Another Thanksgiving Day game between the Packers and Lions is in the books, only this one didn’t turn out anywhere close to what most Packers fans expected.
Some expected the Packers to win and held out hope that quarterback Matt Flynn could carry over his brilliant play from last week against the Minnesota Vikings. Some expected the Lions to win a hard-fought game against a short-handed and down-but-not-out Packers team.
The latter scenario played out, but only in the Lions winning the game. This was not a hard-fought effort by the Packers and they are both down and out right now. Out to lunch, that is. The on-field performance by Green Bay in all phases today flat-out sucked and was, in a word, horrible.
More sloppy play, communication breakdowns, missed tackles and a major lack of execution hampered the Packers as the Lions pulled away comfortably in the second half and on their way to a 40-10 victory. It was Detroit’s first win on Thanksgiving Day since 2003. What a nice 10-year anniversary gift from the Packers to the Lions, eh?
To those who still want to say that the missing link to this team is Aaron Rodgers and that when he returns, everything will be just fine, I say “wake up”. Things are anything but fine in Green Bay right now. If you think I’m overreacting, feel free to stop reading. Also, go watch today’s game again, it its entirety and without skipping any snaps. I’ll wait.
Every team has a bad day, a bad game. Sometimes a team just comes out flat and gets beat. As is often said, “the other guys are getting paid too” and we have to admit that our team, our beloved team, was outplayed. Today, the Packers got wedgied. Embarrassed. Punked. Used and abused. The list goes on. This wasn’t simply an anomaly. It was the culmination of an entire month of uninspired and bad football. From the offense to the defense and special teams as well, this Packers team has been hard to watch.
Minus the second half of last week’s tie with the Vikings, the Packers have shown zero signs of life and aren’t even a shell of what they were before Rodgers was hurt. How can one player, even Aaron Rodgers, make such a grand-scale difference to this team? Rodgers doesn’t play defense so why has that side of the ball slid into the slums of the NFL rankings?
Injuries? Sure, Clay Matthews, Nick Perry, Casey Hayward, Sam Shields and Johnny Jolly have all missed time this season. It’s time to stop making excuses for missing bodies. While there may be a drop-off from the first team to a backup, what the Packers are doing on defense doesn’t resemble a Pop Warner team. They have completely forgotten how to tackle. Routinely, they are out of position and how many times do we hear “blown coverage” during the telecast? To put it mildly, if it were a drinking game, we’d all be hammered every Sunday by halftime.
Many want to go straight to the top and blame defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Surely he is the common denominator. At this point, I’m not sure that Capers isn’t part of the problem too. But the execution is nill on the field and these players should be embarrassed at the level of play they have turned in over the past five games. Many of those working in corporate America would have been let go weeks ago if they did as poorly as the Packers have.
On offense, the issues are rampant as well. The offensive line has struggled with some health issues and today, it culminated with T.J. Lang having to step in at center and doing a horrendous job at that. I’ll give Lang a bit of a break because he has played through some bumps and bruises and is one of the emotional leaders of this team. He wasn’t expecting to play center and didn’t prepare to this week in practice. Still, the biggest contribution from the rest of the line came earlier this week from guard Josh Sitton, who took to the media to call the Lions “dirty”, from coaching staff to players. We all know what talk is worth on the football field. It doesn’t equate to any points.
And here is my “rant within a rant”: if Marshall Newhouse remains on this roster and continues to play, the Packers are completely culpable and negligent of their quarterbacks and run game. Completely. Newhouse sucks and I hate using that word to describe a player, but it was either that or an expletive that would call into question how poor my vocabulary is. I’m a much better employee than is Newhouse so I’ll stick to my softer wording. Marshall. Newhouse. Sucks. He stays healthy every week but the irony is that most of us would trade him in for most any other guy on the injured list right now.
The quarterback position behind Rodgers has been pitiful. Seneca Wallace was a hot mess and his injury, while I never wish one upon a player, was probably a blessing in disguise. Scott Tolzien can throw a deep ball. Great. He can also throw untimely interception after untimely interception and that negates the good throws. Flynn gave the team and fans hope that he could keep the Packers in this game against Detroit. Today, Flynn had zero touchdown passes and managed a measly 139 yards passing, 56 of which came on one pass to James Jones when Ford Field was already half empty and with the game well in hand for Detroit.
Special teams were anything but. This unit has been bottom feeding all season long and continue to get no production from the return game at all. The highlight of the day came when the Lions kicked off out of bounds twice, giving the Packers good starting field position. But that credit would actually go to the Lions, wouldn’t it? Like they needed any more accolades than they already got today.
I tweeted early on in this game that the Packers needed the Lions to beat the Lions today and that turned out to be spot on. Outside of a rare turnover-turned-touchdown in the second quarter, the Packers might as well have taken the holiday off. Spent some time with family, enjoyed a big meal, and most importantly, gotten away from football. It would have been time better spent.
I’m probably rambling now and many of you may have already stopped reading or are waiting patiently for a punchline. Rather than leave you all hanging out to dry and empty handed like a certain football team did to itself and its fans today, I’ll do just that.
Things are bad in Green Bay, and I’m not just talking about any crooked politics. I’m talking about a football team nearly 100 years rooted in the community and that has had a rich history of winning and doing so with class. Today, the Packers looked more like the Lions. Tramon Williams was flagged for shoving a referee. The same Tramon Williams who is supposed to be a veteran leader and who was an instrumental part of bring another Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay three seasons ago. Really, Tramon? That’s what you want your teammates to see and emulate? That’s what you want to teach the young players on this roster to do when things get low?
In the second half, it was evident that the Packers had checked out. Micah Hyde fair caught a punt at the FIVE YARD LINE. The FIVE. I don’t care what anyone comes back with as rationale. That’s dumb football. If he was coached or told to do that, that coach (paging Shawn Slocum) needs to be escorted out of the building. What happened after that came as no surprise to me. I said right before the snap, “here comes a safety, they’re quitting”. Cue a hapless Packers offensive line allowing Flynn to be sacked by Ndamukong Suh. Based on his history, the Packers are lucky Suh didn’t rip Flynn’s head off, chew it up and spit out the pieces.
There is no fight in this dog that is the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers returning isn’t enough. If his return does spark something in this team, then what does that say about what has been the last month? It’s not a comfortable feeling to know that the loss of one guy can lead to a team completely imploding on itself. That is what is happening. Listening to the players after the game, there is clearly some frustration. Many of them don’t have the answers but know they need to do something.
In football, confidence is such a huge factor. An opposing team coming in knowing you are a better team provides a huge edge before the first snap is even played. Right now, no one fears the Packers. No one. They have become the head-shaking, “what’s going on?”, can’t-look-away-from-a-train-wreck team in the NFL. Never did I think it was possible in Green Bay and especially under the same leadership who took a team to and won a Super Bowl.
It’s probably too early to say that Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has lost this team. They don’t appear to be jumping ship on him. But they have jumped off of the ship they were sailing on before this five game slide (let’s toss the tie in as part of that for the purposes of this discussion). Many are questioning whether the Packers can even win another game this season. I’m sure some of the players are among those, although they would never say so out loud. We won’t get anything but “we understand the expectations and we need to do better” from McCarthy, so don’t hold your breath for anything else.
It was unfortunate that Rodgers had to go down and even more unfortunate what has happened to Green Bay since then. Instead of digging deep and finding a way to keep up and win a game or two, the Packers have laid down and rolled over on their back. It’s possible that the Packers could still win out and somehow win the NFC North, but this is not a playoff team right now and they don’t have the horses to become one. That’s me calling it like it is. I realize that contrasts what some of my own colleagues here at allgbp.com have said and written about. But I stand behind what I said.
It’s hard to watch and hard to admit, but this is a bad Packers football team. I don’t see how they can magically become better to the point where we can erase this past month from our memories. Much like 2005 and 2008, we will likely be looking back on 2013 as one of the few disappointing seasons over the past two decades. Whether that becomes a one-off or the start of a trend won’t be answered until next year. And right now, Rodgers or not, that seems to be all the Packers have to look forward to.
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Jason Perone is an independent sports blogger writing about the Packers on AllGreenBayPackers.com
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Well put Jason. The pack will be back,
Go badgers.
So many of the problems we’ve witnessed that last three years are systemic, pervasive and recurring. The nature of those aspects will make attempts at correction without actions that are equal and proportionate ineffective.
The motor’s blown, the clutch is shot and the rear end is growling. An oil change, wash job and new tires aren’t going to make the car win the race.
Sometimes an overhaul is necessary to be competitive again.
Good teams accept the reality and the challenge when something’s broken, then roll up their sleeves and go to work to fix it, forever. Bad ones deny the problems exist and try to minimize/rationalize them, then go do more of what hasn’t worked.
Sound familiar?
That was really a pathetic display of football by the Packers.
This team has a ton of problems starting at the top with Thompson and McCarthy. I am not saying they should be fired after the season, but I do think their seats should be getting warmer unless there is a miraculous turn around.
The entire defensive coaching staff should also be looked at, not just Capers. Week after week the secondary gives up big plays, much of the time because of inability to play the ball or miscommunication.
I don’t know that I have ever seen a defensive line look this bad against the run. Why are they paying Pickett $6 mil a year and offering Raji $8 mil a year? both offer 0 pass rush, and have one job to do, stop the run, and they are failing miserably at it.
I have heard a lot of people defend the defense, saying the poor play was due to injuries, but the Packers defense was about as healthy as a team can expect to be this time of year, and they were flat out embarrassed. I don’t think Jamari Lattimore or Casey Hayward would of changed anything.
This was basically the same defense the Packers put on the field for week one. Burnett didn’t play in week one but from what we’ve saw of Burnett this year, that was the biggest waste of $24 million in a long time. Maybe in a different defense, with a different coach he’s better. I know one thing, he can’t tackle for S#@%. You’d think he’d learn to quit tackling up high after getting tossed off so many times like a rag doll. Perhaps the ability to get him that $24 million contract was cut away when he cut his dreads. Personally I think it was more of a panic move by TT because he’s failed to even come close to replacing Collins. 3 UDFA and a 4th round pick in 2012 have been TT solution to replace Collins. Are you F’ing serious Ted??? Lets face it folks, this is a collection of bad TT drafts, horrible coaching, and a QB that is so good, they’ve all hid behind him to cover it up. If TT was what everyone says he is, this team wouldn’t be 0-4-1 in Rodgers absence. Now we sit and wait to see what Murphy will do. On a team owned by a Billionaire they’d all be gone. My guess? Capers and Slocum for sure, maybe MM.
I sadly have to agree. Rodgers’ return is not going to magically fix the myriad problems we’re seeing every week with this team. Even the play-calling seems lack-luster and predictable.
Back during the four game winning streak, it had appeared that they were becoming the tough, balanced team we had all yearned for. Now it appears that they’ve lost their mojo.
Makes you wonder MM awful play calling is AROD changing a lot of plays making MM look like a genius? Remember when Jim Caldwell took over for the Colts and they didn’t miss a beat. Then when Manning goine for the season they win 2 games? AROD needs to stay off the field so the real MM can stand up.. GO PACK GO
So the pessimists all year were actually realists. Appreciation to optimists for trying.
Like CNN wrote; rarely was a 30 point win actually more dominating than the final score indicated. It could have been a 40 or 44 points to 3 points win.
Congrats to Detroit on the performance; you’re potentially a really good team…even though today’s win didn’t really prove it. I had you taking the division at the beginning; what took you so long?
I dare GB to prove why I should watch another game of touch football this year.
My recommended punishment: Put Aaron Rodgers on IR and condemn that Defense to suffer 40-45 minutes on the field each game the rest of the season. That will give them lots of reps to sort things out for next year.
At this point, I fear for Rodgers’ health if he’s reinserted into the line up. Opposing teams are going to come after him with a vengeance, knowing that without him, the Packers will simply fold. I’m depressed.
Rodgers’ return might paper over some of the cracks and pick up some wins but those cracks will be exposed once again if by some miracle they made the playoffs.
There needs to be a major assessment and changes made at the end of the season. My fear is that they may use the injury excuse and just think players coming back will sort it all out.
Ted might be heading into the most difficult part of his tenure so far.
With a QB that could go down as an all time great they need to make sure they take full advantage of the opportunity and build a team around him and not waste it.
Jonny83 said “With a QB that could go down as an all time great they need to make sure they take full advantage of the opportunity and build a team around him and not waste it.”
This would be unforgivable.
wasting it, that is.
The offensive problems are all about AR. The Lions were playing “one safety high”, which the Packers have regularly torched (see the first half of the Redskins game). Flynn couldn’t get the ball out or find the “hot” receiver (he had Quarless with no one covering him twice on the first 2 drives, but threw the ball elsewhere). Knowing that the Packers could not run the ball (because of a safety in the box)& Flynn could not diagnose who the hot receiver was quickly enough, the Lions pinned their ears back and pass rushed on every down.
Defense is a different story. Raji looks unmotivated & Pickett & Jolly look hurt. The defensive backfield once again made numerous mental mistakes (announcers said that one half were playing zone, the other half was in man-to-man on Johnson’s TD catch). My concern is that our defense is following a pattern that has followed Capers during his coaching tenures….his defenses peak within his first 1-3 years only to sharply decline & never recover. Either he can not maiontain motivation, oppossing OC’s catch up to his scheme, or the players are not intellectually or physuically able to carry out the scheme.
That game I witnessed yesterday was a display of a total lack of everything that football stands for! No pride! No hustle, No manhood, No physicality, No testosterone, No anger, No fight, No discipline, No strategy , No teamwork, No leadership, No rally. ….. One of the most pathetic non-performances I’ve ever witnessed on a gridiron. With their season on the line and everything to play for, in front of one of the biggest national audiences, the traditional Thanksgiving game where most American households are tuned in, and this is what this Pack of losers turned in! Embarrassing is not a stong enough word! Our prideful historic, franchise , and our great fan base, was completely let down by this lackluster squad of pretenders.
Send a fumigation team in to Ford field to disinfect the visitors locker room and hang the Packer flag at half mast over the Packers headquarters! Round up a firing squad! What a sad day in Packers history!
1. Put Rodgers on IR. The season is done, he is still healing, AND he’s the franchise if they ever get this pig turned around.
2. Allow Capers to retire. I think it was Jason Wilde over at ESPN Wisconsin who predicted this, and I think it is the right way to go. Capers has accomplished a lot and deserves to go with dignity, but the league has him figured out and it’s time.
3. Promote Kevin Greene to Defensive Coordinator. Yes, he’s a little — green — but that energy and pedagree would be a welcome change.
4. Commit to a realistic, but real exploration of the free agent market. We cannot continue to expect to hit gold on every undrafted DIII guy selling lumber at Home Depot. I’m not talking about a Redskins approach, but simply a willingness to admit other teams may also know talent. If this is not possible see below.
5. Finally, if Ted Thompson cannot admit that “draft and develop” works 70% of the time but that the guts of your team requires the other 30% to work as well, then he needs to move on. Part of the reason the schemes are not working is that the talent is simply not there. With the exception of the weak, gutless performance today, most of those guys are playing and excuting exactly where guys of that talent level should be.
The reality is that while Ted is better at finding diamonds in the rough than anyone else, it doesn’t always work, and the problem there is that those sorts of players have to play 110% of their potential 110% of the time. When your roster is so heavily populated with those kinds of guys and they have a normal day…well, we saw what happens. The house of cards collapses.
The reason the Patriots are the Patriots is that they do use lunch-pail guys but don’t necessarily rely on them to be All-Pros every week. And the difference between McCarthy and Belichek is that the latter can design a genius plan with the parts he has. McCarthy designs a genius plan with the parts he WISHES he had and then bitches because they can’t execute.
It’s like taking your Kia to the Nurburgring and expecting to keep up with the Aston in front of you simply because you’re AT the Nurburgring and then not understanding why you can’t keep up.
And one more weak metaphor. If your brand new house falls down, do you rebuild the new one using the same builders?
I think you give MM too much credit, Wayne.
5 weeks ago TT & his philosophy were being lauded…..now everything is wrong? Same players…minus 1. AR will fix the offenses problems. The players are there on defense, just need a fresh change in scheme, leadership.
Yes, I may be giving MM too much credit. I admit that.
I sure as hell wasn’t one of the people giving kudos to TT. This has been a house of cards from training camp on. I also don’t think that having 50 of 53 people having played for only the GBP us in any way a good thing.
Greene has been coaching within this defense, don’t know if he can make enough changes since players are already familiar with him. It may take a DC outside the organization to bring some REAL FIRE to this defense-TACKLING, maintaining assignments, shrink the soft zone coverage, jam receivers at the line. It’s amazing Packers secondary NEVER jams WR’s at the snap–that’s a FREE shot, TAKE IT!! Defensive players are on the field for ONE REASON–TO HIT PEOPLE, play to the whistle! This defense couln’t stop a bunch of grandma’s from a yard sale, much less an NFL offense!
If this team has any pride at all, it will at least try to avenge this game with a ‘effort’ performance against the Falcons. I expect Rogers to be back, the team should be rested with 10 days off and they should have thier players back (I hope this includes EDS). Please, at least, beat Dallas and the Bears! This would help take some of the sting away from what we have had to endure over the last 5 weeks
Effort is not enough when you have no talent effort is just that effort.
Regrettably we have had to fall this far before dramatic changes will be made. Let’s hope we don’t have to fall any farther.
Like I said before the game…the only chance they had was by taking high risk, highly unpredictable, and at time un-orthodox approach to throw that team off. But McCarthy called the same ole predictable script. I felt bad for Flynn, cause McCarthy gave him no chance. Detroit repeatedly rattles off slants like lasers…and GB couldn’t do quick slants? rollouts? What, they did 2 screens? It was Jr. College caliber coaching. No excuse McCarthy. You lost our confidence in you.
That’s 5 weeks in a row he’s done that. MM sucks as a game planner and play caller. Hell, he chose Alex Smith over AROD in the draft. What more do you need to know about the guy? Time for a broom and a clean sweep, from TT down.
This was a game that, in a perverse sort of way, the organization needed to spotlight the glaring weaknesses on this team, and the complacent attitude that seems to have infected the locker room.
Thompson is going to have to think long and hard about making some changes to the coaching staff, particularly on defense, special teams, and offensive line…
TT is going to have to think long and hard about his own role in the Packers’ decline.
I will stick to my long held belief that you can’t win the game without winning the battle of the trenches. With 7 sacks and 16 yards rushing, I can’t see how an offense can operate. Yeah, Rodgers would have made a difference but he would have been running for his life.
Watching Reggie Bush run through our D-line made for an impossible situation. Bush or Calvin Johnson – pick your poison. I was hoping that both the O-line and D-line units just needed time to gel. I now see that we don’t stack up in the trenches and that is a foundation that supports a team. I am not sure how you scheme around getting beat by the guy in front of you.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I saw something in the Detroit game I’ve never seen before. I saw a Packers team quit. I’ve been a Packers fan for over fifty years and I don’t remember ever seeing a Packers team quit. What I saw on Thanksgiving was an epic fail. How does something like that happen?
There is no doubt that this team without Aaron Rodgers is an average team at best. However, when a team quits and isn’t even competitive tells me something else is fundamentally wrong. When any group of people who strive together to achieve a goal quits, what else could you ascribe that quitting to except a failure of leadership.
Personally, I will be watching to see if the Packers organization as a whole has the inner strength to look in the mirror and actually come to grips with this problem. Although I think they will start first by replacing Dom Capers–a move that should be made–this team didn’t just quit against Detroit on the defensive side of the ball. The entire team quit and that, I believe, directly reflects on Mike McCarthy’s ability to lead. I believe what we saw on Thanksgiving was the beginning of the end to the Mike McCarthy years.
They quit alright. And I’ve been thinking about why now. The only answer I could come up with was MM’s review of the defensive coaching staff a week ago where he gave them the highest possible grade and said they had the players in position to make the plays but they failed to finish. That statement may have caused the dam to burst.
Calls for drastic change are nonsensical and indicate a lack of understanding. Not that I’m surprised. Fans are what they are.
If you’ve been listening, what the “optimists” have been saying has never been very optimistic. They are saying that when you have a glut of injuries, especially to many of your most important players, YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE, and there isn’t much that you can do about it. If that’s optimism, then I am an optimist, and I’ve been saying so for the past month or more.
People who say, “It’s about having quality backups, and TT hasn’t done that” … well, they don’t get it. 31 teams will end this season as losers. It’s fiendishly difficult to win in the NFL even when you are completely healthy. But still the illuminati want to fire TT and MM because the second and third stringers aren’t able to kick the crap out of other people’s starters. That’s thick-headed thinking.
Here’s a little truism: Second string players make for a second string team. Who doesn’t know that?
Here’s something else. The Packers have been hit hardest at the most important positions. It’s one thing if a starting right guard goes out. It’s another thing if you are on your fourth QB. (Then add your left tackle, your TWO best playmakers at receiver, both outside linebacker positions, safety and corner.)
And this: Injuries and physical weakness do not magically disappear the moment you are reinserted into the starting lineup. If I remember, Clay Matthews is still wearing a cast. The gimpy knees and aching groins that kept people out of last week’s contest are not non-issues this week. I would think that sensible people would understand this.
Still more: Teams PRACTICE for a reason. It’s important to have chemistry with the guys you’re playing with. It’s also good to know what your assignments are. When the offensive and defensive units have different personnel every single week, and when players are thrust into the lineup with no training camp and only six practices under their belt… gee, guess what happens to your chemistry?
People who want to say, “Gut the whole team and keep only ARod, Matthews and two others” are the most clueless of all. I don’t know what else to say except that no sane minded, sentient being could possible think such a thing. If the Packers cut all of those players, it would be the single stupidest act of insanity in the history of organized sport. (Maybe they didn’t really mean it literally, but then why do they keep saying it?)
The same people who admit that a few weeks ago the Packers looked like a team that was going places are now suggesting in exactly these words that we should “throw out the bathwater AND the baby.” Dumb. Answer the question, “What has changed since then?” and you will understand things better.
And this: Sometimes you get it handed to you. It wasn’t your day. Or your season. If you don’t know that, you’ve never played a sport in your life.
The Packers are one of the winningest NFL teams in recent years. They have proven that they can do it. This is a fact. They also have a Superbowl win. They are widely regarded in legitimate football circles as one of the best run outfits in the league. But certain internet posters have noted that the team is on a month long losing streak. Therefore, blow up the whole team.
Here’s what people need to understand, but many of them don’t: Sometimes you get screwed. Yeah. Sometimes you get screwed.
I’m not saying that the Packer can’t or shouldn’t make some changes. But I am saying that it isn’t going to help if the fanbase becomes unhinged and loses all connection to reality.
Your Pollyanna argument has one flaw. The D was almost entirely healthy yesterday and had their worst game in two seasons.
Was it because I said that the Packers are almost certain to lose that you called it a “polyanna” (optimistic) argument?
The fact that players are on the field doesn’t mean that they are completely healthy. Did you see CMIII’s cast? Did you see Jolly limping off? For that matter, did you see Casey Hayward? How is Pickett’s knee feeling? Perry came back for this game… do you think he feels like a million bucks? Just as good as new? Did you account for all of the practice time that people didn’t get? Did you think that the struggles of the offense might have contributed to problems with the D?
marpag, you should take your nose out of MM’s azz long enough to smell some reality brother. The train has derailed my friend and it is not magically going to jump back on the rail. If you like the results of that game then don’t change a thing and you will get those same results. I for one would like a different outcome and would demand a change to get there…
Broadcasting from the Packer Propaganda Ministry ? This is an example of an organization that does nothing but take the same approach regardless of the results. In the real world where results matter and there is less blind faith in management it is called no accountability. Typically, this results in a slow downward spiral in a company unless new management is brought in. Go to Yahoo Finance and read the headlines about what happens to CEO’s that can’t bring about results – they get fired !
As well, in the corporate world, no one cares what your quarterly earnings were in 2010 or for 2012 for that matter! They want to know what your projected earnings are in 2014. This is running a business going forward not looking backward.
Yes, you’re an optimist and I applaud you if you think its only about injuries. No one denies injuries were huge. But what we saw on defense the last few games was profoundly troubling…and took the conversation to another level. By the way, I think that there was not one game this year that the defense really dominated. I wasn’t impressed with Redskins game, nor Cleveland nor Baltimore. The other teams made mistakes, and there were troubling rallies…which GB kind of let happen. I remember a lot of posters venting about those soft coverages, including me. It wasn’t impressive Dfense all year IMO, nor last year, nor year before, nor….
So no, its not just the injuries.
But these are players are home grown, hand picked by the genius guru himself, Ted Thompson. Isn’t this what everyone was saying and believing only a few weeks ago? Nothing has really changed other than we have lost AROD, the great one. It is true that even when he comes back, we will still play poorly. That is because we have seen this team for what it is, nothing w/o AROD. The players now know that and for that reason, their play is getting worse and worse. What did we expect?
S – Morgan Burnett: not very smart, very average at best physically. We gave him $25 MM and his play has gone south.
S – ND Jennings: does not belong on an NFL field.
CB – T Williams: Ever since 2010, after he got his $35 MM and the nerve injury in his arm, he has been HORRIBLE.
CB – Shields: has learned to be OK tackler but lack of size is a hindrance v today’s big WRs.
Nobody in our secondary can hit or tackle.
ILB – AJ Hawk: does not belong on an NFL field.
ILB – B Jones: back-up type.
OLB – CMIII: the greatest.
OLB – N Perry: playing out of position, slow developer and injury prone. Still may pan out.
This pair of ILB makes us S-O-F-T!
DL is a mess. Are we a 3-4 team or a 4-3 team? Most of our players fit a 4-3. Our 3 HIPPO defense is anachronistic. And now they can’t even stop the run.
We have maybe 6 defensive players worth keeping and two of those are based more on promise that what they have delivered thus far. CMIII is the real deal. Mike Daniels is proving himself worthy. Datone Jones and Nick Perry may pan out. Hayward sparkled last year. Shields is decent for sure but what will $35 MM contract do to him? Same as Tramon?
9 years in the job as GM and this what he has produced? 6 guys and all but two joined the team in the last 2 years. That is beyond pathetic. TT should be ashamed and be held accountable. On offense, he left us with no back-up C or QB. How did that work out for us. After 9 years I expect better and so should Packer fans everywhere. If you tolerate this performance from management then that is exactly what you will get. MM’s game plan yesterday – run at the Lions. Gimme a break. Attack their secondary. Go with Tolzein. The guy can’t think, let alone strategize. Can you imagine if Sean Payton was managing AROD?
Anyway, may TT/MM RIP 4ever. The clock is ticking. I know, it will take another year of disappointment before the TT/MM era comes to an end. Too bad for AROD who is in his prime NOW.
Regarding your comment about no back-up C, I’ve never been a fan of the shift left/right philosophy of MM. We need true back-ups that can fill the spot they train for and have the talent for. I cannot imagine the tortured thought process that lead to Newhouse as RG. WTF????
Maybe Wayne is right, maybe we should put Rodgers on IR? We need some high draft picks. Picking at the end of the rounds has caught up to us. But we can’t pick average type guys like Hawk and Raji or losers like Harrell. Ted has not picked well in the top 15. We need some physical studs with an attitude and leadership qualities, players that love football and have fight in them and hate losing. ..Ray Lewis comes to mind
This is what no accountability and complacency looks like in any organization.
Razers right ,too. The Packers trenches got manhandled. We said it all last year also. And JH9 is right, I saw a team that quit yesterday, thats why I was so harsh with my earlier blog..it was totally embarrassing.
Very sad day in Packer land. The end of 2008, 2005 and 1999 are the ONLY other times I’ve seen NOT ONE redeeming quality of a loss.
So here’s some things I’d like to see:
1. Capers retire.
2. A new defensive coaching staff
3. MM lose his play calling ability
4. Raji and Pickett and J. Jones walk.
5. Tramon get a serious pay cut or get cut. Give Shields his money.
6. Ditto Burnett. Pay cut or cut.
7. Ditto B. Jones
8. TT finally gets some help at safety. I don’t care how.
9. Fire Shawn Slocumb
10. Ax James Campen
11. Ax the stregth & conditioning staff.
12. Somebody hand me a bottle
Rodgers is the poor bastard that is going to get royally screwed from MM and TT. He is hands down the best qb ever and will never get to reach his full potential. MM and TT have not built an O-line for him and will not or don’t know how to in the future. I wish he would play for the Packers for 10 more years, but at the current rate, he won’t last 2 years. Therefore for Rodgers sake he should be playing on a team that appreciates him. Belichek would already have 3 superbowl rings with Aaron. I say either MM and TT go or Rodgers goes. Its called tough love…
Wow Big T! Though I see your logic, I actually think our offense, when healthy, is as good as any. It’s defense that TT is unable to draft. Was true in his years at SEA and has been true for 9 years in GB. SEA went to SB year after TT left by going into FAcy and buying themselves 8 defensive players. Something TT refused to have any part of in his days there. Maybe we need two GMs, one for the offense and one for the defense.
The whole division is weak and while the Lions and Bears can feel smug, NOBODY from this division is going to get beyond the first round in the playoffs. The Lions stomped the Packers but the Packers are just a shell of themselves right now. Really, don’t get too into yourselves. You should have won this game 70 to Zip.
If someone told me before the game that the Packers would get 4 turnovers, I would say the Packers win for sure. But with the horrible and embarrassing play of the O- line and the entire defense I am not sure that any number of turnovers would make a difference. This was a game the Packers would have lost even with Rodgers. The bottom fell out yesterday and sometimes that happens. We need to see what happens from here. If the team doesn’t pull itself together, with or without Rodgers then changes may need to be made at the leadership levels. At the field level we may need to wait for next year with Bulaga and Sherrod back and maybe Trettor at center to see what kind of OL we have. We’re fine at the skill positions, probably need to draft a TE and a WR. As for the defense, this is another story. I don’t care if we stay 3-4 or go to 4-3 we need interior defensive linemen. Big tough physical guys who hold the point and get off their blocks and yes, tackle. Same for ILB’s, we need them as well. Finally we need a shut down corner and a safety who can deliver a hit. A long list for Santa but that is where we are. Given this state of affairs Capers needs to go. Again, I don’t care about schemes or 3-4s or 4-3s but this defense needs a new attitude and sometimes only a new DC can get that done. The D also needs an on field leader and CM3 ain’t no Nitschke in that department. As for firing everyone else as some want every week, let’s see how we finish the season. Is not the fall that defines a person (or a team) it’s how (or if) they rise after the fall that matters. This is when leadership or coaching makes a difference. We’ll learn a lot about MM over the 4-5 weeks. Someone mentions how in the Corporate world CEO’s get fired if they don’t deliver earnings. They do, but they leave with golden parachutes worth millions of dollars so they don’t really care when they blow up a company and ruin the lives of hundreds of employees. FYI, for the CEO’s, the Corporate world is not the real world either, it’s also a game to them, a big money game. The real world is the working people in those corporations trying to make a living every day while the CEO’s are planning and scheming to get their millions of bonus dollars every year. I have worked for and mostly consulted for most of the largest corporations in the world, domestically and internationally, and most of the NFL is part if that Corporate mess with owners like Jerry Jones and Kraft, etc. I am very greatful that the Packers are not I individually owned. We all should be thankful for that. Since ’61