JS: Blame for underachieving season falls on Mike McCarthy, Ted Thompson
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you are assuming that the bod considers a 10-6 record and a wild card playoff win "struggling". my guess is that they will not.
however, they should. this team could have done much better - even with the injuries we had. they have underachieved for three straight seasons.
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i'm still wanting for an explanation as to why those positions were combined. Does any one have any insight?
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there have been several articles written on the subject. mccarthy wanted the receivers and quarterback working together, and getting the "message" from their coach. the theory was that it would make them more cohesive and everyone would be on the same page. i think that might have a chance of working if the entire wide receiver corps was veteran receivers who didn't need a lot of work on the fundamentals. but when you've got a bunch of first and second year guys who are still learning the basics, they need a full-time coach. not someone who is splitting the focus between quarterbacks and receivers.
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Most of the time a HC with Mike's resume isn't going to get canned for not winning the SB. Winning that trophy just isn't easy. Everybody felt the Cardinals were going to beat Carolina but they looked terrible! Should Arians be on the hot seat because they failed so miserably for the second year in a row? I doubt their owner is seriously considering moving in another direction. You don't hear Cardinal fans calling for a change either like I'm seeing in here and on other Packers forums.
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Personally the bigger travesty is how Ted Thompson gets a pass as much as he has. I digress. I get the frustration with McCarthy but it's not the only issue in green Bay and I'm not talking wins and losses here. Many on this board have pointed out chemistry issues. Issues with his relationship with Rodgers. More than a few players regressed this year. Lacy. Adams. Even Rodgers. At the end of the day that's the responsibility of the head coach. Personally I think fans expectations are too high. I know that's not a popular stance. But as noted. We are spoiled. Imo this team was flawed leaving camp. We did not play a team with a winning record until Denver. Lot of blame to go around.
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Wherein we forget again that we were one of 8 or 9 botched plays from the Superbowl just last year with the same GM and same head coach.
It's not Ted or McCarthy's fault that Favre threw to the one guy covered in the NFC Championship game in 2007 and couldn't handle to cold.
It's not Ted or McCarthy's fault that Rodgers and Jennings weren't on the same page in overtime in 2009 vs Arizona, or Rodgers fumbled, or the offensive lineman wiffed on the block, or the ref missed the obvious facemask against Rodgers, or let Larry Fitzgerald push off all game.
You can place some blame on Ted for not drafting well enough in 2011 and 2012. Those did set us back a bit.
It's not Ted or McCarthy's fault that Rodgers missed most of 9 games in 2013 with a broken collarbone. Indeed it's a great credit to them that the team survived to a better than .500 record and still made the playoffs. It's not their fault Hyde dropped an easy INT that would have iced the game against the 49ers.
It's not their fault that Bostic botched the onsides kick, or Peppers instructed Morgan Burnett to slide early on his INT that would have led to another score, or... pick anything else from the end of that game.
It's not their fault that Shields dropped an easy INT that would have upset the Arizona Cardinals in a game where we had no WRs to speak of.
Football is a game of inches in which the tournament is single elimination. Most championships in this era hinge or one or 2 plays either in the SB or in the games leading up to the SB. The Packers have been on the wrong side of 5 of those games under McCarthy. It's easy to say "that's a trend", but in each game it was a case of a player needing to make a play and not making it. One play. One. And easy plays to make at that. We could just as easily be sitting on 3 rings right now. Or if things bounce another way in 2010, maybe none at all. In either case the narrative is completely different, which is what I find increasingly frustrating about sports discussions these days.
It's not Ted or McCarthy's fault that Favre threw to the one guy covered in the NFC Championship game in 2007 and couldn't handle to cold.
It's not Ted or McCarthy's fault that Rodgers and Jennings weren't on the same page in overtime in 2009 vs Arizona, or Rodgers fumbled, or the offensive lineman wiffed on the block, or the ref missed the obvious facemask against Rodgers, or let Larry Fitzgerald push off all game.
You can place some blame on Ted for not drafting well enough in 2011 and 2012. Those did set us back a bit.
It's not Ted or McCarthy's fault that Rodgers missed most of 9 games in 2013 with a broken collarbone. Indeed it's a great credit to them that the team survived to a better than .500 record and still made the playoffs. It's not their fault Hyde dropped an easy INT that would have iced the game against the 49ers.
It's not their fault that Bostic botched the onsides kick, or Peppers instructed Morgan Burnett to slide early on his INT that would have led to another score, or... pick anything else from the end of that game.
It's not their fault that Shields dropped an easy INT that would have upset the Arizona Cardinals in a game where we had no WRs to speak of.
Football is a game of inches in which the tournament is single elimination. Most championships in this era hinge or one or 2 plays either in the SB or in the games leading up to the SB. The Packers have been on the wrong side of 5 of those games under McCarthy. It's easy to say "that's a trend", but in each game it was a case of a player needing to make a play and not making it. One play. One. And easy plays to make at that. We could just as easily be sitting on 3 rings right now. Or if things bounce another way in 2010, maybe none at all. In either case the narrative is completely different, which is what I find increasingly frustrating about sports discussions these days.
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McCarthy is not good at accepting blame. He has been here 10 years with Ted, he knows what he signed up for, so to criticize it now looks like he is just trying to shift the blame.
Bottom line, we had plenty of talent on this roster, but we were really poorly coached, especially on offense, and that falls on Mac.
Where would Ted have reasonably upgraded the team?
WR - We thought that was a strength coming into the season
OL - We thought that was a strength coming into the season
QB - We thought that was a strength coming into the season
TE - Jordan Cameron, Charles Clay or Julius Thomas? Maybe.
ST - Punter?
DL - Thought we looked pretty good across the board there
OLB - Really liked what we had there
ILB - Wasn't a great market, but could have used a vet here, though after Barrington got hurt, not sure what there was avail
CB - I love what we have at the position
S - I love what we have at the position
I don't know, definitely could have done something, but I just don't think it was the issue. Universal under-performance is what sunk the team and that is a coaching issue, not talent issue.
Bottom line, we had plenty of talent on this roster, but we were really poorly coached, especially on offense, and that falls on Mac.
Where would Ted have reasonably upgraded the team?
WR - We thought that was a strength coming into the season
OL - We thought that was a strength coming into the season
QB - We thought that was a strength coming into the season
TE - Jordan Cameron, Charles Clay or Julius Thomas? Maybe.
ST - Punter?
DL - Thought we looked pretty good across the board there
OLB - Really liked what we had there
ILB - Wasn't a great market, but could have used a vet here, though after Barrington got hurt, not sure what there was avail
CB - I love what we have at the position
S - I love what we have at the position
I don't know, definitely could have done something, but I just don't think it was the issue. Universal under-performance is what sunk the team and that is a coaching issue, not talent issue.
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For all those pointing to FA including MM. I get into this same argument all the time with my buddies, but in general people are too quick to point to the guy "we should have got" with 20/20 hindsight, and completely ignoring that if you bring those guys in, you aren't going to be able to keep all your own guys, like Daniels, like Bulaga, like Cobb.
I don't really disagree in the grand scheme of things, but people are too quick to ignore the opportunity cost of some of these moves. I mean let's just say we had decided to sign Julius Thomas. Are we still able to extend Daniels, and can we still bring back Neal, Raji, Guiyon, etc. this off season?
There is definitely a trade off there that needs to be considered.
I don't really disagree in the grand scheme of things, but people are too quick to ignore the opportunity cost of some of these moves. I mean let's just say we had decided to sign Julius Thomas. Are we still able to extend Daniels, and can we still bring back Neal, Raji, Guiyon, etc. this off season?
There is definitely a trade off there that needs to be considered.