Why throw away commitment to run?

[Zero2Cool]

By Chris Havel

Fifty-five is a wonderful number in many ways.

It is one of several jersey numbers worn by the Green Bay Packers' Johnny "Blood" McNally, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It is the jersey number worn by linebacker Abdul Hodge, a promising rookie from Iowa.

If the Packers' new receiver-return specialist, Koren Robinson, had been driving 55 mph, instead of 104 mph, he wouldn't be in as much trouble with the law. Then again, he may not be here, which may be good or bad based upon his conduct in the days ahead.

Fifty-five is not such a wonderful number in other ways.

For instance, it is a lousy number when it is the number of passes Packers coach Mike McCarthy directs Brett Favre to throw in a game. That is especially true when it is a game, such as Sunday's 34-27 loss to New Orleans, the Packers led 13-0.

The Packers (0-2) had everything going their way.

They grabbed an early lead, they were at Lambeau Field and they had the Saints on the run. Then they inexplicably — pardon the pun — threw it away.

Favre has thrown 79 passes in the past six quarters.

During that same span, Ahman Green has carried the ball 26 times. That isn't a commitment to the running game. It is a recipe for disaster. The Packers don't need four tight ends. They need a canopy to put over this circus. It is that or a dome atop Lambeau Field if they hope to have any chance to win when December blows into town.

There is no secret to success in the National Football League.

The good teams have a quarterback that can make plays and execute the offense. They have a running game, or at least a semblance of a running game, to keep opposing defenses honest. They have a defense that can neutralize, if not dominate, the opposition.

The great teams have all of that in addition to top-notch special teams play.

Now, the Packers have one of the above: The quarterback. And guess who is taking a majority of the heat for the Packers' 0-2 start? That's right. It's the quarterback.

Favre repeatedly has stated it is difficult to win without a strong running game and a good defense. The Packers' defense is unorganized, particularly in the secondary, and coordinator Bob Sanders needs to get that straightened out.

Whether the Packers can succeed at running the ball is a mystery because McCarthy hasn't given them a chance to show what they can or cannot do.

Midway through the second half of the Packers' loss to the Saints, I wasn't sure if that was Mike McCarthy or Mike Sherman wandering up and down the sideline.

I am in favor of giving McCarthy and his system a chance to work. I like many of the philosophies he espouses. What I am not in favor of is putting it all on a 36-year-old quarterback's shoulders at the first sign of trouble.

McCarthy came here with a plan to run the football come hell or high water. Through two games, the heat is rising and the season is sinking fast.

Chris Havel can be reached by voice mail at (920) 431-8586 or by e-mail at chavel@ greenbay/gannett.com

I think this is very true. I have to agree with Chris. I'm starting to lose some faith in Mike though. He said one thing, and is not doing something different.

Mike calls the plays and he said his main focus watching live play was the offensive lines protection. Not sure if thats good or bad, but think its worth mentioning.

 

[tromadz]

I like how he didnt mention that the 55 passes had...good results(except the one INT that wasnt the passers fault)

MM gameplanned that specific game with the run as the third priority, and it showed. it wasn't an abandoning. it was a plan. Did it work? Not really. Favre stayed upright more this game(which was a main concern going into the week). Favre had more time to throw(which was a main concern going into the week).

Hopefully there will be more balance in week 3.

 

[TOPackerFan]

The problem was when the run was abandoned. When up 13-0 on our next two series we went incompletion, incompletion, incompletion and punt and incompletion, incompletion, incompletion and punt. That was the time to run the ball and MM, for some reason, chose not to do it. I thought he called a pretty good game other than those two series.

 

[tromadz]

The problem was when the run was abandoned. When up 13-0 on our next two series we went incompletion, incompletion, incompletion and punt and incompletion, incompletion, incompletion and punt. That was the time to run the ball and MM, for some reason, chose not to do it. I thought he called a pretty good game other than those two series.

That....is very true. There should have been more running there. Hopefully he learns from that BIGTIME. He probably seen some things in the defense he wanted to exploit, but ...it backfired. Hopefully that was a learning experience for some of the young coaches and that wont happen again!

 

[porky88]

McCarthy looked like Mike Sherman calling plays on Sunday. Air it out all day. If you get a lead you need to start to run. They had a chance but just kept with the pass which was a mistake. The way our D was playing we didn't want to put it on the field. Green Bay needs to run and establish clock control to keep our Defense and the opposition's offense off the field. The more their off the field, the better chance we have to win now.

 

[warhawk]

I believe he was trying to stick the dagger in them when they were up and it backfired on him. I also don't think he was expecting the defense to go on and play as horribly after the first quarter and a half as they did.

There wasn't anything going on to give him an idea that the Saints would score 34 points so stepping it up and going for the throat was not necessarily a bad move at that point.

 

[umair]

i can see where your comeing from warhawk but you cant underestimate your opponent like that. any thing can happen while the game is being played. so it was a bad move by him.

 

[kewlbeans]

Problem is you need some resemblance of an o-line and defense to have a decent running game.

2.5 yards a carry is going to leave you in a lot of 3rd and longs. And with our pass defense offering no resistance, just how long can you stick with a running plan that isn't working ?

 

[Zero2Cool]

Problem is you need some resemblance of an o-line and defense to have a decent running game.

2.5 yards a carry is going to leave you in a lot of 3rd and longs. And with our pass defense offering no resistance, just how long can you stick with a running plan that isn't working ?

Ahman is getting 4.2 yards a carry. The problem is he only has 36 carries. He should get atleast 20-25 a game. He gets better with more carries.

 

[kewlbeans]

Problem is you need some resemblance of an o-line and defense to have a decent running game.

2.5 yards a carry is going to leave you in a lot of 3rd and longs. And with our pass defense offering no resistance, just how long can you stick with a running plan that isn't working ?

Ahman is getting 4.2 yards a carry. The problem is he only has 36 carries. He should get atleast 20-25 a game. He gets better with more carries.

The 4.2 ypc is very misleading. It's inflated because the Bears were playing pass coverage and the Packers were running draw plays out of the shotgun. Green had 57 yards on 6 carries in the 4th qrt when the Bears had the game well in hand. He had only 34 yards on 11 carries in the first half.

He was only averaging 2.6 against the Saints. You can't stick with a running game like that with our defense. No way in hell.

 

[Zero2Cool]

Just checked the play by play.

11, 11, 12, 5 and 9. 48 yards on five carries.

For the game he had 20 carries for 110 yards.

lose the five carries from the fourth quarter and the 48 yards.

15 carries 62 yards

That's a 4.1 yard per carry average in the first 3 quarters of the game. Against a very good defense. Only three carries over 5 yards in the first half though.













For whoever is curious, heres his run by run breakdown in each quarter.

Vs Bears
1st Quarter

• 3
  6
  0
  3
  4

16 Yards




2nd Quarter

• 7
  2
  0
  14
  0

23 Yards




3rd Quarter

• 2
  11
  0
  1
  9

23 Yards




4th Quarter

• 11
  11
  12
  5
  9

48 Yards











Vs Saints
1st Quarter.

• 1
  2
  5
  5

13 Yards




2nd Quarter

• 0
  3
  8

11 Yards




3rd Quarter

• 2
  2
  2
  1
  1
  7
  2

17 Yards




4th Quarter

• -1
  -1 (Fumble)
  7

5 Yards


That's 17 carries for 46 yards. He's credited for 16 carries and 42 yards though.

I went over the play by play several times.










Either way, seven carries in the first half his absurd, especially when the first quarter we had a 13 point lead!!!!!
Mike McCarthy and Jeff JagsWHATEVER said you run the ball no matter what. You take the 2 or 3 yard gains early because after awhile the defense will be wear out and they will turn into 20 and 30 yard gains.



After two games I do not see the dedication to the run.

 

[kewlbeans]

Just checked the play by play.

11, 11, 12, 5 and 9. 48 yards on five carries.


Well if your gonna get technical about it . I fudged a few seconds and added the 9 yard run with less than a min. to go in the 3rd. Same situation, late in the game, Bears in prevent, run a draw, Easy yardage.

I'm more concerned about our defensive play calling than our offensive ones. We need to learn to stop someone occasionally first then we can work on that very much needed ground game.