Packers: Let the firings commence
The Packers hit one of their all-time lows this past Sunday after getting beat by the winless Buccaneers. It seems to be the same story each and every week, and Mike McCarthy’s excuses aren’t good enough for the fans and media. I’d have to imagine the Packer’s board of directors will be having a long discussion on the future of Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy.
Ted Thompson
I’ve heard many people say it takes five years for a general manager to turn around a football team. It’s been five years for TT and four years for MM. Ted has built through the draft, and has created the youngest team in the NFL for three years running, which leaves little room for veteran leadership. For the most part, he’s done a good job of stocking the team with young talent, but he’s also missed the mark with some high draft picks such as AJ Hawk, Brandon Jackson, Darynn Colledge, and Justin Harrell. He’s also turned a blind eye toward free agency. I agree with his philosophy of building through the draft, but free agency has helped some very good teams, such as the Patriots and Vikings.
I believe Ted’s biggest fault is he should have built from the inside out; meaning he should have drafted higher for both the offensive and defensive lines. The offensive line has been in shambles ever since he let Rivera and Wahle leave town. I’m not suggesting he should have kept those players, but he didn’t fill those voids. He attempted to fill one by drafting Colledge, but he’s been horrible.
I find it interesting once Thompson left Seattle, it took the new GM, Ruskell, to put together a Super Bowl bound team via free agency and the draft.
Just a thought, but why not see if Holmgren would be interested in a GM position?
Mike McCarthy
I’m still a fan of Mike McCarthy, but I can look past the fact the team is undisciplined, we keep hearing the same excuses each week, and he’s slow to make game-time adjustments. The hiring of Bob Sanders was a huge mistake, but he took too long to fix the issue. Dom Capers was a good hire, but the team doesn’t have the right players for a 3-4 scheme. The special teams coach should have been fired after the last Vikings game. Ted needs to have a heart to heart with Mike and get him on track. Mike is a talented coach, but if he can’t fix these issues, it’s time for him to go. The fact is, the Packers could do much, much worse.
At this point, I really think they need to get a new GM, and unless they think they can land Bill Cowher, I suggest they stay with McCarthy for at least another year. The rest of this season could be a deciding factor on a lot of jobs.
It’s either the players Thompson is signing, the way McCarthy and staff are preparing them or a conflicting combination of the two that is impeding the progress of a team that should be further along in the fifth year for the general manager and the fourth for the coach.
