The temptation is there.
After a 13-3 season that ended just short of a spot in the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers are going to miss the playoffs. In fact, 2008 will only be Green Bay's second losing season since 1992. The other losing season resulted in a new coaching staff, as Mike Sherman was fired.
We do live in an era where coaches get all the love when things are going well, and then get tossed out like last week's trash when life gets rough. The job calls for success early and always, and no one seems to understand that not everything can always go well.
Mike McCarthy probably knew that already. If he didn't, he has learned it now. His Packers have lost four straight, will not be in the playoffs, and can't seem to catch a break. Of Green Bay's nine losses, eight have come by a total of 38 points. Take out losses by nine and 11 points, and six of the Packers' defeats have been by a total of 18 points.
With this year's Packers poised to finish no better than 7-9, should McCarthy be feeling any heat?
Listen, I know everyone loves to jump to conclusions, especially about bad things.
It's easy to take the index finger and point it in the general direction of McCarthy. He's the head coach, and the team is still lining up wrong, blowing assignments, and committing dumb penalties. These are the types of things you'd like a team to stop doing after 15 games. Instead, the Packers seem to be doing them with increased regularity.
Poorly-coached team, right? Maybe.
But how is this possible? How did Mike McCarthy forget how to coach? Remember, many of the same fans who voted McCarthy the best of 2007 are now saying he's an idiot.
The simple answer is that he didn't forget how to coach. Fans of the Packers would be wise to understand this, and they'd be wise to exhibit some much-needed patience on this topic.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers had fired Bill Cowher at the first sign of trouble, where would the franchise be? Instead, they endured three straight non-playoff years, two AFC Championship Game heartbreaks, and won a Super Bowl. Cowher rewarded the franchise and the fans for their patience.
So has Jeff Fisher. The Houston/Tennessee franchise has been through a lot since Fisher took over in 1995. After four straight non-winning seasons, Fisher guided the Titans to back-to-back 13-3 seasons, including a trip to the Super Bowl. The Titans haven't made the big game since, but Fisher did lead another bounce-back starting in 2006 from back-to-back losing seasons. He's helped lead the way through some bad draft picks (Hi, Pacman!) and he's kept the franchise relevant, for the most part.
My point here (and I do have one) is that McCarthy shouldn't be judged solely on last year or this year. The Packers haven't handled the follow-up to last year's success well, but they likely wouldn't have been in the position they were in last year were it not for McCarthy's offensive creativity and leadership. You have to take the good with the bad.
Green Bay is still the youngest team in the NFL (getting rid of a guy like Brett Favre certainly will do that), they had a lot of injuries on defense this season, and they have a very good young quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. Let McCarthy make some necessary changes (fire defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and perhaps special teams coach Mike Stock), let key players get healthy, let general manager Ted Thompson make some offseason moves, and we'll see if things improve.
Now, if McCarthy doesn't think changes are necessary, we may have to clock him in the head with a snow shovel. But he has to be given the chance to evaluate what went wrong this season and figure out how to fix it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-16-2008 @ 1:26PM
Brody said...
No, the mess can't be blamed on McCarthy (or Thompson, for that matter). But that won't stop the hayseeds that are calling for their firing.
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12-16-2008 @ 2:30PM
Judd said...
Lest we all forget that everyone was saying how bad the Pack would be the two years prior to this season?
Looks like the pundits were right.
Favre can make a mediocre team look average...take the Jets as example #2. They aren't terrific and they shouldn't have won last week.
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12-16-2008 @ 2:54PM
PETE said...
The only person to blame is Ted Thompson that guy lets every good player we have leave.His experiment is not working time to go Ted...
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12-16-2008 @ 9:36PM
pack fan said...
the wheels have come completely off this team. its painful to watch the defense. the special teams coach and defensive co-ordinator have to go. if mCcarthy cant fix this next season then his ass should go too. this roster has got too much talent to look this bad.
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12-17-2008 @ 2:55AM
buddy said...
ya ya ya ya if they had 11 points here and 18 points there and stopped this drive and made that catch, it all comes down to one number...4... GB would be in the playoffs, Favre had GB's number and the team clicked with him, if the defense had stopped the Giants last year GB would have gone to the dance, this year they where already booked for the super bowl, and then comes the brain trust, and they refuse to let Brett play. could you imagine the colts refusing to let Manning play on if he wanted to come back after he had a change of heart??? Rogers was going no where he would have been in GB 2009 or 2010, what a waste of a year. as for the comment Favre is just average, last year the Jets won 4 games and have not lead the AFC in 7 years, so much for the average QB
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12-17-2008 @ 11:30AM
Dan said...
Brett can no longer play in cold weather those of us from Wi. and approaching 40 know what i am talking about. Does no one remember his last pass thrown in a green bay uniform? That pass was the reason we did not go to the Super bowl last year not the defence
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12-17-2008 @ 12:34PM
Mike9196 said...
I think both McCarthy and Thompson need to go. Let me see, what is so different about this team this year versus last? Ummm maybe Brett. Lets see, Packers go from 13 wins to at best 7 and Jets go from 4 to at least 9 and maybe 11. I think it is fitting that Brett is once again going to the Pro Bowl and Aaron Rodgers will be watching him from his couch at home.
Yes Brett's last pass as a Packer was an interception but the same secondary as last year is what has caused them to fall apart this year game after game.
12-18-2008 @ 3:44PM
harske said...
You can choose to look at the positive side of things and say that McCarthy didn't suddenly forget how to coach, especially after a 13-3 year. Or, you can look at the reality of it, and throw out there that McCarthy's team went 13-3 last year despite the coach, and that they won that many games with talent alone.
Don't forget; he stepped into a pretty sweet situation. The team was poised for last year. Alot of young talent, and a once in a generation quarterback. The only differences this year? The quarterbacks gone and the GM let alot of talent go. And say what you want about that quarterback's willingness to throw it up for grabs from time to time, he won games. He won alot of close games. Precisely what the Packers didn't do this year. Precisely why they should have brought him in when he wanted to come back, regardless of when that was in the offseason. You mean to tell me that Rodgers is that sensitive? He would have stormed off and been permanently damaged, and he needed that much reassurance from the coach and GM that they HAD to make the decision they did? That's one of the dumbest things I think I've ever heard in a football conversation. You bring everything back from a team that went 13-3 except for the starting quarterback, and you go 5-9... hopefully 7-9? And you say that that's not the reason? Dumber still.
It's way, way too difficult to win games in the NFL, let alone championships, to not make the best possible football decisons. And the best possible decision from this year was to bring back the starting quarterback. They decided against that, and are now lying in the bed that they made. Congrats to the dream team of executives on Lombardi Ave... you managed to snatch certain defeat from the jaws of probable victory yet again.
I don't think McCarthy's as bad as this years 5-9, and I don't think he's as good as last years 13-3. But what he should be thrown under the bus for is his propensity to play for field goals late in games. At least 3 of the last 4 losses have come when they've had the ball in scoring position and bogged down after first and second down running plays, and sometimes 3 straight runs. The defense has definitely not helped lately, but if coach would have played to win these games instead of not to lose them... probably looking at a better result this year, with or without Brett.
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12-18-2008 @ 5:06PM
footballassasin said...
YOU CAN BEST BELIEVE THAT THE MESS THAT WAS CREATED IN GREEN BAY WAS ANS IS THE COACHES FAULT,IF HE COULD JUST GET AROUND HIS BIG EGO LIKE HIS HIS BIG BELLY,HE WOULD HAVE A BETTER RECORD AND A BETTER QBHANDS DOWN,AND WOULD BE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT WITH BRETT AT THE WHEEL,SO HE AND WHO EVER WAS BEHIND NOT GIVING BRETT THE OPPURTUNITY TO PLAY FOR THE PACKERS CAN GO JUMP IN THE LAKE AND FREEZE HIS ASS OFF HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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12-20-2008 @ 7:35PM
Chuck from Kingsford said...
Packer fan for 70 years, yes 70 years!! and now I am a Jet fan,The Packers with Brett at the helm would have been a shoo in for the Super Bowl and would have blown the Giants away..MaCarthy has coached the Packers to protect Rodger, and not to win games........... but to try to show that trading Brett away was good business for the Packers...BIG MISTAKE, realig ning the offense to protect Rodgers and make him look good blew away the Packer offense that was 13-3 last year and near the top in offense.It is loke the stock market...cut your losses anf fire MM, TT a nd MM Or else suffer with losing seasons ubtil the Lame Brai n Board of Directors of the Packers wake up. I will return as a Packer fan when Mm, TT and MM are gone, not a second before , and will see you on the Super Bowl with Brett leading the Jets to victory!!!. Chuck from Kingsford
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12-21-2008 @ 3:59AM
RRabbit said...
Didn't we have the same defensive coordinator last year? A lot of MM's coaching calls have been really questionable. Turner can't draft (see Nelson & Harrell). If some money isn't spent on free agents next year won't look that bright either.
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12-25-2008 @ 5:24PM
Michael Schmidtke said...
Mike McCarthy should not take all the blame . He has a new starting quarterback who needs some work there . Rogers does have possibilities . He needs to work on passing . He throws little low quite offen . I see recievers reaching down like on his screen passes I see the ball heading to the feet or its to high . Farve had troubles as well when he started . Given some good coaching and work harder on accuracy he could be superbowl possible . I like Rogers , he moves around good and is very productive if given good protection .
Michael from Iowa
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12-25-2008 @ 7:52PM
TR CHRIS said...
Anyone who had anything to do with getting rid of a HALL OF FAMER QB for a QB sitting on the bench. OHHHHH but he looked good in practice against his own teammates. well well well they are not going after you like your a piece of meat and they haven't eaten in days in practice like they do in real games. they should have know all along that BRETT wasn't going to let the last pass in his career be a interception in the nNFC championship game. i knew all along he would come back for one more season so should have the packers. and welcomed him back for one more season. they would have won those 6 games of loses by 18 points combined. and probably one of the other 2. a hall of famer would have the poise to make the right choices. now i am not no die hard packer fan but a football fan. the packers would have taken division easy. and gone to superbowl or deep in playoffs. now they have to worry about players getting older,or moving on to new teams, they had a chance to make the big show again and blew it cause they didn't want BRETT to play one more year for them. JETS HAD FAR BETTER YEAR WITH BRETT THEN THEY WOULD HAVE HAD WITHOUT HIM AND THE PACKERS WOULD HAVE HAD MUCH BETTER SEASON TO. CAUSE BRETT KNEW THE PLAYERS IN GREEN BAY SO THEY COULD PLAY WELL TOGETHER IN NY HE HAD TO LEARN IT ALL OVER AG9IN WITH NEW PLAYERS. IF I WAS A PACKER MANAGEMENT I WOULD ALWAYS LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER AND PAY SOMEONE TO START MY CARS FOR ME.. LOL ALOT OF WACKO FANS OUT IN THE WORLD..
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1-05-2009 @ 1:46AM
Nick said...
Ok, so I've been sitting down thinking a lot about the Packers season this year. I'm a die hard Packer fan and the loss of Favre doesn't change that just means now I'm also a Jets fan aswell.
Here's moves I'd like to see the Packers make in the off Season.
Step1: Fire Defensive Coordinator : Bob Sanders
Step2: Fire Special Teams Coordinator: Mike Stock
Step3: Put Ryan Grant up for trade (with SD preferably) - they have 2 great RB's on that team in Sproles and LT. I'd preferably like to see them pick up Sproles if at all possible.
Step4: Make some OLine or Dline drafts in the draft
If things go wrong next season, then get rid of Mccarthy and Thompson and pick up Tony Dungy as a GM and have either Cohwer or Shannahan come in and take up the Head Coaching job.
That's my 2 cents. We don't have a run game period. Yes Grant mite have been good but he's a slow starter. Packers need to be able to establish the run early and hold it late. They don't have that in RB Ryan Grant. Having the ability to both pound the ball on the run and rake the yards in the air will make for an amazing offensive unit considering they adjust their oline a little.
Not to mention Jenkins comes back next season opening Kampan for bigger plays and more penetration on the defensive line. In my opinion find a good RB and establish an Oline the defense will be back next year.
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