Skip to main content
Advertising

Mailbag

Presented by

Mailbag: Concern about a predictable offense?

Mailbag--Concern-about-a-predictable-offense-hero

When Mike McCarthy was let go as the head coach of the Packers, he was criticized for having an offense that was predictable and lacked creativity. With him now calling plays in Dallas, what leads you to believe that's not going to still be a concern? – Mark Williams/Shreveport, LA

Nick Eatman: I think that's a concern for anyone, and it's not just because things didn't work out with McCarthy in Green Bay at the end. I think that's the concern for any OC for any team. At some point, teams are going to catch up to what you're doing - it just takes longer for some. The biggest issue is that people love to use phrases such as "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" And that's what gets play-callers in trouble because they lean on the plays that work, and always work ... until they don't work anymore. So there is a balance there that must be figured out. To me, it starts with the ability to run the ball. If your team can consistently run the ball well, it takes off some pressure of being super creative. Either way, it's going to be interesting to see how it goes with McCarthy calling plays once again.

Mickey: Well, from 2007-16 the Packers offenses were ranked in the Top 10 eight of those 10 seasons, and in the Top 5 seven times, so that's got to count for something. Sometimes overall personnel has something to do with offensive output. And by the way, McCarthy during the 2018 season, only coached 12 games (4-7-1). Plus, in 2015 when the Packers ranked 15th offensively with Tom Clements calling plays, the team did finish 10-6, winning one playoff game. But we'll find how all these changes on offense work out because last year, with the exception of the season opener, the season finale and the playoff loss to San Francisco, this was a highly potent offense and with a better defense the Cowboys should not have lost those two overtime games when scoring 28 and 34 points.

Related Content

Advertising