PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers, won 23 games in two seasons with Brett Favre and had three 12-win seasons when Dak Prescott played the entire year. What has McCarthy done with offenses when he didn’t have a franchise quarterback?
Here is a look year-by-year as either offensive coordinator or head coach when he didn’t have one of those three quarterbacks leading the offense or a season where that QB was injured for part of the year.
It is broken down by the quarterbacks, the main four offensive rankings and who the top running back and wide receiver were on the team.
2000 Offensive coordinator New Orleans (10-6 record)
· Quarterbacks-Jeff Blake (11 starts, 7-4, 60.9% completion, 2025 yards, 13 TD, 9 INT), Aaron Brooks (5 starts, 3-2, 58.2%, 1514 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT)
· Offensive rankings—10th yards, 10th points, 8th rushing, 14th passing
· RB Ricky Williams (1000 yards, 8 TD), WR Joe Horn (94 rec, 1340 yards, 8 TD)
2001 Offensive coordinator New Orleans (7-9 record)
· Quarterback-Aaron Brooks (16 starts, 55.9%, 3832 yards, 26 TD, 22 INT)
· Offensive rankings—10th yards, 13th points, 18th rushing, 10th passing
· RB Ricky Williams (1245 yards, 6 TD), WR Joe Horn (83 rec, 1265 yds, 9 TD)
2002 Offensive coordinator New Orleans (9-7 record)
· Quarterback-Aaron Brooks (53.6%, 3572 yards, 27 TD, 15 INT)
· Offensive rankings—19th yards, 3rd points, 17th rushing, 16th passing
· RB Deuce McAllister (1388 yards, 13 TD), Joe Horn (88 rec, 1312 yards, 7 TD)
2003 Offensive coordinator New Orleans (8-8 record)
· Quarterback-Aaron Brooks (59.1%, 3546 yards, 24 TD, 8 INT)
· Offensive rankings-11th yards, 14th points, 11th rushing, 8th passing
· RB Deuce McAllister (1641 yards, 8 TD), Joe Horn (78 rec, 973 yds, 10 TD)
2004 Offensive coordinator New Orleans (8-8 record)
· Quarterback-Aaron Brooks (57%, 3810 yards, 21 TD, 16 INT)
· Offensive rankings-15th yards, 14th points, 27th rushing, 12th passing
· RB Deuce McAllister (1074 yards, 9 TD), WR Joe Horn (94 rec, 1399 yds, 11 TD)
2005 Offensive coordinator San Francisco (4-12 record)
· Quarterbacks-Alex Smith (2-5 record, 50.9%, 875 yards, 1 TD, 11 INT), Tim Rattay (1-3 record, 57.7%, 667 yards, 5 TD, 6 INT), Ken Dorsey (1-2 record, 53.3%, 481 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT), Cody Pickett (0-2 record, 40%, 140 yds, 2 INT)
· Offensive rankings-32nd yards, 30th points, 17th rushing, 32nd passing
· RBs Frank Gore (608 yds, 3 TD)/Kevan Barlow (581 yds, 3 TD), WR Brandon Lloyd (48 rec, 733 yds, 5 TD)
2013 Head coach Green Bay (8-7-1 record)
· Quarterbacks-Aaron Rodgers missed 7 games, Matt Flynn (2-2 record, 61.4%, 1146 yds, 7 TD, 4 INT), Scott Tolzien (0-1-1 record, 61.1%, 717 yds, TD, 5 INT), Seneca Wallace (0-1, 66.7%, 139 yards, INT)
· Offensive rankings-3rd yards, 8th points, 7th rushing, 6th passing
· RB Eddie Lacy (1178 yards, 11 TD, WR Jordy Nelson (85 rec, 1314 yds, 8 TD)
2017 Head coach Green Bay (7-9 record)
· Quarterbacks-Rodgers missed 9 games, Brett Hundley (3-6 record, 60.8%, 1836 yards, 9 TD, 12 INT)
· Offensive rankings-26th yards, 21st points, 17th rushing, 14th passing
· RB Jamaal Williams (556 yards, 4 TD), WR Davante Adams (74 rec, 885 yds, 10 TD)
2020 Head coach Dallas (6-10 record)
· Quarterbacks-Andy Dalton started 9 games due to Dak Prescott injury (4-5, 64.9%, 2170 yards, 14 TD, 8 INT), Garrett Gilbert & Ben DiNucci also started 1 game each
· Offensive rankings-14th yards, 17th points, 17th rushing, 8th passing
· RB Ezekiel Elliott (979 yards, 6 TD), Amari Cooper (92 rec, 1114 yards, 5 TD)
2024 Head coach Dallas (7-10 record)
· Quarterbacks-Prescott missed half of the season, Cooper Rush (4-4 record, 60.7%, 1844 yds, 12 TD, 5 INT), Trey Lance (0-1, 61%, 266 yds, INT)
· Offensive rankings-17th yards, 21st points, 27th rushing, 11th passing
· RB Rico Dowdle (1079 yards, 2 TD), CeeDee Lamb (101 rec, 1194 yds, 6 TD)
There are some good stories of Aaron Brooks winning nine games, throwing for 35-hundred yards and 27 touchdowns. Brooks had by far his best numbers with McCarthy.
There was also a disaster in his year with the Niners in dealing with four quarterbacks, Alex Smith having the worst season of his career. It’s worth noting most head coaches, or offensive coordinators, would struggle, or at least see numbers dip, with back-up quarterbacks.
Overall without Rodgers, Favre or Prescott for a majority of a season, McCarthy was 51-64-1. Who will be his quarterback with the Steelers?