I know mathematically the Packers are still very much in the hunt for a wildcard spot. However, they most likely would have to go 8-3 over the final 11 games to claim the last wildcard. Based on their performance the first five games that is a longshot at best. The Packers really only playing for pride the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see if they have any.
Judging by head coach Mike McCarthy’s comments today the Packers may have a hard time finishing .500, much less making the playoffs. McCarthy said the team came out of training camp flat and still isn’t practicing well and obviously not playing well on game day. Those comments make you wonder where the disconnect has come from considering the Packers won the Super Bowl two years ago and won 15 games last year. Has McCarthy lost his team?
After hearing some of the players question the play calling one certainly has to wonder. McCarthy has gotten awful high on himself that last couple of years with his “my way is the best and it’s my way or the highway” attitude. I mean would it have killed him to give Aaron Rodgers the veteran QB coach he wanted when Tom Clements was promoted to offensive coordinator? Instead he gave him a tight end coach who couldn’t coach tight ends. What the hell?
The other position coach changes aren’t working very well either. The running backs coach teaching receivers hasn’t worked. Last year’s unit was the best in the NFL. This year’s receivers are pedestrian. The tight ends were not very good to begin with and all but disappeared this year. Jermichael Finley is still Jermichael Finley. And at QB Rodgers doesn’t look anything like the MVP he was last year.
I won’t even get into Dom Capers, who surely is in his last season in the NFL. His inability to rally his defense yesterday does not bode well for the rest of the year, either. The Packers had looked fairly good at times in the first four games but yesterday was exactly like last year. Even though they knew who was getting the ball they couldn’t stop the Colts. It was a complete meltdown by the defense.
McCarthy isn’t going to make any in-season changes so either somebody flips a switch somewhere and everybody starts playing better or we are going to get more of the inconsistent and at times, poor, play we have seen thus far.
Next Sunday the Packers are on national TV with a chance to at least show the world for one week they are still a force to be reckoned with. The Texans have the NFL’s third best defense, so it will be a tall task. After Sunday the Packers will have faced the top three defenses in the league and four of the top six.
I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s either going to a miraculous Milwaukee Brewer-type comeback or a complete implosion. Either way it will be a season to remember. I’m leaning toward implosion, but wouldn’t be surprised by a turnaround either, after all, Rodgers didn’t really turn into Mike Tomczak in the offseason, he’s just playing like him.
My advice for the rest of season is practice patience. Everything changed yesterday, no reason to get upset anymore. Just let it play out and root against the Bears.