GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A day of introspection may have taken Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy back to where he started on the first day of the 2016 season.
Not to Week 1 of the regular season or even the start of training camp, but to the first day the players returned in April for the start of offseason workouts. It was then when McCarthy told his team that his plan to resurrect an offense that struggled through 2015 would start with a renewed commitment to the run.
“The analysis of our offense after two games, the running backs have not been given enough opportunities,” McCarthy said the day after the Packers’ 17-14 loss at Minnesota on Sunday. “So that’s something that I need to focus on.”
Before anyone thinks McCarthy plans to take the ball out of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ hands more, consider what he said next.
“Our perimeter players, we need to get them more opportunities too,” McCarthy added. “It really goes back to the efficiency, execution, and flow of our offense. We’ve got to convert first downs. Frankly, our problem in the first half [against Minnesota] was we didn’t generate enough first downs. And the production reflected it. So I thought the second half we played more like we want to play.”
Even if McCarthy sticks with the same three-receiver personnel set he’s used in abundance this year, perhaps it will mean more attempts for Eddie Lacy and James Starks. Lacy’s 4.3-yard average per carry would certainly be acceptable over the duration of a season, but to this point he’s carried only 26 times for 111 yards combined in two games.
That’s a typical to start the season for Lacy, who in each of the past two years hasn’t had a game with 20 or more carries until mid-to-late November. Perhaps McCarthy would accelerate that this year.
“We do have a plan in place as far as we feel like Eddie and James, they’re a tremendous one-two combo,” Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said. “And we definitely need to get those guys more involved. Like I said, we have a plan in place, and it will work itself out.”
For an offense that ranked 29th in total yards following Sunday night’s game, perhaps the running game is the way to go. The Packers rank 19th in rushing yards per game and 18th in rushing average. And despite a lack of production from Starks (11 rushes for just 10 yards), the plan could move forward with both he and Lacy.
“Eddie and James we feel is an excellent one-two punch,” McCarthy said. “A fresh back is better than who’s in there at a certain time, so we trust both those guys, clearly.”