The Perfect Storm for Offense collapse......
Surprised nobody mentions this. But head coach McCarthy shares a big part here. Handed his OC play calling off to Clemett. Reaction to play off loss and collapse on ST and Defense. Ultimate blame there fell on the DC and ST coaches. That's where changes should have been made as the Offense had the game won, but D let Seattle back into it.
McCarthy should have never gave up the Offense play calling. Things changed when he went back to it.
Staying with coaching another non move should be mentioned. Philbin was released as HC of Phins, MM should have restored him back to OC like Belechik did with Daniels. Rodgers played his best and won a SB with Philbin here. The year we won we lost Finley early and suffered the most injuries in the league.
Of course Thompson gets a big share of blame here. Spending how many picks trying to find a replacement for DL Corey Williams and how many picks to find an OLBer to pair up with Matthews while ignoring depth at other positions?
Plus he never found replacements for Woodson and until Dix, one for Collins. Wasn't a big Finley fan, but he looked like all world compared to what we have currently and Thompson has failed there too.
Add in 2 failed drafts for someone that only uses the draft and the impact was huge. Thompson's stubbornness not to use free agency and having to spend so many picks on front 7 Defense caught up with us when Offensive injuries hit.
In rebutal to posts above......
While I agree to most said, do disagree with O-Line. Wasn't that many years back when Thompson was in control and we lost both starting Guards to FA. The following year was a disaster. Lombardi said games are won in the trenches and that hasn't changed. As the OL goes so does the Offense. Many times Rodgers had zero time and with us down to 2nd and 3rd string inexperienced WRs, he needed extra time, not less time. And yes Lacy wasn't the same, but at times could have had Walter Payton there and would have gained zero yards from lack of OL opening a hole. When starters are healthy this is one of the best OLs in the NFL. But as we know the depth behind them sucked, which again fell back on Thompson.
One more point. Rodgers did not play to his MVP level. Some blame can go to OL, RB, and WRs, but Favre went through similar and still played at that level. Not a Favre vs Rodgers thing, but for comparison. Whether it was his knee he had cleaned out in off season or something else, Rodgers was not the same player last year.
So again it was the perfect storm. But should have never happened. MVP QB, a decent Defense, improved STs, and both HC and GM with over 10 yrs entrenched. Plenty of blame to go around.