The Packers offensive execution wasn’t perfect in Sunday’s 28-7 victory over the Cowboys, but the 435 total yards they picked up were the most since the third week of the season and their second-highest total of the year.
All of those yards came on plays called by head coach Mike McCarthy, who had shifted play calling responsibilities to offensive coordinator Tom Clements during the offseason before taking them back in the days leading up to Sunday’s game. McCarthy initially moved away from calling plays to better his balance his focus on all parts of the team, but said after the win that the offense was where he was needed the most right now.
“The decision was made because I feel as a leader of this football team, I had to make sure I maximize all the opportunities and resources and give our team a chance to win,” McCarthy said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Personally, it didn’t feel very good. It didn’t feel good at all. That’s the challenge with these types of decisions. But professionally, it was what I felt I needed to do.”
The Packers called 42 running plays (Aaron Rodgers scrambled twice as well) and picked up 230 rushing yards, their highest total since 2004. That kind of production makes an offense more productive regardless of who’s calling the plays, although it certainly makes for a much nicer narrative for McCarthy that the ground game exploded the same week he was the one prioritizing that approach.