Stoney's He-Man Steeler Haters NFL Playoff Thread ... No Yinzers allowed

So the Super Bowl teams will be coached by Belichick and the guy he replaced.

 

Odd tweet from an NYT reporter:

Juliet Macur ‏@JulietMacur 23m23 minutes ago
Yikes, Bob Kraft is up on stage sounds like he is slurring his words. Maybe he started celebrating really, really early in his owner's box?

Did she really just accuse Bob Kraft of being drunk.

 

She should have just said Beat The Rapist.

 

Vodka tonics for days.
They're quite visible when they show the owner's box.

 

I'm shocked.

Hopefully the Pats win in two weeks, but they'll probably choke again.

 

Watching Packers-Seahawks more closely now that I have some time.

Holy crap what a collapse by Green Bay of players just not in position at the most critical junctures.

We've already seen the debacle of the onside kick...

The fake FG would have never been successful if 6 of the 11 aren't jumping to block it. That's micro-thinking. Why isn't the special teams coach telling his guys, "we can give up 3, don't give up 7."

Green Bay up 19-7. Burnett not running after the fourth INT -- I didn't think of it at the time but he probably could have, at least, gotten Green Bay into FG position.

The Packers' defense was a nightmare those last three possessions. Exhausted and not covering the right space.

My one issue with Rodgers on the final drive of regulation. It's 2nd and 10 from the Seattle 35. 0:42 left. Rodgers looks to Rodgers (the TE) on the right side (near sideline) and their timing is off, like so many of those back shoulders have been the last few weeks.

On the left side, Adams & Cobb run a pick play. Adams slants inside and he is wide open. If Rodgers looks left and hits him, Adams gets 15 to 20 yards right down the middle... possible splits the defenders, scores a TD and wins the game.

So many breakdowns in the last hour of this game for Green Bay.

In the big picture, I cannot see how this ends well for McCarthy. He will, rightly, have this cloud following him for the rest of his tenure in Green Bay unless he wins a second Super Bowl. Now the national narrative is "will McCarthy gag it up again?"

Rodgers has to deal with this while he's in his prime.... unless Ted Thompson sees this from a macro view and thinks "I should upgrade the head coaching position".

 

The hatred many GB fans have for McCarthy (even before today) is a head-scratcher for me.

It wasn't McCarthy who left a backup offensive lineman wide open so he could tackle the punter/holder on the fake FG ... it was AJ Hawk.

It wasn't McCarthy who decided to slide after the fourth pickoff of Wilson instead of running it upfield, it was Burnett.

It wasn't McCarthy who, instead of blocking on the onside kick attempt, tried to field the ball and failed, it was that soon-to-be used car salesman, No. 86.

And it wasn't McCarthy who, with a chance to knock down Wilson's wounded-duck 2-point toss, let it float over his head for a crucial conversion, it was Clinton-Dix.

At some point, it's on the players.

 

I don't think Aaron Rodgers is a true leader.

 

Coco, the fake FG is a coaching failure -- you don't even go for the block there, you call safe. In fact teams often just leave their defense on the field in that situation.

And McCarthy essentially deciding at halftime that he really didn't want to score more -- as he does frequently in these situations -- is the thing that has people so upset.

 

I think it's easier for Brady. Luck and Wilson to be true leaders because they are all in sync with their head coaches.

Rodgers and McCarthy aren't in sync and I don't think they have been since after the 2011 season. Sure, when they're beating up on inferior teams 41-17, that masks lots of trouble.

In Week 3 of 2013 (before Rodgers got hurt and was out half the season), there was a game at Cincinnati when the Packers led 30-14 late in the third...
Watch Green Bay Packers vs. Cincinnati Bengals [09/22/2013] - NFL.com

And lost 34-30.

McCarthy took the ball out of Rodgers hands at the most critical junctures of that game. Mind you, this wasn't 2010 Rodgers in only his third year as a starter. This was Aaron F'n Rodgers.

Since that grease fire in 2013, I've felt that Rodgers is anything but fully all-in with McCarthy and that extends to the huddle.

Can't tell me in these games (like today) when McCarthy gets all scared with a fourth quarter lead, Rodgers emerges from the huddle having to act like he's supporting the inevitable running plays that lose yards or the slants that don't gain first downs.

He can't (or won't) sell his coach's "playing not to lose" in the huddle. It's just not his nature.

The question for the next three years is can these two co-exist. I don't think so. Rodgers is, arguably, the best QB in the league right now and in the prime of his career for two more years. McCarthy is solid at the prep work before a game but does anyone on here think he is just as good as Belichick, Harbaugh (I include him because of 2012 and 2013 playoff losses), Carroll or Sean Payton on game management?

If you had to pick one - Rodgers or McCarthy - who would you pick?

McCarthy coached scared in early 2007 when Green Bay opened up 4-0. It was on a Sunday night against the Bears at Lambeau. Late in the game, he went conservative, clinging to a lead and losing it. I gave him a pass because he was in his second-year and trying to reign in Favre.

Three years later (the SB year), Green Bay goes 10-6 and gets the last seed. All six of their losses were by 4 or fewer points. In the game Rodgers played (and lost), the Packers held the lead in the 4th qtr of each one but conservative playcalling did them in each time. It was maddening. In the playoffs, big lead against Philly... hung on. Big lead against Chicago... hung on. Super Bowl vs. Pittsburgh - up 21-3... hung on.

In these playoff games against higher-quality teams, it's like he tells Rodgers, "I trust you to get us a 17-point lead but I insist on landing the plane." Then McCarthy encounters an unexpected crosswind on final approach and it's up to Rodgers to steer the damn thing back onto the runway.

If you watched Rodgers' presser today, he didn't do a good job of masking his contempt for McCarthy.

Strong coaches evolve. They learn from their mistakes. Belichick did. Carroll did. Harbaugh leaves before he has to. McCarthy doesn't.

 

I can't root for Brady or Belichick. I can't root for Sherman or Baldwin. I can root for a massive failure of the power grid in suburban Phoenix in two weeks . . . or, at the very least, a 3-2 final.