Packers: Ted Thompson, not Mike McCarthy, deserves blame for failures
By Evan Siegel
Ted Thompson, not Mike McCarthy, deserves the blame for the Green Bay Packers’ failures.
McCarthy has had some questionable moments as the Packers’ head coach.
The media has attacked him relentlessly, labeling him as a conservative coach who is unwilling to go for the throat.
Packers fans think back to the 2014 NFC Championship Game against the Seahawks, when McCarthy twice elected to kick a field goal with his offense inches away from the goal line in the first quarter.
One also thinks of the past three seasons.
Since 2015, the Packers have been completely reliant on Aaron Rodgers. The offense has no creativity, speed or balance. It is absolutely all on Rodgers’ shoulders.
Play after play for three straight seasons, the Packers offense consists of Rodgers dropping back to pass, instantly seeing all four of his receivers covered, miraculously escaping the pocket in a way only Rodgers can, and eventually finding Jordy Nelson for a sideline catch.
Opposing teams have realized that the Packers are nothing out of the ordinary offensively. Imagine if the Chicago Bulls’ offensive gameplan under Phil Jackson was essentially an isolation play for Michael Jordan. Sounds pretty good right?
What about when every other team in the NBA begins double and triple-teaming Jordan? Scottie Pippen and the rest of the Bulls were able to adjust.
This is what the Packers have failed to do for three straight seasons. Naturally, the blame is going to fall on the play-caller. It is no secret that McCarthy has a playbook that the 1972 Dolphins would thrive in. His route tree is extremely flat with almost no deception involved.
But when looking at the plays McCarthy is calling, it becomes clearer and clearer that he is doing his job.
McCarthy is putting his team in the best position to win. He is calling the plays that his 11 attackers are best at. The problem then, is with the players themselves. The issue is less about the Packers not having any diversity in their playbook, and more about having better players to physically execute the plays.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans have similar types of offensive philosophies to the Packers. Green Bay has shown interest in former Texans in the past, including Owen Daniels, Garrett Graham, and Chris Myers.
Both the Packers and Chiefs run the jet sweep frequently. The difference is the Packers use Randall Cobb. The Chiefs on the other hand, use Tyreek Hill, whose 100-yard-sprint time was good enough to place sixth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Andy Reid doesn’t have fairy dust that makes a tight end run better routes than the rest of the league. The difference is the Chiefs use Travis Kelce, who is neck-and-neck with Rob Gronkowski as the league’s premier tight end.
The Packers meanwhile, have been all over the place at the position. Since Jermichael Finley‘s career-ending injury five years ago, the Packers have used Andrew Quarless, Tom Crabtree, Richard Rodgers, Jared Cook and Martellus Bennett.
Fans should wonder: would I rather have McCarthy or Bill O’Brien as head coach? It’s not even close.
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O’Brien is not responsible for DeAndre Hopkins looking like the second coming of Jerry Rice in 2017. Rather, he is responsible for putting the Texans’ offense in a position to get Hopkins the ball and play to his strengths.
Jordy Nelson is aging and banged up. Randall Cobb has fallen off the face of the earth. Davante Adams is finally having his first consistent season. Play calling only works if the players get it done on the field.
Defensively, it’s a dumpster fire. Remarkably, the Packers have been among the worst in the league on defense seven years in a row, a fireable offense for 31 other teams in the NFL. But not for Dom Capers and Ted Thompson.
Capers deserves much more blame than McCarthy for the failure of the defense. His unit has been porous year after year and virtually nothing has been done on his part to fix it. Thompson has tried to bring in new players at every position on defense, but the unit has still been disappointing.
Capers however, can defend himself in one way. His elaborate, oddball scheme doesn’t mesh well with Thompson, for it requires experienced, proven players who can handle the complicated nature of the gameplan.
The Packers defense alone has been a raging fire that hasn’t been put out in seven years. Why is that?
Capers’ inability to adjust should get him fired at this point, but the biggest issue is who is putting the players on the turf. Not many defensive coordinators could coach a defensive line made up of B.J. Raji, C.J. Wilson, and the remains of Ryan Pickett to success in 2012.
The middle linebackers under Thompson have been horrific. Since Nick Barnett‘s season-ending injury early in 2010, the Packers have been inexcusably poor at the position. They made it work with A.J. Hawk over the course of the remaining games in 2010, but starting in 2011, Brad Jones, Nate Palmer, D.J. Smith, Joe Thomas, Jamari Lattimore, and Carl Bradford have been among the team’s middle linebackers.
Thompson drafted Jake Ryan in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He drafted Blake Martinez in the fourth round a year later. Martinez looks like he may be a true starter at the position, something the Packers haven’t had in years.
Not many coaches in the history of the NFL would be able to lead that group of linebackers to success. Below is a chart showing the lack of prioritization Thompson has placed in the middle of his defense:
Brad Jones: Seventh-round pick
Nate Palmer: Sixth-round pick
Joe Thomas: Undrafted
Jamari Lattimore: Undrafted
Carl Bradford: Fourth-round pick
When you combine the lack of attention to the position with no free agency or draft activity, it’s no wonder that the defense has suffered.
So where has Thompson placed his chips defensively?
In the secondary. Unfortunately for the Packers, that hasn’t worked at all. The Packers let Tramon Williams and Davon House leave in free agency only to replace them in the first two rounds of the following draft, taking Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins. Safe to say that’s been a pretty horrendous draft investment.
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Just before the 2015 draft, the Packers met with Marcus Peters at his pro day. The Chiefs took Peters 12 spots ahead of them. This is one further example of the way in which the Packers blow opportunities. Clearly, the two-time Pro Bowler and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 interested the Packers enough to meet with him.
Rather than moving up in the draft to get him, they stayed back and arrogantly assumed that their selection of Randall would solve their secondary problems.
Randall has been one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL since entering the league. Rollins has been even worse. Part of the reason for their struggles is because both Randall and Rollins aren’t even cornerbacks. Both played safety at Arizona State and Miami(OH). Landon Collins was picked two selections after Randall by the Giants.
With the hole at middle linebacker bigger than the ones Packers defensive lines leave for opposing running backs, Thompson passed on Benardrick McKinney and Eric Kendricks. When selecting Rollins, David Johnson, Frank Clark, and Tyler Lockett were available.
All in all, Ted Thompson’s philosophy is failing the Packers. When seeing that his team has countless flaws being covered up by the best player in the NFL, he doesn’t plug the leaks. His seemingly allergic reaction to free agency and the trade market has left his roster starving for reinforcements. A quick look at the 2017 Packers shows this reality perfectly.
The running backs are made up of three rookies all picked in the fourth round or later and a wide receiver. The receivers are older, slow, and thin. Lance Kendricks and Richard Rodgers comprise the worst group of tight ends in the NFL. Ever wonder why the Packers are so bad at run blocking?
Corey Linsley is a former fifth-round pick out of Ohio State who is constantly battling injuries and is consistently blown off the ball by stronger defensive tackles.
The defensive line does not have one player who has ever made a single Pro Bowl in his career. Clay Matthews is the only member of the entire front seven to reach a Pro Bowl at any point in his career other than Ahmad Brooks, whose lone appearance was four years ago.
Damarious Randall was ranked 107th out of 111 by Pro Football Focus among corners. Quinten Rollins was ranked 101st. Morgan Burnett, while considered the quarterback of the defense and the one keeping order, has never made a Pro Bowl in his career, and is one of the worst run defenders among safeties in the NFL.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix made the Pro Bowl as an alternate a season ago, only to follow it up with his worst season since being a first-round pick out of Alabama. The bottom line is, the Packers give Aaron Rodgers absolutely no help for fears that committing even a penny to free agents will hamper their future ability to retain free agents of their own.
The assumption is that every single draft pick will pan into a starter for the Packers. That is a completely unrealistic approach that cannot be a winning formula.
The New England Patriots have given Tom Brady all sorts of help throughout his time in New England. The Packers have never given Rodgers anyone like Rob Gronkowski throughout his tenure.
Rodgers has never had a receiver as quick and elusive in the open field as Julian Edelman. The team has never had anyone like Devin McCourty, Malcolm Butler, or even Stephon Gilmore. The Packers are inferior to their opponents every Sunday at every position except quarterback.
McCarthy is always the one who has to answer to questions about his terrible roster. Thompson appears in front of the media twice a year. Once after selecting his first draft choice, and another during the season-opening press conference.
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McCarthy absorbs 100 percent of the blame for the complacent, arrogant and unsatisfactory job of his general manager.
Rodgers will be 35 next season. Time is running out.