No one paying attention is particularly surprised Mike McCarthy got fired yesterday. The timing was certainly surprising, though.
The Packers have been on a slide ever since they left the field in Seattle in the 2014 playoffs. They had some good moments and even made a run to the NFC Championship game in 2016, but this hasn't been a particularly good team for a while now. Some of it you can put on McCarthy, of course -- he seemed to lose the team this year. Some of the blame goes to Aaron Rodgers, an amazing talent but a diva of the first rank. A lot of the blame goes to former GM Ted Thompson, whose magic touch ran out years ago.
The NFL is designed to punish the best teams and elevate the worst teams. It's the way to keep interest in the league going. Some teams have good fortune and can avoid the canyons; the Patriots are a great example of that, but the greatest example would be the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have been contenders consistently for nearly 50 years. The Steelers started climbing the mountain way back in 1972. I remember 1972 well, as it was the only post-Lombardi year that the Packers would win their division until Brett Favre arrived. 1972, as it happened, was a false hope for the Packers, and as someone who lived with false hope for the better part of 25 years, it's easy to recognize.
Aaron Rodgers is the same age now that Bart Starr was in 1968. Nothing is guaranteed going forward and the Packers and their fans should not assume the good times are returning just because Mike McCarthy is leaving. There are some good players in Green Bay, but not enough of them. If I could trade rosters with the Chicago Bears, I would. If I could trade the immediate future of the Packers for the Bears, I would do that, too. I expect it will all turn to ashes in Chicago soon enough, because it usually does, but perhaps it won't this time. If you are a Packers fan, you have to assume your rivals are intelligent and competent. In many cases over the last 25 years, that has not been the case. But those days are gone. The Packers need to take the time to get this right, because it's just as easy to hire another Dan Devine as it is to hire a Mike Holmgren.
6 comments:
Of the professional sports teams in Wisconsin, the Brewers and Bucks have the brightest immediate futures. When was the last time the Packers *weren't* in the top 2?
When was the last time the Packers *weren't* in the top 2?
Probably 1991.
The Pack is going to look real different, real soon. Matthews and Cobb are gone, and were arguably past their "freshness date" anyway. On the other hand, there is some interesting young talent at corner and wide receiver that are learning on the job. They were going to need an infusion at edge rusher/linebacker even without Matthews leaving, and Ted didn't do them any favors there the last few years. Rodgers and the O-line are aging together, but I still expect them to perform at a high level for a few more years. With age comes injury complications, though, especially in recovery. The question is if the young (and soon to arrive) players can get it together while Rodgers is still effective.
will a new coach be able to reign in a diva QB who thinks he can get coaches fired? and apparently can?
Gino, what coach can do that? Maybe Gruden, but that's because he's got a guaranteed 10-year contract - and it's going to get ugly between he and Carr before it gets better, if it does.
Maybe the Packers should trade Rodgers to Oakland/Las Vegas for Carr?
If this is a case of Rodgers running McCarthy out of town I'm all for it. It's not like it's a personality conflict. Rodgers is probably sick of the years ticking by in mediocrity. With a top flight coach he's probably have 3 rings by now.
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