Green Bay Packers: ‘What the hell is going on out here?!?’
The Green Bay Packers have been grabbing a lot, but not doing much solid tackling.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph
What the hell is going on out here, Green Bay Packers? The franchise’s most famous coach, the one for which the Super Bowl Trophy is so aptly named, wants to know – and so do I?
“Grab, grab, grab …” the coach exclaims.
Where was he yesterday, and the week before, when the Packers exhibited that behavior time and again? Poor tackling, poor angles, poor coverage … it all adds up to poor defense, poor performance and losses.
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has a lot to consider over the next few days. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports photograph
Today’s head coach Mike McCarthy has had a lot to overcome this season – injuries to top-flight players to name the most important. But it’s no excuse. One of the first quotable lines out of his mouth yesterday afternoon – after saying that two losses in a row at Lambeau Field was not what was in his plans – was that there were “reoccurring issues” that were to be dealt with “tomorrow.” Yes, that means today, Monday.
Will it mean players will be demoted? Will it mean players will be cut? Will it mean that others will get the opportunity to show what they can do? Does it mean that there are coaches who are in line to lose their job? Does the name Dom Capers rise to the top?
Well, if you read Tim Thomas’s post that is on today’s Lombardiave.com page (posted just before this), he talks about that very scenario. While it might be rash and insensitive to the longtime Packers coach, it’s not far from the truth.
While the firing of a coordinator mid-season can be a messy process, that might be just what this team needs at this point.
The defense has been inconsistent and out of sorts lately. They will make a big play and then turn around and allow the opposition to run 10 minutes off the fourth quarter clock to close out games.
Yes, this team still has a winning record, but unless they can turn things around in a hurry, this season is going south fast.
No, it’s not time to panic, but it might be time for drastic measures. Maybe Dom Capers rises to that level.
Is Mike McCarthy waking up this morning thinking, “What the hell is going on out here?”
I hope so. Somebody better be. I can tell you what, all of Packers Nation is thinking it. Packers fans don’t want to start feeling like Vikings fans … and when you’ve got the Detroit Lions at the top of the scrap heap that is the NFC North, then something surely needs to be answered. That’s the same Lions team that the Packers dispatched easily about a month ago. Now it looks as though the rematch between the two teams on Thanksgiving Day will be more about the Packers saving face than it will be about trying to regain the NFC crown. If the team doesn’t start winning some games, it will be a meaningless tilt.
Scott Tolzien converses with Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, who yesterday must have been wondering, “what the hell s going on out here?!?”
Raymond T. Rivard photograph
So, where do we go from here, Mike McCarthy? Well, one thing is for sure … wherever it is that the team is headed, they will be following the lead of Scott Tolzien.
Scott Tolzien? He’s the Packers starting quarterback next week? Well, that’s what Mike McCarthy told us yesterday at his post-game press conference. When asked how he could make a decision so quickly in light that the team had just finished a game and that they had a week before going to play the New York Giants?
“Because I’m the head coach.”
Well that’s definitive and it’s a start.
If Tolzien makes it through the first drive next week without getting injured, that will be a start.
And while the practice player-turned-starter showed us some grit and heart yesterday, let’s hope he can continue his efforts and help the team win some games before we all start screaming: “What the hell is going on out here?!?”