(SportsNetwork.com) - Its fair to call Mike McCarthy one of the best coaches in the NFL but its also more than objective to point out that the veteran mentor bookended the Green Bay Packers season with two, truly awful game plans in Seattle. Back on Kickoff Weekend, McCarthys stubborn insistence on staying away from Richard Sherman made his offense predictable by the second quarter after it became painfully obvious the coach had no interest in targeting the All-Pro and quarterback Aaron Rodgers was going to acquiesce. The result was a 36-16 Seattle rout and, more importantly, the difference between the NFC Championship Game being held in CenturyLink Field instead of Lambeau. Fast forward to Sunday where McCarthys multitude of mistakes cost the Packers a trip to the Super Bowl despite the fact that his charges dominated a sloppy Seattle team for almost 58 minutes. The Seahawks miraculously overcame five turnovers and a 12-point hole in the waning minutes of regulation to reach the big game for a second consecutive season by downing Green Bay 28-22. This is a hard one to swallow, McCarthy admitted. We had opportunities, particularly at critical times to make plays. We had plays and Seattle made some of those big plays to keep the game alive so you have to give them credit. The Packers coach can drop the self-deprecating act, though, because he deserved plenty of credit for the outcome also. Apologists for McCarthy are trying to peddle the narrative that if reserve tight end Brandon Bostick, who was supposed to be a blocker, just snared a rather easy onside kick attempt, the Packers would be during up the itinerary for Glendale. And while thats true, it doesnt address McCarthys poor decision-making throughout the game which put Bostick in the position to fail. Brandon, just like anything, you get in to one of those critical spots, McCarthy said. It is important for everybody to do their job. Unfortunately that wasnt the case on that play. And thats the result of it. The coachs ultra-conservative mindset in the first quarter -- most notably, kicking two Mason Crosby field goals from 18 and 19 yards out -- received most of the attention but his incompetence in the final frame was even more egregious, as he ran five out of six plays on consecutive three-and-outs despite possessing the presumptive MVP in Rodgers. And, on one of the three-and-outs, it was the pedestrian James Starks carrying the football not the hard-nosed Eddie Lacy. We had some chances early, had some chances late to do some things and didnt do it, Rodgers said. When you go back and think about it, at times we werent playing as aggressive as we usually are. Field goals early in the game, we knew that points were at a premium, McCarthy added. Frankly, I would have liked to have gone for it there on fourth down, but based on what we saw, on second and third down, I just felt that you had to take points. To be fair some of McCarthys shaky choices had to do with Rodgers health as the All-Pro was hardly himself because of a left calf injury but neither were Seahawks star safety Earl Thomas or Sherman, who was playing with one arm late in the game. Meanwhile, A-Rod sure seemed capable of doing some things when leading the Packers down the field to force overtime in the final seconds. Weve finished off games before in four-minute (offense), Rodgers said while treading lightly, no bout aware of McCarthys ample ego. We had a chance to do some things; didnt do it. To many, any criticism of McCarthys strategy is off base because of Bosticks miscue but that ignores nuance, and while plenty contributed to this collapse, none were more culpable than McCarthy. You cant let (the Seahawks) complete a pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal, you cant give up an onside kick and you cant not get any first downs in the fourth quarter and expect to win, Rodgers said. And thats on top of being really poor in the red zone in the first half. Put all of that together, thats how you lose games. This was a great opportunity. We were right on the cusp. Until McCarthy directed them off of it. If anything, it was the Packers coach who failed Bostick and Rodgers and Lacy and every other player you can name that was wearing the Green and Gold on Sunday, not the other way around. McCarthy is a micromanaging, joystick coach, albeit a very good one. Instead of adjusting in-game or coaching with any kind of feel, however, he walks into a contest with a plan and loathes to deviate. If you want to question my playcalling ... Im not questioning it, McCarthy boated. I didnt think it would take a lot of points to win this game. I came in here to run the ball. The one statistic I had has as far as a target to hit was 20 rushing attempts in the second half, I thought that would be a very important target to hit for our offense. Unfortunately for Green Bay fans, the target can change and sometimes you need a coach to realize it. Stan Smith Wholesale China . The 10-horse field of 3-year-old pacers will leave the starting gate at approximately 10:14pm et. Co-owned and trained by David Menary, Hes Watching will be driven by Tim Tetrick and is the 5-1 fourth selection in the field. Cheap Stan Smith Free Shipping . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. http://www.wholesalestansmith.com/.40 metres at the Drake Relays. Drouin, from Corunna, Ont., bested his own record of 2.38 metres set in Aug. Cheap Stan Smith Online . Gough finished in fourth, 0.433 seconds behind American Erin Hamlin, who took the bronze medal at the Sanki Sliding Center in Rzhanaya Polyana. Cheap Stan Smith China Wholesale . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night.EDMONTON -- The San Jose Sharks have learned the value of jumping on a team early, especially when it is a squad that is floundering as badly as the Edmonton Oilers. Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist and Joe Thornton had three helpers as the Sharks won their third straight on a five-game road trip, defeating the last-place Oilers 3-1 on Friday. "Coming off back-to-back nights, you want to get off to a good lead and we were able to do that with two early first ones," Thornton said. "We just kind of rolled on after that. It is always nice to get a 2-0 lead like that when you are playing back-to-back." Its been a positive trip for the Sharks who were 0-1-4 in their previous five games before winning three straight. "We feel good," Thornton said. "We werent playing bad, even if we had a few extra-time losses. Weve got points in nine of our 10 last games. We have a good team in here." Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said that Thornton continues to play a major role in determining the teams direction. "We know he can make plays and run the offence and all of that type of stuff, but it is the back check, the tracking, the defensive play, the face-offs and shot blocking that really fulfills his game," he said. "It is not always about the score sheet, it is about all the little things he does. "When he is doing them properly everybody seems to fall in line and follow." Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks (13-2-5) who moved one point back of the Anaheim Ducks for the Pacific Division lead. Nail Yakupov responded for the Oilers (4-15-2), who have lost six games in a row at home and have gone 1-9-1 in their last 11 games. Edmonton has been outscored 23-3 in their last six contests at home. The Oilers are a distressing 1-7-0 on home ice this season and have fallen into dead last place in the NHL, with the Buffalo Sabres defeating Toronto 3-1 on the night. "Im so tired of coming in here after games and giving a reason why we lost," said Oilers forward Taylor Hall. "You have to win. It doesnt matter how you win, if youre goalie stands on his head or you get lucky, you just have to win games. "Its been tough to do that this year. Were all trying really hard but were not winning games. Something is not clicking for us and we have to figure out what that is." Oilers forward David Perron added his frustration. "No one is going to feel sorry for us, its the NHL and were lucky to be in this position," he said. "If we cant get up to battle, we dont belong in this league. We have to find a way to come out flying like we did in the second and third, that was a lot better." Edmonton had a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come to start the game when Logan Couture rang a shot off the post just 10 seconds in. The Sharks got on the scoreboard with four minutes to play in the first period on a power-play goal. Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk got knocked out of position by Oilers defenceman Andrew Ference, allowing Pavelski to shoot his seventh of the season into the vacant cage. San Jose struck again just over a minute later as Thornton won a battle for the puck behind the net and fed it through the creasee to Hertl, who was able to redirect it into the Edmonton net for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.dddddddddddd The Sharks had 14 first period shots, while Edmonton only put six on San Jose backup goalie Alex Stalock. San Jose took a 3-0 lead four minutes into the second frame as a poor pass back to the point by Oiler Luke Gazdic led to a three-on-two opportunity that Marleau converted with a shot to beat Dubnyk glove side for his 10th of the season. Edmonton had a glorious chance to end its lengthy home-scoring drought seven minutes into the second period as Ryan Smyth had Stalock cleanly beat on a wraparound attempt, but sent the puck through the crease and off the post. Oilers defenceman Philip Larsen hit a post on the next shift. The Oilers finally got a goal after being shutout in three consecutive home games -- and going 214 minutes and 52 seconds without a goal at Rexall Place -- with a power-play marker at the 12:48 of the second period. A big rebound came out to Yakupov, who wasted no time drilling a one-timer into the net for his third of the season. With the goal, the Oilers were able to avoid becoming the first team in 84 years to get shut out in four straight home games, a feat dubiously accomplished by the Chicago Blackhawks, who went an NHL record six straight from Feb. 10-28, 1929. The 1927 Montreal Maroons were the only other team to be blanked in four consecutive games at home. "Its always good when you score and you get points, but we only have four wins and weve played 21 games," Yakupov said. "I dont know whats going on, were a little frustrated about it. Were trying to get the two points, but we cant." San Jose almost scored another early in the third period when Couture was snake-bitten again, this time having a shot ring off the crossbar and then the post. "I think I had three posts tonight," Couture said. "I just couldnt buy a goal. It was a little frustrating, but it is nice to be getting the chances like that." The Sharks hit two more posts in the third. The Oilers make a quick one-game trip to play the Flames in Calgary on Saturday. The Sharks wrap up a five-game trip on Sunday in Chicago. Notes: It was the first of five games this season between the Pacific Division foes. The Sharks swept their three-game series with the Oilers in the strike-shortened 2012-13 campaign and came into the game having won five of six and nine of their last 11 in Rexall Place in Edmontona The Oilers made a couple of roster moves before the game, calling up young defender Oscar Klefbom and sending rookie forward Mark Arcobello to their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City. Arcobello is tied for second in NHL rookie scoring with 12 points this seasona The rookie overall points leader is Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, who now has 12 goals and 18 points in 20 gamesa San Jose winger Brent Burns missed the game with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day. Out long term for San Jose are Adam Burish (back surgery) and Raffi Torres (knee)a The Oilers are inching their way back from a long list of early season injuries, now only without defenceman Justin Schultz (groin), forward Tyler Pitlick (knee) and goaltender Richard Bachman (groin). ' ' '