It's so de-moralizing to see your team lose a close game. It's infuriating when you see the Head Coach make the mistake that cost the game. Their job is to make sure play-callers call the right play and otherwise manage the game in terms of time and timeouts. There's a lot more they do behind the scenes of course, but on Sunday, that's about it. So, why do we see them struggle to do this at times?
It's not all of them of course, we're obviously talking about a select few, like Mike McCarthy, head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and Brandon Staley, head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Like with most things I write about on here, I'm not a professional, clearly, or else I would be out there doing this instead of sitting behind my keyboard and criticizing those who do. I do, however, really enjoy listening to the people who know way more about Football than I probably ever will. I'm going to criticize anyway because I enjoy it and it's fun. It's not fun when I have to do it for the team I grew up watching, the Cowboys.
The Cowboys, for the last couple of years, have been lauded for their incredibly well-built team and have been picked by many analysts as Superbowl Contenders. Now, the fans would tell you they are contenders every year, but we all know that's not true. I digress. So, why is it that this top-rated team has fallen short (and will probably continue to do so)? My money is on the head coach. He was supposed to be the head coach that brought in that Super Bowl-winning experience to get this team over the hump. Why, oh why, did the organization believe this about someone who hadn't been to the Super Bowl since 2010, and on top of that happened to do it with a future hall-of-fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers? Based on his track record since arriving in Dallas it's looking like he lucked up being in that situation more so than being part of the reason they accomplished that feat. I say this because he never made it back and was very often criticized for poor clock and game management as well as being unable to develop young players and the team as a whole which kept them from ever returning.
Now, in Dallas, there's a lot of young talent, but I feel that mostly came off the back of former Offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore. On the other side of the ball, we know how incredible of a coordinator Dan Quinn is having had his hands involved with the 'Legion of Boom' during his time in Seattle and building a fairly stout defense in Atlanta during his time as head coach there. During the 2017 season, the Falcons had improved from way down in the bottom half of defenses to eighth in scoring defense. Huge jump. Yeah, he lost a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl, but it would be hard for anyone to stop that comeback from the greatest quarterback we've ever seen (Tom Brady).
Anyways, back to Mike McCarthy. Since his 2010 season, he's only won 6 playoff games, which is absurd to think about considering he only had four of those scattered throughout the rest of the time he was with Green Bay. Hell, at least Matt LeFleur (current GNB head coach) took them to the NFC Championship a few times during the time Aaron Rodgers was there. McCarthy has also had more playoff losses than wins being 8 since that Super Bowl. His playoff record since 2010 in Green Bay was 5 -6 and it's not looking great in Dallas either being 1-2. We should've just stuck with Jason Garrett (who was 2-3) if this was all we were going to get.
I don't know what the Cowboys organization was thinking with this move. Yes, there were other options available at the time, and have been since. So, why are they holding out hope for someone who has shown for over a decade he can't get it done? There's not much else to say here except I can't wait to see what the Cowboys rebuild is going to look like in a few years because it's not going to get much better and by the time they move on from McCarthy, it'll be too little too late.
Unfortunately, there's not much to say for the Chargers head coach. He's a new head coach who was given the reins of a team with immense talent. They have talent all up and down that roster on every level. They just stink. The Chargers needed a new identity, they were looking for one after San Diego. They didn't get what they were hoping for in a head coach who follows analytics so closely that it seems like he goes for it on every single fourth down. It's ruining them and their players. He has one playoff game and it was an embarrassing loss considering they were up by 27 points and lost to the Jaguars last year. How any player can mentally recover from something like that is beyond me (and apparently beyond them with a current 2-4 record). Unfortunately, there's no one to ask for advice on that since the Falcons were never the same after their Super Bowl loss.
You can't play for someone you don't believe in. Just ask the 2018-2020 Lions. Or the Bear's current and previous teams of the last 20 some-odd years. Or the Legion of Boom after their Super Bowl loss in the 2014 season. It's time for these teams to move on, and maybe put a little more effort in your hires next time.
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