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The average tenure for NFL head coaches is some where around 4 years.   With that in mind, Mike McCarthy is in his 8th year at Green Bay.  And the clock is ticking and for that matter it is ticking more quickly as this season draws to an end. 

 

Now I am not advocating for McCarthy's dismissal.  But historically there is some evidence has shown that NFL head coaches begin to reach a point of diminishing returns as their reign  gets older.

 

Several years ago McCarthy achieved the pinnacle of success and bucked tremendous odds by beating the Steelers and winning the Super Bowl.  It certainly was a masterful performance by him and his staff and the team.  The next season the Packers roared back into the spotlight with a seasonal record of 15-1.  Only to get bounced quickly out of the playoffs.  McCarthy sat his starters in the last game against the Lions and when it came time for the starters to play the NYGs on a cold January day, the team laid an egg. Exposed that year was a suspect defense.  And, the year after that they again made the playoffs only to lose in disappointing fashion to the 49ers.  Again a defensive flop when they needed to step up.  

 

This year started off with a couple of losses early.  They played the 49ers tough, but still the defense allowed one aged receiver to consistently burn them time and time again.  Against the Bengals the Packers played well enough to win.  But some untimely errors and questionable play-calling stymied the Packers.  Afterwards, McCarthy rallied the team and on both sides of the ball the Packers played well, hit hard and tackled good.  Could this season be the year the Packers finally put it all together and win? 

 

Well, that answer is NO.  Aaron Rodgers injury has plunged this team into a nightmarish whirlpool of slop, lethargy and embarrassment.   Just when we expected the defense would show up like the US Calvary, the defense has pulled a Harry Houdini and disappeared.   The offense followed suit and collapsed into mush today.   And at the center of all of it is Mike McCarthy...with no answers. 

 

Good teams and good coaches find a way to win...at least win one game without their star player.  This team has gotten worse instead of better.

 

Today's loss was beyond comprehension and a complete embarrassment.  In past years when the Packers faced uncertainty and desperation McCarthy was able to rally them and get the team focused.   He seemed to push the right buttons and plug in the right players and the team responded by playing winning and competitive football.  Under McCarthy the Packers have almost always been competitive.  But not today and if there ever was a low point in McCarthy's career it was today.  Today was nothing but an exclamation point on the poor performances this Packers team has had for the last 5 weeks.

 

The team, although battered and bruised, certainly did not respond to him.  The coaching staff seems to have lost their way too.  Aaron Rodgers has had some visible issues with play-calling and/or game-day strategies.  If and when Rodgers comes back, does all the grunge from the past 5 games go away?  I think not.  The loss today exposed something in this Packers team and what we saw was not good.  It was ugly. 

 

So, is Mike McCarthy beginning to lose his grasp on the Packers?   I don't know, but the clock is ticking.

 

Last edited by GBP1
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Originally Posted by GBP1:

The average tenure for NFL head coaches is some where around 4 years.   With that in mind, Mike McCarthy is in his 8th year at Green Bay.  And the clock is ticking and for that matter it is ticking more quickly as this season draws to an end. 

 

Really?, lets get real, its a bad season, I get it. But donΒ΄t go nuts, everyone has a bad season, specially if you have as many injuries as MM had. I agree that he had a terrible season but look at his stats,  please. At every sport, a good coach  can have a bad season and then bounce back. Arod and MM will bounce back, and i assure you they will win a championship in 2014 or 2015. Take a chill pill. Look at all the injuries they had this year. 

Last edited by Rusty

I don't know that MM's seat is getting warm, much less hot, but I hope he is pressured by TT to revise his staff after this season.

Personally, I'm not ready for a new HC. I think MM has shown in the past that he has a brilliant offensive mind, and was developing some innovative formations to utilize as many weapons as possible. Although the last couple of years have been stagnant, it hasn't been fair to judge because of the injury situation, and we were winning enough games to largely overlook.

The one thing I think he hasn't done well is adapt our offense to the available players. I understand the concept of not making significant changes to the basic schemes because of injury, but when the available guys don't have the talent to support that scheme, you have to something  different.

MM is not going anywhere, but it's starting to look like Rodgers has helped make him look better than he is. Really discouraged by the offensive gamecalling by MM with Rodgers out. He's just going through things as if Rodgers never left and hasn't really complemented or played to the strength's(or lack thereof) of the backup QB's. I don't get it either. The guy dialed up a brilliant gameplan back in 2010 for Flynn when he squared off against the Patriots, so he's shown he can do it. For some reason, it's just not there this season. This game really stood out. Capers D looked lost, that was to be expected, but MM was AWFUL with the offense today

 

it's one game though and it's a bad season filled with injuries, including one to probably the most important player in the NFL. Team was 5-2 and well on their way to a division crown and perhaps a first round bye, so MM isn't anywhere close to being on the hot seat. If he holds onto Capers for another season and the team disappoints next year, then he'll deservedly feel some heat

I have to keep reminding myself that their best player (Aaron Rodgers) is not playing and when he was running the team they were 5-2.

 

Not sure anyone would have expected the team to go 0-4-1 in his absence, but it's very possible he's just that good and important.

 

Still, that doesn't explain the way GB got beat yesterday.   Detroit is a good team, but they aren't what I would consider to be a great team and the Packers weren't even competitive yesterday.   That's on the coaches IMO.  

 

Defensively, this team has allowed almost 250 yards rushing in each of the last two games and in the previous three games they've allowed nearly 150 yards rushing per game (on average).  Those are historically bad type numbers yet it's not like the faces on the defensive roster have changed THAT much.

 

Unless the defense makes some dramatic turnaround to finish up the season there's no way Compers will be back.   Maybe they promote Kevin Greene- not sure.  But our current DC has run his course.  

Does Aaron Rodgers mask a lot of deficiencies of this team? Yes.
Does Aaron Rodgers make MM's job easier and make him look good? Yes.

What great QB in today's pass happy NFL doesn't make their coach better? Remember what a good coach Jim Caldwell was? You think John Fox and Jack Del Rio are leading the Broncos to a 10-1 record because they're masterminds?

Lot of comments here that MM would struggle without Rodgers. WHAT COACH WOULDNT????? Fortunately though GB has Rodgers he's just hurt right now.

MM has earned the right to fix the pieces that have been exposed as pieces that need fixing. DC, ILB, S, TE.

If this team ends up better overall on the other side of this season then a 5 game **** slide is something that was worth dealing with.

The team is moving rapidly up the draft board,they keep this play up and they will be near the top,they need some top picks and may just get them at this rate.MM doesnt pass block or play defense.this team appears to have mailed it in and he can do something about that.its too early to call for heads on the chopping block,its only one bad season and with reason, they will return to their proper prominance,dont go crazy yet.

Once in awhile, you get your ass kicked...it's rarely happened to MM....this is not the beginning of the end for him...I think he leaves when he decides to....This team will get Rodgers back, a couple of offensive lineman that can block,  changes in D. coordinator and we'll be back in the hunt.

 

Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh didn't all of a sudden become bad coaches this year. One of the joys of football is how fast a team can rise, unfortunately the opposite is true.

 

 Yesterday showed that TT  should have hung on to Jeremy Ross---I know he fumbled a couple of times, but we could have used that guy this year. 

TT has done a greg job, but he has made some errors ...I have faith that his positive decisions will outweigh his negatives in the upcoming 9 months.

 

Yes, MM is stubborn about staying the course of playcalling, even if Rodgers isn't out there. He's got to change that, and I think he'll learn to do that. He's proven that each year he improves as a HC, but it take him the offseason to reflect on what he's done and how he's done it before he changes. He's done that in the past, and I am pretty confident he'll do it again. Not only that, but MM got tripped up when they went with Wallace and Tolzien as backups and got rid of guys who were actually in the system for a couple years. 

 

Capers, on the other hand, is really starting to p*** me off. He's had years to get his act together and it still hasn't happened. He constantly talks about guys being tired or in the wrong position, well, whose job is it to rotate and get guys in the right spot, and if you can't get the guys you have to follow directions, then get someone out there who can. I was tired yesterday of seeing Hawk follow the mass and leave gaping holes where if he had any discipline, he would have plugged the hole. I'm tired of hearing our secondary was mixed up, and watching again as half the backfield was playing zone and half man-to-man. Why was CMIII on the bench on at least one passing third down? Yes, we had some takeaways yesterday and Shields' INT was a thing of beauty, but cripes, can't we get a running stop when we need one? To allow 30 first downs and 561 net yards is absolutely ridiculous.

 

Is it time for MM to go? Absolutely not. Is it time for Capers to leave? Well past time. If MM doesn't realize it and he wants to stick with Capers no matter what, well, then we'll probably watch both leave.

quote:
Capers, on the other hand, is really starting to p*** me off. He's had years to get his act together and it still hasn't happened.

Hasn't it been posted that Capers' MO seems to be a marked improvent in a team's defense when he shows up, only for the defense slowly to fall down the rankings in subsequent seasons?

This is Capers with his act together, I fear. 
The last time we had a down year with a terrible defensive performance, 2008, McCarthy had a big staff shake up. He could look at doing that again, but I don't think he will. I think they will alter their team building philosophy though, maybe looking for another great FA ala Pickett or Woodson. He's a good coach in a bad year, that's all. We're used to pounding teams, not being pounded.
Originally Posted by Fedya:
Hasn't it been posted that Capers' MO seems to be a marked improvent in a team's defense when he shows up, only for the defense slowly to fall down the rankings in subsequent seasons?

This is Capers with his act together, I fear. 

Some posters have shown that it is Capers' MO to fall in rankings each year. But now it seems like he falls after the first quarter of games. We hold up for the first quarter or long enough for the opposing OC to determine what Capers is going to call and when he's going to call it, and from that point on the other team just rips our D. When the other team's offensive players start actually saying to the media that they knew what we D we were running, it shows two things: the public disdain opponents feel toward Capers, and that it's past time for him to go.

I agree with GD. Good coach - bad year.

 

Re Capers: I was thrilled when they hired Capers to run the D and have been a supporter up until 3-4 weeks ago. One or two bad games in row by the D is one thing but 5 in a row with almost no improvement (save a few turnovers yesterday) is another. 5 weeks (Not to mention some playoff losses) of basically the SOS on D and I can't see how MM and TT can rule out the idea of making a change at DC.

I saw a D yesterday that waited for the play to come to them.  They did not attack.  Several times three players were in the right spot and waited for the play to come to them instead of attacking.  If they all attack there is no worry about gap responsibility.  As it was, several times the guy escaped for positive yardage.  You gotta take it to 'em!

 

MM was horrible as OC yesterday.  Watched the game with my Dad and we couldn't believe the run plays he repeatedly called right up the gut.  He's got a fine RB and doesn't know how to use him. Then again, this Oline disappears when EDS goes out.

Originally Posted by packaddict:

If MM sticks with Dom one more year and this defense plays like the last two years, then MM will have written his ticket out of GB.   I think he needs to make that change this offseason.

That's what I was thinking as well.  Sticking fairly long with a low-performing formula just doesn't cut it.

 

The Packers defense has been basically gashed so many times for a few years now.

Other than this one game, I don't think anything has really changed even vs last year.  Our defense with Rodgers in gives up about 20 points per game.  In the 3 loses and the tie we gave up 27 avg.  I have to assume that having Rodgers in, eating up some clock, putting pressure on with the score, and not going 3 and out every other drive is worth those extra 7 points per game.

 

The thing is we've had a sub par defense for a while but have simply been able to outscore everyone.  Now we're just seeing what happens when we can't.

 

Does there need to be defensive changes?  Yes.  Is the sky falling? No.  Consider the Steelers who have a worse record than the Packers and they've had Big Ben all year long.

watching the team this week is like watching the Packers during this past pre-season. As soon as Rodgers went out the whole team was dysfunctional. Rodgers means that much to the offense but this defense has been this way this year. It has to be that Capers defense is well figured out by the rest of the league. I was calling plays from my recliner yesterday before the Lions ran them and was right more than I was wrong.

 

There are no tendencies with the Packers anymore, this is just what they do and other teams now it and know how to exploit it. Time for some fresh eyes on the defense because what worked in Capers his 1st two years has now been figured out. .

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