Am I the only one that liked MM giving Crosby the shot at the 55-yarder last night? I know he's been terrible of late. But I think it was a shot of confidence from the coach - esp. after he bypassed a 49-yarder the week prior. And Crosby put a good kick on it actually. It missed, but not by much and at least tracked for most it - compared to his other shanks from that range this season. I think it was a move for the long-term, to let Crosby know that he still believes in him and won't be scared to give him a shot. Still, it was a costly miss and really turned out to be a game-changing play. A tie-game at the time, turned into quick points for NYG with the great field position. A make there could change the dynamic of the game - though, that may be wishful thinking with how thoroughly we got beat last night.
Sorry, but MM gets me frustrated in play calling in 4-down territory on 3rd and short. Rather than running the ball or doing a short safe pass to get the first down, or closer to the first, he likes to go down field. Then we get these kind of downtown field goal attempts that often give our opponent great field position. Or, in the Detroit game we punted. Really sick of seeing this.
4th. and 5 from the opponents 37? The odds of making a first down are as good or better than making that kick; the FG attempt should be the third best option. I didn't see anybody commenting on running Green on 3rd. and 1, in the red zone no less. McCarthy can be a stubborn individual.
Many are saying it was. It gave the Giants great field position and led to another score. Personally, at that point I was okay with going for it or punting it. Masthay has been incredible with his punts. It would have been an obvious nod to the "D" and no way Crosby takes it as a miff. I almost feel it was a "drama" moment for MM and Crosby and one that should never have taken place. It really was the third best option but the game was still in the balance so I get it.
I didn't mind going for the 55 yd FG. So what if it gave the Giants good field position? Did you watch our defense last night? Even if we punted and pinned the Giants inside their 10, they would still be able to get into good field position in a couple of pass plays. I also didn't like the play calling besides that. Lots of third and longs where we just threw a short pass and had to punt. Or was there just nobody open downfield? I keep hearing analysts say the Packers have the best WRs in the league - I don't think so.
The Packers rank 28th in the league on 4th down conversions @ 28.57%. They have a stunning success rate of 0.0% (o for 3)on the road. That might have had something to do with MM's decision to go with Crosby.
It was a good call. It was a very difficult kick. Any time you're kicking @ New York from the 55+ on a fairly windy day, it's gotta be one of the toughest kicks in football. It would have been a great confidence boost had he made it without super high expectations.
I would have been ok with MM's decision had the game been played in a dome. The last thing Crosby needs is to be put in a situation where weather conditions(and possibly traction/the spot) would add yet another factor/s to his already overloaded kitchen
I think Crosby may have hit some long ones in warm ups. I also think MM did not want to fall behind as he knew they could not play from behind and win. So he rolled the dice on the long field goal.
"The only thing I know about strategy is that everything the coach does is crap. Unless it works, in which case he's a button pusher." -Moe Sizlack (The Simpsons)
Personally I would have punted first in that instance. We weren't fooling their defense and I had little confidence that Crosby could hit that. I like the call from a confidence building standpoint, but goal #1 is winning games. There should be plenty of times coming during the rest of the game to build Crosby's confidence. MM sacrificed the good of the many to build the confidence of the one.
Shoulda went for it no question. I knew Crosby would miss and they would have great field position to work with, heres a guy missing from closer distances inside a dome! so yea kicking from 50 + in windy conditions on the road with a struggling kicker made perfect sense save trying to build his confidence for practice when it won't potntially cost us a game.
Yea, you know McCarthy was checking his stat sheet and decided the Packers just weren't good enough. You know, before the Packers beat the Jets in 2010 they had never won there? What in the world do any of those numbers mean? If you're 28.57% you just quit trying? If you're 0-20 in free throws don't you throw the ball up anyway? Sorry, I think if anybody ever heard MM say something like that he'd be laughed out of the NFL.
Say they went for it, and got it.. Would that have made the Giants front 4 not get any pressures?? The Giants Wr getting open? We know it wouldnt have made any difference on how the game ended..
Yea it would have, we woulda lost 31-13. He makes the FG and the Giants don't get excellent field position and score the touchdown they did after the miss.
