I'm noticing a worrisome trend already of MM costing this team points with stupid ass game decisions. Going for it on 4th when he shouldn't. Going for 2 when he shouldn't. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Going for it on 2 in that situation wasn't a bad call (the analytics are actually on his side), we just aren't a good team at pounding the ball in short yardage situations.
I was 50/50 on the fourth down call at the time, disagree with it in hindsight (trying to remove the result from my consideration).
I think the biggest issue with both decisions is that I would be ok (or even supportive) of the decisions for a generic team, I just think they are bad calls for
this team, right now, which is what separates a truly good coach and one who uses analytics as a crutch.
But these are also the types of mistakes I absolutely expect a rookie head coach to make. In that going-for-two situation, as a rookie HC, your analytics guys are telling you the 'winning' move is to go for it. What experience are you drawing on to say no? He's never made an offensive decision like that in his coaching life.
You certainly don't want to become the coach who constantly gives away your winning margins by defaulting to the conservative call in every situation like that, so it's probably good that he's starting off the way he is. As he gets more games under his belt, sees more situations, gets a better feel for where his team is at, hopefully he starts to make the correct calls for his team.
