Some thoughts...
Coaches can make all the difference.
I like to use the 2009 Vikings as an example in football. It is a good one.
During the early part of that season, there was a power struggle between the conservative HC Childress and Favre who wanted a wide open offense.
Childress wanted to use the run game to set up the passing game. When they ran the offense this way, it bogged down. It was not dynamic and it struggled.
When Favre had his way and they ran a wide open offense, the offense came alive and was one of the best in the league.
Eventually Childress gave in. If he hadn't, that team would not have come anywhere close to having the kind of season they had.
I once saw a college basketball coach cost his team a national championship by pulling the plug on his team far too soon allowing the opposition that did not even belong in the same gym an opportunity they almost certainly never would have had if he had kept his foot on the gas at least until late in the game. It happens.
System sometimes means everything regarding getting the most out of a players skillset in both football and basketball. That's coaching (or GM, or both).
Haley was not brought here to first assess the personnel and then choose what type of offense he wanted to run. He was brought here to run a type of offense he wanted to run with some tweaks according to personnel. I did not like Haley for his first 2+ years at all... looked a little like Childress failure when he controlled the Vikings offense in 2009. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying our offense could have been great or even good, but I do believe it could have been better. I mean, it was dismal and painful to watch at times and for significant stretches. Too much forcing the run at times on early downs resulting in putting the qb in less than optimal position and having to bail the OC out. Too much not using the entire football field enough. The players did let him down at times with some key drops and key missed throws, so it was players failures too. Haley has been building something here though. We saw some good results last year. It's not the offense I would prefer with Ben in his prime. I would prefer more 4 wide sets and more spread and shred. But if it works, I will support it.
I have confidence in Haley/Tomlin when the OL is opening holes in the run game. I am still concerned about Haley/Tomlin when we cannot run the football.
Mike McCarthy spent of good part of the 2010 season searching for a reliable run game. He stayed committed to this. He wanted to establish the run. Late in the season they did find an effective run game and it helped them get to the sb. Due to the matchup, they ran the football a total of 11 times that game, (not 13 times due to 2 runs by Rodgers). In the playoffs leading up to the sb they ran it 32 times, 31 times, 32 times. One of those games was played inside a dome. Many coaches would not have adjusted like this that day. I'm not saying McCarthy has never failed. I am saying coaching matters and can be the difference.
I found this article with an interesting perspective on that game. I am not saying I agree with all of it.
Abandoning the run key to Packers' Super Bowl victory
RRSTAR.COM | Assistant sports editor Matt Trowbridge loves to cover (and argue about) everything, from pros to preps. He's been at the Register Star since 1990.
By Matt Trowbridge
Posted Feb. 7, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 7, 2011 at 6:23 AM
Fox TV analyst Troy Aikman was shocked the Packers rarely ran in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Early in their final drive, he said he never would have believed Mike McCarthy would abandon the running game.
Neither did Quick Shots. That’s why this space picked Pittsburgh to win. Instead, Green Bay’s McCarthy was the biggest difference, trusting Aaron Rodgers (24-for-39 for 304 yards and three TDs) to throw the Packers to a 31-25 Super Bowl win.
Throwing on 39 of 50 downs was the smart way to attack the NFL’s third-best run defense in the past 33 years. Yet Aikman wanted to run more. Everybody always wants to run more. But except for one 50-yard Pittsburgh drive early in the third quarter, both teams did all their scoring when they passed on virtually every down.
Hopefully, coaches and critics were watching in Chicago. Despite hiring pass-happy offensive coordinator Mike Martz, the Bears ranked last in the NFL in pass attempts, and still the No. 1 complaint was the Bears didn’t run enough.
Shotgun shoots down Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger again converted long third downs, converting on 3 of 5 of at least 9 yards. He played poorly mostly because Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin put him in worse situations than McCarthy put Aaron Rodgers. The run never set up a Roethlisberger pass: he as 1-for-4 for 4 yards on play-action.
Rodgers was given more downs to click than Roethlsiberger. His 38-yard pass on third-and-10 to set up Green Bay’s final TD came on the Packers’ 11th consecutive pass play. His 31-yard pass on third-and-10 from their own 25 late in the game was Green Bay’s 16th consecutive passing play. And both long gains were out of the shotgun formation, used on 10 of those 16 plays.
ESPN.com’s Tim Graham wrote this game shows Roethlisberger is not in Tom Brady’s league. No, it showed the value of the shotgun. Until his final two passes, Roethlisberger had a 111.6 passer rating out of the shotgun (15-for-21 for 192 yards with 2 TDs and one interception), plus an 18-yard scramble. He just wasn’t in the shotgun enough (1 of his first 10 plays in the second half). Brady threw all three of his first-half TD passes against the Bears out of the shotgun earlier this season, and Matt Flynn and Brady threw all five of their TDs in their 67 plays from the shotgun in the Patriots’ win over the Packers.
Not going to the well too often
One of the best things Green Bay did was immediately pass after its three good runs. When James Starks ran for 7 yards, the Packers threw two straight passes to gain 31 yards and score a TD. When he ran for 12, Aaron Rodgers threw a 21-yard TD pass on the next play. Only when he ran for 14 did the Packers follow with another run. Starks gained 1 yard and the Packers eventually kicked a field goal.
http://www.rrstar.com/article/20110207/NEWS/302079897/?Start=1Throw. The. Football. On. First. Down.
