Packers: Positives, negatives from Week 13 vs. Cardinals

Positives and negatives from the Green Bay Packers’ Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Green Bay Packers have finally parted ways with Mike McCarthy. With the season over, they need to begin the long process of finding a new head coach.

Here are the positives and negatives from the Week 13 defeat:

Positive: A new era

The Packers needed to lose to the Cardinals. It would have been counterproductive for the team to eek out a win against arguably the league’s worst team at home in the elements only to worsen their draft position.

McCarthy’s coaching job this season has been a disgrace, and any new team looking to hire him should take a long look at what this season has come to for the Packers.

Green Bay will go forward with Joe Philbin as the interim coach, but it is pretty clear that the Packers will be on the search for a better offensive mind.

While young studs like Sean McVay and Matt Nagy only come around once in a while, the Packers will have to figure out a way to surround Aaron Rodgers with a suitable foundation.

Negative: Humiliation

The Packers proved to be among the worst teams in the league on Sunday. In a must-win game, they were playing a basement-dweller at home in favorable weather.

To lose that game is unthinkable, and the Packers showed what a lacking organization they are. The team has slumped into irrelevance, and only a slow, gradual rebuild will get this thing back on track.

The Packers do not belong in the discussion for contenders in the NFC, and they haven’t for some time. They will not be until they find a competent head coach who can provide the offense with basic diversity and creativity.

The defense is inexcusably young and untalented, and the special teams makes Packers fans around the world turn their head in disbelief.

Positive: Culture change

Even with this torturous season still dragging on, the Packers have finally hit the reset button. Under a new head coach, they will hopefully look like they’re actually happy to be on a football field.

The Packers do not play with any energy, enthusiasm, or fire. Instead they consistently play with a lethargic, passive attitude that starts with the head coach.

Firing Mike McCarthy is only the first step. New players are needed. More coaching changes are needed. A completely new dynamic is needed in Green Bay. Starting next week against the Falcons, this team will finally get a chance to start that awfully slow process.

Negative: Blake Martinez

The Packers love to hype up Blake Martinez like he is only a tier behind Luke Kuechly. In reality, Martinez has had an awful season after last year’s promising season. The Packers should think long and hard before they commit long-term money to him.

As the signal caller for the everlastingly poor defense, Martinez is routinely out of position and has no ability to get off of blocks.

A more urgent organization would have found a more athletic linebacker to put next to Martinez, but Ted Thompson instead paired him with Jake Ryan.

The Packers took a flier on Oren Burks, who like so many other draft picks over the years, hasn’t contributed a thing to this defense. Green Bay may consider Martinez a star, but in reality he is an average NFL linebacker.

Positive: This chapter of Packers football may be over

The last four seasons has been as disappointing to watch as one can imagine. Watching the offense routinely force Aaron Rodgers to play backyard football while religiously relinquishing touchdowns to opposing teams may be over.

With a new head coach on the way, the Packers can finally get a new voice into Lambeau Field.

A fish rots from the head down. All three units on the team need an overhaul. With coaching changes, plenty of cap space, and two first-round picks in next year’s draft, the Packers are ready to begin their rebuild.

It will take time, but with McCarthy gone, they might finally have begun to turn the corner.

Negative: Josh Jackson

Josh Jackson’s stellar preseason seems like a long time ago. The second-round pick hasn’t done much of anything this regular season, while first-rounder Jaire Alexander appears to be the more consistent starter down the road.

The Packers miss on defensive draft picks like it is their job, but Jackson still has time. The question is whether or not he has the physical skill set to actually improve.

Alexander is not in a position to contribute in the way the defense needs him to, but he is far better suited to outperform Jackson, who has a long way to go just to be among the more decent cornerbacks in the NFL.

Green Bay has invested an insane amount of draft capital in the secondary over the years, and Jackson may be yet another miss.