The Green Bay Packers will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and there is plenty of blame to go around. Of course the main reason the Packers are home for New Years Day is the loss of Aaron Rodgers in week six. Without a veteran backup quarterback the Packers floundered and have gone 3-7 since.
The entire organization was stressed when Rodgers went down and nobody was able to stop up and pick up the slack. Quarterback Brett Hundley, in his third year in McCarthy’s offense was not ready to play. He did show improvement and pulled out a couple of improbable victories, but those were against the worst teams in the league. The three teams he beat have won a combined 8 games.
The Packers power structure of team president Mark Murphy, general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy are sure to come under fire this offseason. Not to mention defensive coordinator Dom Capers, whose defense was horrible for the seventh consecutive year, according to the Top CFL Betting Sites. The injury to Rodgers exposed Thompson and McCarthy. I won’t go as far to say they are frauds, but they are not who we thought they were.
My biggest concern is Thompson. Without Rodgers covering up the team’s weaknesses, Thompson’s talent acquisition has proven to be less than stellar, and not just recently. Look no further than the recent Pro Bowl voting, the Packers were shut out for the first time since 2005.
With a roster that bad it is no wonder the Packers can’t win without Rodgers. To think of all the wasted picks on defense the past few years and the inability to build an offensive line, the Packers may be in a rebuilding mode. If Murphy agrees, then it is time for Thompson to go. The hope here is that at age 64, he’ll be 65 in January, Thompson decides to retire now while the Packers still have a capable in-house candidates to replace him.
In McCarthy’s case, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He did win three games with no real quarterback and no defense. Like most coaches, he is better with better players. I don’t see McCarthy going anywhere. With 8-10 open jobs this year, who would the Packers hire? McCarthy would be snapped up in five minutes.
“The Packers’ Way” has grown stale. Time for a change of direction.