Actually, his play calling could just as easily have cost us the game, especially in the third quarter when the Pats defense did everything they could to wrap this one up and handed the ball to McDaniel onfour occasions, and he did nothing with it...NOTHING.
MCDANIEL did nothing with it????? Of course, the players are just pawns. No matter who is on the field and what they do, the play call is all that matters. There is no such thing as:
-a missed block
-a bad pass
-a drop
-a penalty
-a good play by the defense
-etc
NEM-thinking at its best. Every play is supposed to be a TD and the players have nothing to do with it. NEM, my vision of your opinion is that the NFL is that every offensive player is perfect, and every defensive player stinks. All you have to do is call the right play, and it works, the players have nothing to do with it. Conversely if it didn't work the players ran that play at a touchdown efficiency, everyone was perfect but the wrong play was called.
Back to your post. Here are the first 4 drives of the 2nd half. The ones you say McDaniel did NOTHING with.
1)
New England Patriots at 13:12
1-10-NE 20 (13:12) 28-C.Dillon right tackle to NE 20 for no gain (55-L.Briggs, 93-A.Ogunleye).
2-10-NE 20 (12:37) (Shotgun) 28-C.Dillon up the middle to NE 20 for no gain (46-C.Harris).
3-10-NE 20 (12:02) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short left to 33-K.Faulk to NE 24 for 4 yards (31-N.Vasher).
4-6-NE 24 (11:24) 15-K.Walter punts 32 yards to CHI 44, Center-66-L.Paxton, fair catch by 23-D.Hester.
2)
New England Patriots at 10:50
1-10-NE 32 (10:50) 44-H.Evans up the middle to NE 32 for no gain (99-Ta.Johnson, 91-T.Harris).
2-10-NE 32 (10:11) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short middle to 39-L.Maroney to CHI 48 for 20 yards (33-C.Tillman, 55-L.Briggs). P14
1-10-CHI 48 (9:31) 39-L.Maroney left tackle to CHI 45 for 3 yards (54-B.Urlacher, 55-L.Briggs).
2-7-CHI 45 (8:55) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass incomplete deep right to 17-C.Jackson (33-C.Tillman).
3-7-CHI 45 (8:49) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass deep middle to 84-B.Watson to CHI 22 for 23 yards (55-L.Briggs). FUMBLES (55-L.Briggs), recovered by NE-87-R.Caldwell at CHI 21. 87-R.Caldwell to CHI 13 for 8 yards (38-D.Manning). FUMBLES (38-D.Manning), RECOVERED by CHI-38-D.Manning at CHI 13. 38-D.Manning to CHI 13 for no gain (80-T.Brown).
PENALTY on CHI-33-C.Tillman, Unnecessary Roughness, 6 yards, enforced at CHI 13.
3)
New England Patriots at 2:28
1-10-NE 34 (2:28) 28-C.Dillon right guard to NE 38 for 4 yards (46-C.Harris, 70-A.Boone).
2-6-NE 38 (1:53) 28-C.Dillon left tackle to NE 41 for 3 yards (46-C.Harris, 71-I.Idonije).
3-3-NE 41 (1:20) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short middle intended for 80-T.Brown INTERCEPTED by 33-C.Tillman [99-Ta.Johnson] at CHI 44. 33-C.Tillman to CHI 47 for 3 yards (85-D.Gabriel).
4)
New England Patriots at 14:53, (1st play from scrimmage 14:46)
1-10-NE 27 (14:46) 12-T.Brady pass short left to 84-B.Watson pushed ob at NE 32 for 5 yards (46-C.Harris).
2-5-NE 32 (14:28) 39-L.Maroney right tackle to NE 34 for 2 yards (54-B.Urlacher, 96-A.Brown).
3-3-NE 34 (13:48) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass deep left to 84-B.Watson to CHI 26 for 40 yards (38-D.Manning). P15
1-10-CHI 26 (13:02) 17-C.Jackson up the middle to CHI 34 for -8 yards (93-A.Ogunleye, 99-Ta.Johnson). double reverse
2-18-CHI 34 (12:14) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass short right to 33-K.Faulk to CHI 25 for 9 yards (92-H.Hillenmeyer, 55-L.Briggs). NE 33-Faulk career reception 262, new Patriots record for receptions by a RB (Tony Collins 261).
3-9-CHI 25 (11:34) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady scrambles up the middle to CHI 14 for 11 yards (33-C.Tillman). R16
1-10-CHI 14 (10:53) 44-H.Evans up the middle to CHI 8 for 6 yards (92-H.Hillenmeyer, 91-T.Harris).
2-4-CHI 8 (10:14) 39-L.Maroney left tackle to CHI 6 for 2 yards (55-L.Briggs, 93-A.Ogunleye).
3-2-CHI 6 (9:39) 12-T.Brady scrambles up the middle to CHI 3 for 3 yards (55-L.Briggs, 96-A.Brown). R17
1-3-CHI 3 (8:55) NE 50-Vrabel eligible. 39-L.Maroney right tackle to CHI 2 for 1 yard (93-A.Ogunleye, 54-B.Urlacher).
2-2-CHI 2 (8:25) NE 50-Vrabel eligible. 12-T.Brady pass short left to 84-B.Watson for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN. NE 12-Brady 5th consecutive 20+ TD pass season P18
3-S.Gostkowski extra point is GOOD, Center-66-L.Paxton, Holder-15-K.Walter.
#1 A 3 and out. Of course it must be terrible play calling since we ran the first 2 plays. Good thing we ran so much, or Brady wouldnt have had all day to throw, and not gotten sacked once, completing 67% of his passes.
#2 We ran 5 plays and gained 54 yards. Of course, the beautiful call that had Maroney open over the middle was stupid, because McDaniel is an idiot. It must have been predictable because he has no imagination, and never changes anything yet Ive only seen it a few times all year. I'm sure when McDaniel sent it the play that gained 23 yards to Watson, he told him to fumble. Calling a 3rd and 7 play that creates a 23 yard completion must be bad play calling.
In a defensive game, it couldnt be worthwhile at all that we changed field position from the -32 to the +6, and pinned them back, with us up 7 points, and 1 1/2 quarters to go on a day when our D had so far allowed 3 points. NO bad play calling because instead of the automatic TD that any play calling other than that of an imbecile would produce McDainel only changed field position and told Watson to fumble. (Must have REALLY thought it through to tell Caldwell to fumble too) Oh, and then the Bears drove from the -6 to the +29 before an Int. Nah, that field position gain meant nothing.
#3 Still up 7 against a team that has scored only 3 points on us. 2:28 left in 3rd, and we start at the 34. Only an F-ing moron would run 2 running plays to set up a 3rd and 3. No one with any brains would think getting to 3rd and 3 is a good offensive philosophy (you only hear 1000 times every week how teams are extremely concerned about staying out of 3rd and long)
What did that do? It gave Brady ALL DAY to throw. Ultimatley he threw a poor pass that Brown tipped and a defender picked. Oops, McDaniel told him to throw it poorly, told Brown to tip it up in the air, and probably signalled to Tillman that it was coming.
#4
A perfect example of the NOTHING that McDaniel did with these 4 drives.
According to NEM, if you do the same thing over and over expecting different results you are stupid. But wait:
First 3 plays...there is that 3rd and 3 set up again. That was bad play calling the first time but this time it results in a 40 yard gain. Oh, crap, same thing different result. Confusing.
We ran on 3 of 4 first downs. We ran on 1st AND 2nd--that didnt work before. This time it did. Insanity.
11 play 73 yard drive.
If I didnt know McDaniel sucked and should have cost us the game, I'd think a drive with 11 plays, 4 passes, 5 runs, 2 scrambles, 73 yards and a TD was good play calling.
Here is the kicker.
For the 4 drives drives that NEM says McDaniel did NOTHING:
-We scored a TD
-We drove 51 yards to the 13 but fumbled
-We set up a 3rd and 3 that ended in an Int
-We gained 135 yards on 22 plays, which is 6.1 per play, which is EXCELLENT.
-We scored a TD, and had a first down in the red zone before a fumble.
-We threw an Int on 3rd and 3
-We went 3 and out once.
Take those 4 drives and repeat them over and over all year long, and sometimes eliminate the turnovers that had nothing to do with play calling, and we go undefeated.
Thanks NEM for the insight, you really zeroed in on the perfect series of drives that prove the exact opposite of your point.
