Why Mike McCarthy is the worst coach in the NFL and why that matters to the Redskins

[zoony]

We've all seen it on real sports, and we've seen it to some extent with Chip Kelly, but I'm waiting for the NFL coach who throws on every single down and goes for it on every 4th and goes for 2 every time.

 

It will be great.  Watch John Madden and Jon Gruden try to explain why that team is 16-0.

[Rodriggo]

1. Move back kickoffs to original distance.

2. Ban plastic helmets...use another material....maybe a multi facetted synthetic leather, with significant padding.

3. Allow contact of all types between WR and DBs except for arm holding, tripping and/or tackling before the pass.

4. Eliminate the helmet to helmet penalty.

5. Institute a "yellow card/red card" system for head hunters and personal fouls.

6. Reduce play clock to 35 seconds, eliminate TV timeouts.

7. Allow sponsorship deals on uniforms/fields/balls, etc.

8. Ban QB and LB headsets.

9. All plays can be reviewed, one challenge per half, no extras or deductions.

10. Extend season to 18 games.

11. Institute a mandatory 18-22 y/o developmental spring minor league.

 

Adding more, feeling it:

 

13. Create a caste system for contracts based on statistical production with salary caps per position.

12. Eliminate signing bonuses. Make all rookie contracts for 4 years, guaranteed money at lower rates than vets, BUT with arbitration already baked in LEAGUE-WIDE for their next contract which can be of any length.

14. Players can supersede caste system after 7 years accrued time on an NFL roster.

15. Holding out on a signed contract puts a player back in caste.

16. Eliminate the salary cap.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

We've all seen it on real sports, and we've seen it to some extent with Chip Kelly, but I'm waiting for the NFL coach who throws on every single down and goes for it on every 4th and goes for 2 every time.

 

It will be great.  Watch John Madden and Jon Gruden try to explain why that team is 16-0.

 

Don't ask me why, but at some point on Sunday, I spent three minutes watching that awful Seahawks-Bears game. The Bears were down something like 20-0 late in the third and had a 4 and 2 at midfield.

 

And Fox punted.

 

What the hell, man? Why not just pull your team off the field at that point.

 

I love the fact that the Steelers are incorporating the Madden Strategy and are going for 2 after every TD. And that will be great until they lose by 1 point and Colin Cowherd implies that a white coach would never make that mistake and blames hip hop.

 

What were we talking about again?

[illone]

Man, i totally expected to come into this thread and your post be about McCarthy's poor clock management, in game timeouts, play-calling, and a host of other stupid things the guy does.

 

Then I was going to scold you for posting in the wrong area.

 

However, I see what you did there.  Nice job HAHA!

 

Skins fans for now are just along for the ride at this point, man. The NFL belongs to Rodgers, and Brady as you already suggested.  Hope is a terrible strategy but that's all we can do right now is "hope". 

[Rufus T Firefly]

1. Move back kickoffs to original distance.

2. Ban plastic helmets...use another material....maybe a multi facetted synthetic leather, with significant padding.

3. Allow contact of all types between WR and DBs except for arm holding, tripping and/or tackling before the pass.

4. Eliminate the helmet to helmet penalty.

5. Institute a "yellow card/red card" system for head hunters and personal fouls.

6. Reduce play clock to 35 seconds, eliminate TV timeouts.

7. Allow sponsorship deals on uniforms/fields/balls, etc.

8. Ban QB and LB headsets.

9. All plays can be reviewed, one challenge per half, no extras or deductions.

10. Extend season to 18 games.

11. Institute a mandatory 18-22 y/o developmental spring minor league.

[GoSkins0721]

I mean, I guess you can bring back bump and run.

 

The only issue is that DBs have been taught to play this way for 35 years. I'm not sure that DeAngelo Hall would suddenly be able to execute it while someone like Richard Sherman would probably end up breaking a few receivers legs. You might end up with this situation where 4 Corner Backs are suddenly the highest paid players in the league.

 

If I was the commissioner, I would change nothing. I would try to max out the amount of money I could extract for the owners and retire in 5 years. That way my replacement has to deal with the fact that no sane mother is letting their child play football knowing how dangerous it is.

 

There have many, many changes to the rules to give the offense the advantage. I would: 

• Stop calling illegal contact. Anything short of holding is legit.
• Defensive holding is 10 yard penalty no automatic 1st down.
• Offensive holding is 10 yard penalty & loss of down. 
• Offensive PI is 15 yards & loss of down.
• More restrictions on the OL blocking. Any grabbing, no matter for how long is a hold. . 
• Put another ref on the field to watch for illegal pick plays on passing downs.I'm so tired of seeing guys picked off & passes completed with nothing called.

The only current loss of down for the offense is for intentional grounding (I think)  which has been watered down to give even the most inept QB the opportunity to not have it called by getting the ball past the line of scrimmage. Put an end to allowing that out for the QB. Go back to the old rule. 

 

I just read where there were 730 penalties called in the 1st 3 weeks of the season. The highest total in league history. I'd love to see a breakdown but before I do I'd guess:

• More on defense than offense.
• More on special teams than OL holding.
• More illegal contact than OL holding. 

I was looking at the ineptitude at QB for the other NFC Central teams. MIN has the same number of QBs who started a game as WAS since 2000 - 16. Their numbers are also close since 1989: MIN 23 WAS 27. Brad Johnson - MIN - had 2 different stints in MIN.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

You know what, I want to highlight this:

 

 

 

Put another ref on the field to watch for illegal pick plays on passing downs.I'm so tired of seeing guys picked off & passes completed with nothing called.

 

Is it all possible to eliminate "rub routes?"

 

Like can you institute a rule that no wide receiver is allowed to cross the path of another wide receiver before five yards?

 

Because I have no earthly idea how you ever stop that play that the Packers always run inside the ten where two receivers run into defensive backs while Cobb slips out the back and Rodgers throws him a bullet.

 

Here's another totally radical idea:

 

You have to have an eligible receiver line up within half a yard of the last blocker at all times.

 

This actually happened in the Texas A&M game this weekend where, I think, A&M was in a 4 wide and putting their RB in motion to the far side of the field and this created this insane mismatch where their best wide receiver was one on one with a Freshman LB. It did not end well for the LB.

 

I mean, it's fun but the five wide sets out of the shotgun turn football into full-contact 7 on 7 drills.

[Ghost of]

 

1. Move back kickoffs to original distance.

 

I liked a few of your points but I think extending the season to 18 games is unnecessary, but I think you at least tie in the safety factor in your considerations, which is worthwhile in light of the fact that the government may seek to ban or alter the game in the next 15 years.

 

I would do away with Thursday games that do no take place on Thanksgiving altogether.  They are almost uniformly bad.

 

Part of the reason I think teams struggle is that while the practice squad helps expand rosters (without paying them as much), it is essentially filled with inexperienced guys.  At the least active rosters should be all players on the roster. 

 

I think the health concerns with kickoffs necessitate that remaining at the current kickoff point, but banning the wedge may have alleviated some of that (but only to an extent.)  I do think leather(esque) helmets are a way to take some of the danger from the game. 

 

I do want to point out that the Niners had two great QBs and won FIVE SBs in about the time it took the Patriots to win their 4th.  Let's not undervalue how much a truly great QB was able to accomplish in the 80s/early 90s.  

 

Are NFL refs full-time employees yet? I would probably do that, but bring them into strict review, and institute transparency (meaning to the game-watching public) measures so that bad calls and bad refs are truly made accountable and their missed calls are public knowledge.

[Rodriggo]

I would do away with Thursday games that do no take place on Thanksgiving altogether.  They are almost uniformly bad.

 

Agree 100%

[Rufus T Firefly]

I would do away with Thursday games that do no take place on Thanksgiving altogether.  They are almost uniformly bad.

Give the teams their bye before they play them. You would have to eliminate them in like weeks 2-4 and 14-17, and teams would only be able to play them once. But it would be worth it to have those games be actual football rather than the crap they are now, imo.

[daveakl]

Let's hear some ideas so I can tell you how dumb they are, wuss.

Let dbs do whatever they want other then hold inside 10 yards.

And start calling pick plays.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

Legalize all performance enhancing drugs.

[Peregrine]

I agree, if you lose a game with Aaron Rodgers you have done something terribly, terribly wrong.  And the fact that all but 3 of their players have only ever played for the Packers is ridiculous.  McCarthy doesnt even need to bother himself with free agents, or scouting other players to potentially bring in.

[DiscoBob]

Your original post reminded me a little of Pittman4two.....LOL

 

Whenever I see Aaron Rogers, I picture Jason Candle giving me a discount double check to the huevos.

[TSO]

This thread is so ES. More of this, ES. Please.  

[Springfield]

Get rid of PI as it is. 10 yard penalty, automatic first down.

Offensive holding should be 5 yards. 10 yards is a drive killer.

That's all I've got.

As for the OP and some of the general commentary in the last two pages...

I never thought Gruden was a bad coach. I thought he was a sissy for getting linked by Harbaugh but that's it. There isn't anyone who could lead this gang of dopes to a super bowl right now. Getting a generational talent at QB would make anyone here a great coach... Of course this city would ruin it like it does everything else.

I think Tom Brady is the best QB in the modern era. He just wins, all the time. And he wins Super Bowls. And he never misses the playoffs. He doesn't make mistakes at all and he turns goofy white guys into world class receivers.

[SkinsFTW]

 The Patriots can afford the Patriot Way because in addition to skirting the spirit, and the letter, of the law, they have Tom Brady.  

 

 

And knowing the Pats and Tom Brady, who plays at a steep discount, I'd be surprised if he's not getting 1/2 his funds from the team under the table.

[ANONYMOUS SOURCE.]

I watched A-Aron play in a bowl game against VT when he was at Cal, and he was mediocre. Never would have guessed he would be the player like he is today. In fairness he got the luxury to sit and learn and to get in NFL shape before he was thrown in there.

[Sacks 'n' Stuff]

And knowing the Pats and Tom Brady, who plays at a steep discount, I'd be surprised if he's not getting 1/2 his funds from the team utnder the table.

He doesn't need any money under the table. His wife's fortune dwarves his own.

[Dan T.]

Whenever I see Aaron Rogers, I picture Jason Candle giving me a discount double check to the huevos.

Welp, spit take. Goose Island all over the bar.

[zoony]

Story on nbc nightly news tonight featuring a high school in St Louis that has scuttled their football program. Story hi lighted several other schools who have done the same, and cited the decline in high school football participation over the last 5 years

Seems like football is going the way of the Italian mafia. All the old tough neighborhoods are gentrified and filled with pussies. If this trend of non youth participation continues, this is how the NFL will die.

[Major Harris]

Here's another totally radical idea:

You have to have an eligible receiver line up within half a yard of the last blocker at all times.

This actually happened in the Texas A&M game this weekend where, I think, A&M was in a 4 wide and putting their RB in motion to the far side of the field and this created this insane mismatch where their best wide receiver was one on one with a Freshman LB. It did not end well for the LB.

I mean, it's fun but the five wide sets out of the shotgun turn football into full-contact 7 on 7 drills.

Can you think of some more ways to eliminate strategy?

[Conn]

had they been picking higher in the draft that year, they would have passed on Rodgers as well.

 

A small part of me thinks, however, that his years on the bench behind Favre and the patience shown to him by the Packers has played a big part in where he is now.  However, patience is not owed any starting QB.  Patience is earned.  Rodgers showed enough in those early years to earn patience.

Was wondering while catching up on the thread who would bring this up first. Good point.

I don't think it's specifically sitting behind Favre that helped--he was notoriously unhelpful towards Rodgers--I think it's just the fact that he was able to sit for years, period. He was talented but needed serious refinement. Many might not remember, but he's a totally different guy now compared to his Cal days, from his footwork up to his throwing motion.

Sitting a 1st round QB is largely impractical in today's NFL, all highly talented or drafted QB's are expected to start pretty early, if not immediately. It's unfortunate, and we might see this start to change since rookie 1st round QB's are cheaper now than five years ago.

Unless you're truly talking about a developmental QB sitting behind an unquestioned starter with a stable coaching staff. Aaron Rodgers had three years to alter his muscle memory and make the new mechanics the norm for his body. He also obviously mastered the mental game in those three years which lead to him thinking less while on the field, always a positive where ingrained, repetitive physical motions in athletics are concerned.

But there's zero doubt that he was developed into the guy he is today by his coaches. The same coaches he's had his entire NFL career reworked his mechanics from the ground up. That includes McCarthy, which throws a small wrench into the premise of the thread LKB.

[Wyndorf25]

 

1. He's Jon Gruden's fatter brother.

2. He did a pretty good job as Cincy's offensive coordinator.

 

 

 

I heard Jay doesn't like being called fat... 

[daveakl]

Contract question....can a first round pick sign a new deal instead of the 5th year option thing? Is that what Kerrigan did?