wait, I can too – there were 22 of them: two plays for two yards, seven for one yard, five for no gain (not counting incompletions), and eight plays for losses of one to seven yards. Ridiculous.
I don’t know that not losing Aaron Rodgers would have changed the outcome any. The two “drives” that Rodgers took part in were: three plays and punt and six plays and punt. Then Brett Hundley came in: three plays and an interception, then three plays and punt. The Packers were flatter than pancakes from the outset.
McCarthy did nothing to try to give the team a lift. If it weren’t for the momentum-changing fumble caused by Kenny Clark, and returned 63 yards by Clay Matthews early in the second quarter, this game could have been a serious rout.
Did Packers Concede?
Long-time Packers fans saw Brett Favre throw a lot of interceptions in losing efforts. But I can’t remember Favre ever giving up on a game. I watched the Packers do that on Sunday. Sure, they were hurting and they were short-handed, but they got to being down by two scores, 23-10, with 10:47 still left to play. Three uninspiring plays and a punt. But the defense held and Minnesota also punted after three downs.
The Packers have the ball at their own 34 with 7:22 remaining. Nine offensive plays followed, including five incompletions, mostly very short throws, and a sack. The only gains were for 11, six, and four yards. Turnover on downs.
But the defense came through again – I had forgotten how hard they played to the end – with the Vikings again going three plays and a punt. The Packers take over with 3:20 left on their own 4-yard line. Time is of the essence, right?
With 96 yards to go, Big Mike has Aaron Jones run up the middle twice in a row. This was followed almost exclusively by short throws, and mostly incompletions, en route to a 15-play drive that ended with Hundley throwing an interception from the Minnesota 12 with 21 seconds left.
While 15 plays is somewhat impressive, this is how prevent defenses work – you are allowed to move the ball, but time runs out on you. The play-by-play account lists 10 of those plays as being “short” passes, and only two “deep” balls — an incompletion and a 19-yarder to Davante Adams. The way I view it, with this play selection the Packers conceded the win to the Vikings.
You never saw that happen when Brett was on the field, and I doubt that you saw it in the entire Holmgren era either. I’ll grant you that the new Brett – Hundley – bears some responsibility, but in such a critical game with a division rival, I call it chicken-shit loser-mentality coaching.