I don't think anybody is going to impugn McDaniel's ability to scheme up good plays. And there are times when he manufactures great drives in sequence. And look, if you go down to your third string QB first play of the game, 1 game after losing your starter, I know the expectation- regardless of opponent- is that you'll probably lose. But this was a very winnable game if we had just put our best foot forward.
Raheem Mostert was 17/117 at one point today. We didn't top 117 yards passing until the last drive of the game. Raheem finished with 6.2 YPC. Even after that garbage time drive padded some stats, we had 4.8 YPA - a yard and a half less per attempt, and two turnovers there as well. You might think it makes sense that we passed the ball so much in a game that we were down, but almost all of this game when it was a one score game. We ran the ball a lot - most- first downs in that time period, but passed the ball almost every single second down the entire second half, and nearly all of them were 0 yardage or negative plays, forcing third downs where we had no choice but to pass the ball - and the bulk of those were unsuccessful. We consistently stalled drives this way, in a one score game where we had momentum.
Why did we pass the ball so much? Because that's the way the head coach wants to win games. Because it's exciting. Because it makes the coach look good when pretty passing plays are being executed. Because it generates buzz when it works - far more than the run game. But you know what really generates buzz? Just winning a football game any way possible under adverse circumstances and having your team 4-1 with lots of reason to think you'll get better.
I've recounted this story elsewhere on here, but I found it a really good, and meaningful story. Bill Bellichek considers coaching less a matter of strategy and more a matter of psychology - simply understanding your opponent. Most people didn't give the Pats a chance versus the Greatest Show on Turf in 2001, but Bellichek understood that Mike Martz was in love with his passing attack, and that even Bellichek allowed the Rams the chance to win the game otherwise, Martz couldn't resist trying to win the game via passing. So the Pats just gave the Rams Marshall Faulk all game and focused on the receivers, correctly deducing that Martz just was not willing to hand the ball off all game long, even with Marshall Faulk. Given a third string QB on the road, Mike McDaniel refused to win the game handing the ball off to Raheem Mostert today. Just like the amateur OCs of last year went into freezing rain in Tennessee and refused to give the ball to Duke Johnson or win any other way than passing 40 times when the QB couldn't even hold the ball. Similar to Joe Philbin watching Lamar Miller average more yards per carry than his passing attack per pass, but would refuse to run the ball. Similar to Adam Gase making the playoffs with a dominant rushing, play action attack, and getting rid of the running back for peanuts at first opportunity because he only ever wanted to win with his beautiful route combinations.
Coaching in this league - there's the strategy and play design aspect, which McDaniel has, but he coached his way out of a win that could have absolutely legitimized what we were doing. It's hard to even summarize the difference between being 4-1 and winning with your third string QB, compared to being 3-2 while also not even knowing who is gonna be playing QB next week. And that's really disappointing.
Raheem Mostert was 17/117 at one point today. We didn't top 117 yards passing until the last drive of the game. Raheem finished with 6.2 YPC. Even after that garbage time drive padded some stats, we had 4.8 YPA - a yard and a half less per attempt, and two turnovers there as well. You might think it makes sense that we passed the ball so much in a game that we were down, but almost all of this game when it was a one score game. We ran the ball a lot - most- first downs in that time period, but passed the ball almost every single second down the entire second half, and nearly all of them were 0 yardage or negative plays, forcing third downs where we had no choice but to pass the ball - and the bulk of those were unsuccessful. We consistently stalled drives this way, in a one score game where we had momentum.
Why did we pass the ball so much? Because that's the way the head coach wants to win games. Because it's exciting. Because it makes the coach look good when pretty passing plays are being executed. Because it generates buzz when it works - far more than the run game. But you know what really generates buzz? Just winning a football game any way possible under adverse circumstances and having your team 4-1 with lots of reason to think you'll get better.
I've recounted this story elsewhere on here, but I found it a really good, and meaningful story. Bill Bellichek considers coaching less a matter of strategy and more a matter of psychology - simply understanding your opponent. Most people didn't give the Pats a chance versus the Greatest Show on Turf in 2001, but Bellichek understood that Mike Martz was in love with his passing attack, and that even Bellichek allowed the Rams the chance to win the game otherwise, Martz couldn't resist trying to win the game via passing. So the Pats just gave the Rams Marshall Faulk all game and focused on the receivers, correctly deducing that Martz just was not willing to hand the ball off all game long, even with Marshall Faulk. Given a third string QB on the road, Mike McDaniel refused to win the game handing the ball off to Raheem Mostert today. Just like the amateur OCs of last year went into freezing rain in Tennessee and refused to give the ball to Duke Johnson or win any other way than passing 40 times when the QB couldn't even hold the ball. Similar to Joe Philbin watching Lamar Miller average more yards per carry than his passing attack per pass, but would refuse to run the ball. Similar to Adam Gase making the playoffs with a dominant rushing, play action attack, and getting rid of the running back for peanuts at first opportunity because he only ever wanted to win with his beautiful route combinations.
Coaching in this league - there's the strategy and play design aspect, which McDaniel has, but he coached his way out of a win that could have absolutely legitimized what we were doing. It's hard to even summarize the difference between being 4-1 and winning with your third string QB, compared to being 3-2 while also not even knowing who is gonna be playing QB next week. And that's really disappointing.
