McCarthy Faces Pointed Questions About Packers' Losing Streak, Bad Defense

It was bound to happen.

The Green Bay Packers have lost three straight. They fell to 5-8 with a seemingly improbable loss to an indoor team -- Houston -- on a three-degree day at Lambeau Field.

It's the kind of game the Packers used to pride themselves on winning. However, when the temperature dropped last year, the Packers became a so-so team. That trend hasn't reversed, despite the understanding from everyone involved that it had to.

Now, as it becomes perfectly evident to everyone that the 2008 Packers aren't going to the playoffs, the media has made it clear that they're going to make life tough on head coach Mike McCarthy.

Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel transcribed some of the tougher questions from McCarthy's weekly press conference in the paper's Packers Blog.

While only the world's remaining Favreophiles think this is the fault of Aaron Rodgers (or general manager Ted Thompson for swinging that trade), it's clear that the media is closing in on oft-criticized defensive coordinator Bob Sanders.

McCarthy was asked about promises he made earlier in the season regarding his team's execution. The coach made it clear that the team would get better in that area, and that hasn't happened, especially on defense. Blown assignments and missed tackles have plagued that unit all year, but moreso in the last four losses (Minnesota, New Orleans, Carolina, and Houston).

According to Bedard's transcript, McCarthy responded to questions about his team's lack of improvement:

We're 5-8 and we're not getting it done at critical times and those specific plays are really highlighted. It's really the little things. Going through the film again today. We're talking about pad level, we're talking about beating second reaction, we're talking about leverage and things like that.

As far as the defense, McCarthy had plenty of issues to address.

Among the questions was one about Sunday's game plan. It looked like Sanders called for more blitzes than he typically does, probably because the pass rush simply hasn't been very good. However, the Packers were more often than not burned for those blitz calls.

When the defense is called, we need to play the defense. It's not difference than on offense. When the run is called or the pass is called, we need to convert that. As long as we're not putting our players in bad angles, overload situations or things they can't win in, that's really I think the key to evaluating your gameplan. I thought Bob tried to be aggressive because of the lack of pass rush. The pass rush coinciding with the pass defense, it all works together and we didn't do a very good job of it.

McCarthy also defended his coordinator, but not in an overly emphatic manner.

Well, I work with Bob everyday. From a personal side of it he's a tremendous human being, it's very important to him. And professionally, he has a system, a scheme and he's doing the best job he can to put players in a position to be successful ... I have confidence in Bob and we'll continue as we move forward.

There is a stark reality here for Packer fans. The team isn't going to make the playoffs. They're likely going to finish under .500 for just the second time since 1992.

As much as some bull-headed, ignorant people around the country still want to blame all of this on the Favre trade, we all know that isn't the case. The offense has been largely good this year, but it's the defense that has continued to short-change this team. With the general manager and head coach both signed to long-term contracts, you can bet that they won't be going anywhere. Instead, it's probably going to be the defensive coordinator who gets the gate.

Unlike 2004, when then-coach Mike Sherman used Ed Donatell as a scapegoat for a stunning playoff loss in Philadelphia, this change would be welcomed and probably the right move. Green Bay's defense is too talented to allow 1,263 yards and 110 points over three straight losses with the season on the line.

Either the general manager and head coach believe in the guys they've drafted and signed, or they believe in the coach who can be easily replaced. Seems like a pretty easy call to me.