We may look back on the Green Bay Packers’ epic meltdown in Denver last night as the beginning of the end of the current regime as we now see it . At the very least defensive coordinator Dom Capers should be shown the door sooner rather than later and one also has to wonder if the message from head coach Mike McCarthy has gone stale. I know the Packers have only lost one game, but it was a doozy.
It was easily the worst the Packers have looked under McCarthy and extremely troublesome considering the team had two weeks to prepare for the Broncos and an aging Peyton Manning. To give up 500 yards to that offense makes you wonder if they can hold anybody under 500 yards the rest of the way. Cam Newton must be licking his chops after seeing Manning shred the Packers like that. Certainly the odds of the Packers winning the Super Bowl will take a hit, guessing you would be better off trying your luck at Gala Casino than betting on the Packers to win it all.
I saw lot of comments here about the Packers not being able to compete in the playoffs with this defense, well, I have a flash for you, there isn’t going to be any playoffs this year. Teams that give up over 500 yards of offense in back-to-back games are not playoff teams. And after the Bears’ melted down in their game against Minnesota, the Packers have only a one game lead in the division and more than likely will be tied with Vikings after next week.
The injury bug continued to hit the Packers as well, with Sam Shields, Quinten Rollins and Clay Matthews all suffering injuries, though Mathews was able to stay in the game with an ankle injury. Guessing that ankle will be much worse today and his status going forward will be questionable.
Finally, what is up with Aaron Rodgers? I thought he was playing good but after seeing last night’s debacle I’m not so sure. I know the loss of Jordy Nelson is huge, but maybe the problem runs deeper than that. Rodgers hasn’t looked like the same confident dart thrower he used to be since injuring his calf last year. Maybe he is playing not to get hurt or something, I don’t know, but throwing for only 77 yards isn’t going to win many football games.
It’s back to the drawing board for the Packers and this time they only have one week to prepare for the NFC’s best team at Carolina. With both sides of the ball in shambles, McCarthy faces his biggest challenge as head coach.