Did Joe Philbin’s timeouts really help the Green Bay Packers?

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin called two timeouts on their last defensive drive and many said that hurt the Dolphins. However, Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers don’t think so and instead, said it was actually an advantage for the defense.

“I actually think those were smart timeouts. When you feel like you’re on your heels a little bit defensively to call timeout, let them reset, and get ready. The defense calling timeout did not give us an advantage…in my opinion,” McCarthy said.

The Green Bay Packers had no timeouts left and had to drive 60 yards down the field in two minutes. That raised even more criticism from others about using those timeouts. McCarthy explained how much of a challenge it is to drive the field without any timeouts to take.

“I mean, it’s more challenging. I think you have to be smart on what quadrants of the field you attack. It’s a little different decision-making process as far as down, distance…who you’re attacking, how you’re attacking. We were consciences of the protection, obviously. You try to protect the middle of the field if you can. I thought the check to the run to James (Starks) was an outstanding check there…the last play before the two minutes. The play selection; the adjustments Aaron made kept us in a very favorable situation.”

Rodgers echoed the sentiments of McCarthy and said that the timeouts the Dolphins took helped the defense more than the offense.

“I think it’s more of a help to the defense. We were kind of rolling there, after we got the first down on fourth down we got a couple good plays and another first down. I think that kind of settled them down a little bit potentially. We like to play in those situations as quickly as possible and we feel like it’s hard for the defense to get a call in if we’re at the line of scrimmage.”

I’m sure you can ask 100 different people this question and you will get a mixed bag of results. Football is full of second guessing and taking those timeouts, especially the one on fourth down in the middle of the field, will be one that will be questioned for a long time.

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