Two coaches come into Sunday’s playoff game between the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers in very different positions. Ken Whisenhunt and Mike McCarthy are almost the same age (47 and 46 respectively) and, though both have been head coaches for a relatively short time, both have had surprising successes only to fall short in big games. Two years ago, McCarthy’s 13-3 Packers lost to the Wild Card New York Giants in the NFC Championship. Last year, Whisenhunt lost Super Bowl XLIII to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The two coaches had different approaches coming into Sunday’s game:
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt took a cautious approach, Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy kept the Packers at full bore most of the day.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Coach McCarthy made the right decision. (I recommended such an approach, not that he cares what I think). However, I’m not totally sure that Whisenhunt made the wrong decision either. Had he also played “full bore” and lost, it could have been even worse for the morale of his team. Both coaches have important tasks ahead of them:
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Whisenhunt has two very difficult tasks: one tactical, one emotional. He needs to come up with a game plan–a brilliant one–that leverages his superior wide receivers and somehow stops the Packers’ potent offense. At the same time, he needs to convince his team–with the help of his veteran quarterback–to forget what they experienced Sunday and believe they can win; in fact, believe they can dominate. It’s a tall order and I’m not sure Bill Belichick and Knute Rockne working together could accomplish it. Still, Whisenhunt has surprised before, and if the Cardinals make a game of it, my respect level for him will rise greatly.
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McCarthy may seem to have the easier job. Green Bay, as Bob McGinn correctly put it, “crushed” the Cards. ”It was the type of beating,” he wrote, “that might suggest physical superiority.” But, as Lombardi Sweep has reported before, McCarthy isn’t always able to deliver the knockout blow to a reeling opponent. The coach sometimes derided as McGordita needs to have his team running onto the field on Sunday tasting blood. I would like to see the Packers, if they win the coin toss, elect to kick off and give the Cardinals and particularly Kurt Warner an early diet of dirt and grass. A quick 3-and-out and a hard hit or two (clean of course) on the Cardinals’ aged quarterback might put the team in mind of their previous loss. I would further recommend that McCarthy call some of the same plays that scored big the previous week. Make Arizona despair. Physically punish them. By halftime, let’s see them hang their heads.
