Mike McCarthy vs. Mike Tomlin Thread

DH34Phan · Post #1 » by **DH34Phan** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:55 pm

This matchup is going to make a big difference in this game. I want to see how the coaching staffs prepare throughout the next 2 weeks.

Any thoughts on this matchup?

Bucksfans1and2 · Post #2 » by **Bucksfans1and2** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:21 pm

Have you ever seen the first 10 minutes of saving Private Ryan?

chuckleslove · Post #3 » by **chuckleslove** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:37 pm

I've been a fan of MM since he has been here, he has his flaws no doubt but so does pretty much every coach in the NFL.

I think the one clear place Tomlin has an advantage is having gone through this before and knowing what it is involved with the entire experience of the Super Bowl.

PkrsBcksGphsMqt · Post #4 » by **PkrsBcksGphsMqt** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:44 pm

chuckleslove wrote:I think the one clear place Tomlin has an advantage is having gone through this before and knowing what it is involved with the entire experience of the Super Bowl.

I wonder if McCarthy called up Holmgren to get some advice.

chuckleslove · Post #5 » by **chuckleslove** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:03 am

PkrsBcksGphsMqt wrote:
chuckleslove wrote:I think the one clear place Tomlin has an advantage is having gone through this before and knowing what it is involved with the entire experience of the Super Bowl.

I wonder if McCarthy called up Holmgren to get some advice.

MM mentioned in his press conference today that a couple of head coaches reached out to him on what to expect and how to handle him. He didn't specify who but it wouldn't shock me if Holmgren was one of them.

El Duderino · Post #6 » by **El Duderino** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:49 am

DH34Phan wrote:This matchup is going to make a big difference in this game. I want to see how the coaching staffs prepare throughout the next 2 weeks.

Any thoughts on this matchup?

Barring the game being extremely close to where a very important decision needs to be made by either coach very late in the game, i think the game will largely be decided by the players on the field, not the head coaches. Hell, Tomlin doesn't even call plays for Pittsburgh and i give him credit for that. He came up under the Cover 2 defense and yet, Tomlin was smart enough to not force that scheme on to the team and instead he allowed the highly successful Dick LeBeau to stay and run the defense. Not all coaches are willing to do something like that.

The best traits i see from Tomlin and McCarthy is that both guys seem very good at managing that fine line to where the players both like and really respect their head coaches. As Ted Thompson mentioned, for a head coach in today's NFL to be successful, that guy must be able to get the players to respect him, trust that the coach is a straight shooter and not phony, and balance the line between being tough on the players without being such an assss that players tune him out. When i watch how McCarthy/Tomlin carry themselves along with how they interact with their players, both strike me as having that mix of being respected and liked.

The matchup i'm more curious about is Capers and LeBeau vs the two offenses. We'll see two offenses that will be facing a defensive scheme which is very similar to ones they practice against all season. Because of this, i suspect that both defensive coordinators will be giving tips in meetings to their offensive coaches about what certain defensive formations might mean and how best to expose them.

Post #7 » by **MickeyDavis** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:26 am

If we have the lead in the 4th quarter MM will go into his shell, pucker up and change the offense to try not to lose, if Pitt has the lead in the 4th Tomlin will try to close the game out. Exactly what went down yesterday. I only hope it doesn't come down to that.

Ayt · Post #8 » by **Ayt** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:11 am

We passed the ball a lot in the second half so I think it is a little odd to me that people think we went ultra conservative against the Bears. In the 4th quarter we ran 8 pass plays and 4 running plays. On the final drive we went run, run, pass, but that is not a bad strategy when you have our D facing their 3rd string QB when we are up 7, especially when AR doesn't look like himself.

Go back and watch the second half or take a look at the play calls to try to remember what happened on each drive. We had a lot of poorly run plays.

BucksRuleAll22 · Post #9 » by **BucksRuleAll22** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:13 pm

MM is good as it gets for preparing a team for a game. During the game is were hes a below avg coach.

Newz · Post #10 » by **Newz** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:11 pm

Ayt wrote:We passed the ball a lot in the second half so I think it is a little odd to me that people think we went ultra conservative against the Bears. In the 4th quarter we ran 8 pass plays and 4 running plays. On the final drive we went run, run, pass, but that is not a bad strategy when you have our D facing their 3rd string QB when we are up 7, especially when AR doesn't look like himself.

Go back and watch the second half or take a look at the play calls to try to remember what happened on each drive. We had a lot of poorly run plays.

We could put up 21 points in the 4th and people would say we went conservative.

We were about to score to go up three scores and Rodgers threw one of the worst passes of his career. That has nothing to do with MM, it has to do with our QB (for once) making a really bad decision.

I thought MM coached a great game, I think he's been very good the whole playoffs.

A Diddy2231 · Post #11 » by **A Diddy2231** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:45 pm

I hope MM runs some screens against the Steelers

chuckleslove · Post #12 » by **chuckleslove** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:49 pm

Ayt wrote:We passed the ball a lot in the second half so I think it is a little odd to me that people think we went ultra conservative against the Bears. In the 4th quarter we ran 8 pass plays and 4 running plays. On the final drive we went run, run, pass, but that is not a bad strategy when you have our D facing their 3rd string QB when we are up 7, especially when AR doesn't look like himself.

Go back and watch the second half or take a look at the play calls to try to remember what happened on each drive. We had a lot of poorly run plays.

Why get in the way of facts though

an_also · Post #13 » by **an_also** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:09 pm

8. Who is the better head coach?

Considering that Mike Tomlin has led the Steelers to the playoffs in three of his four seasons and twice gotten to the Super Bowl, the résumés aren’t really that close. Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy is a great offensive mind, but he has some serious catching up to do. But the bigger issue isn’t who has more pelts. Really, this is a question about how the two coaches handle their jobs. Tomlin is a true manager of the game, setting the tone for how the entire team plays. He has a great understanding of how his team is reacting in a given situation and knows when to push the right buttons. His call at the end of the Jets game to throw on third-and-6 wasn’t just gutsy, it was smart. He knew the Jets had a lot of confidence moving the ball against his defense by that point. By comparison, if there is one criticism of McCarthy, it’s that he often gets too caught up in running the offense and sometimes loses sight of the overall game. That’s one of the reasons he is below .500 in games decided by less than a touchdown.

Ayt · Post #14 » by **Ayt** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:09 pm

This guy.

Turk Nowitzki · Post #15 » by **Turk Nowitzki** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:24 am

LOL at that picture. He should bring back that stache for sure.

El Duderino · Post #16 » by **El Duderino** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:33 am

chuckleslove wrote:
Ayt wrote:We passed the ball a lot in the second half so I think it is a little odd to me that people think we went ultra conservative against the Bears. In the 4th quarter we ran 8 pass plays and 4 running plays. On the final drive we went run, run, pass, but that is not a bad strategy when you have our D facing their 3rd string QB when we are up 7, especially when AR doesn't look like himself.

Go back and watch the second half or take a look at the play calls to try to remember what happened on each drive. We had a lot of poorly run plays.

Why get in the way of facts though

Everyone credits Tomlin for passing on that 3rd and 7 play to seal the game vs the Jets and it certainly took nerve to call a pass there.

Then again, the way so many fans and the media question everything a coach does, if that pass Ben threw fell incomplete and thus the Jets started their final drive with a full 2 minutes instead of about 1:15 after a running play then punt, my guess is Tomlin would have got killed had the Jets score a game winning TD with say 10-15 seconds left.

Coaches today are almost in a no-win situation late in games when nursing a one score lead of some kind. The Jets were out of timeouts and after a run play/punt, would have taken over at the 20 yard line at best or more likely inside the 20 with about 1:15-1:10 left. Very hard to drive 80 or 80 plus yard in that little time with no timeouts left. Add 40 more seconds to that via an incomplete pass, it becomes much more doable. So sure the decision Tomlin did make allowed for sealing the game, but i'd bet anything that had the pass been tipped or fell incomplete instead and those extra 40 seconds allowed the Jets to score a game winning TD, Tomlin would have faced harsh criticism for not running the ball. That's just how things are for coaches. The Steelers/Ben executed though on that pass play so Tomlin got to be called a genius for calling the pass play.