McCarthy is a terrible coach who should have been fired years ago. He’s always been too quick to turtle. Give him a multi-score lead at any point in the second half (including the opening possession) and McCarthy goes to 3 runs and a punts instantly trying to kill the clock. The number of 14, 17 and and even 20 point leads he’s squandered, including in an NFC finals game against the Seahawks, is just disgusting. They should have fired him in the locker room of that game against Seattle.
It’s amazing how many coaches across many sports employ this strategy—and it turns a lot of comfortable wins into nail-biting wins, or losses.
My philosophy has always been to never let up—even when you’re comfortably ahead—until there is absolutely no chance for the other team to come back. Using the assumption that your opponent will score on all of their possessions and you will not score on any of yours, playing safe ball is not advisable until the other team has fewer potential possessions left than it would take to score enough to win the game.
It’s not perfect but it works a lot better than just trying to run out the clock.