(Before we begin: I wanted to get this up immediately after the game, but I decided to sleep on my thoughts before I wrote anything.)
You could point to any number of reasons for why the Green Bay Packers suffered a 30-23 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.
Poor offensive line play, a quaterback who hangs on to the damn ball too long, a pathetic pass rush and stupid penalties would all suffice.
But the real reason the Packers dipped to 2-2 – and are essentially now three games out of first place in the NFC North – is perhaps the most eye-opening as it is something I never thought I’d be saying:
Green Bay is coached by Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy made countless breathtakingly awful decisions throughout the contest. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t be so bad as every one is allowed a rotten day every now and then.
But the same awful decisions made by McCarthy on Monday speak to a pattern of bad decisions made by the coach throughout his three and one-quarter seasons in Green Bay. And after the job he did at the Metrodome against Judas, you have to ask yourself if McCarthy is really the man to lead this team forward.
The bad decisions, in no particular order, from Monday night were:
- Leaving a player (Daryn Colledge) who is playing out of position on an island against the best defensive end in the NFL (Jared Allen)
It was obvious, from the first drive, that McCarthy and the coaching staff were content on matching Colledge up one-on-one with Allen. It was also obvious, from the first drive, that Colledge just couldn’t handle it. Allen was too strong, too quick and too aggressive for the Packers’ usual left guard.
Still, you figured McCarthy would adjust the blocking scheme at halftime and give Colledge some help as he must have been able to see that his left tackle just wasn’t up to the task. Wrong. He continued to leave Colledge out there alone. And even when Colledge left the game with an injury and was replaced by rookie T.J. Lang, McCarthy still had Lang match-up with Allen by himself.
The result of this stupidity? Four and a half sacks, a forced fumble and a safety from Allen.
Once again, McCarthy shows he has no idea how to help out his o-lineman. He didn’t know how to help Allen Barbre in the Bears game; he didn’t know how to help out Chad Clifton/Colledge in the Bengals game; and going back to last season, he didn’t know how to help Clifton against Allen in the second Vikings game.
- Failing to continue to attack the Vikings defense with screens, draws and, most importantly, three-step drops from Aaron Rodgers
Early on in the game, the Packers did a nice job (for the first time in ages) running screen plays. Throughout the game, the draw plays to Ryan Grant worked as Grant looked the best he has all season.
The Packers should have continued to make those plays big parts of their offensive attack. But they really didn’t. And spare me the, “You can’t keep running it because then you become predictable” excuse. That doesn’t wash. In the NFL, when something works, you run the hell out of it until the opponent figures it out.
If those were bad, the passing plays designed for Rodgers were even worse. I’ll be the first to say that Rodgers holds on to the damn ball far too long and if he doesn’t correct that quick, he’ll never be more than an average NFL quarterback.
But if you’re the head coach, and you know this, you have to design and call plays that don’t give your QB a chance to hang on to the ball too long (i.e., quick passes on three-step drops). What makes that even more frustrating is that whenever McCarthy called those quick pass plays Monday night, guess what? They worked.
But almost as quickly, there McCarthy was, calling for yet another seven-step drop from Rodgers, putting his weak offensive line and quarterback who tends to hang on to the ball too long against one of the best d-lines in the game. The result? A mind-numbing eight sacks by Minnesota as a team.
Once again, in a big game his team needed to win, there was McCarthy stubbornly running the things that didn’t work in favor of the things that did. Just like the NFC Championship Game.
- Not pulling Al Harris out of the game, for at least a series or two, to get his head together
I’ll give Judas credit for this much: He remembered that, in a big game on national television, you throw right at Harris because Harris gets way too keyed up for big games and just isn’t very good in those situations.
It was clear from the first quarter-on that Harris just wasn’t mentally in the game. Whether it was Bernard Berrian or Sidney Rice, two very average receivers, it didn’t matter as they were going to torch Harris if he was on them.
Give Harris some help? Maybe pull him out of the game for a series or two to get his head straight?
Nah, why bother, right Mike?
Instead, you just choose to leave him out there to die. Just like you did against Terrell Owens on a Thursday night in Dallas and just like you did against Plaxico Burress in the NFC Championship Game.
- The penalties – my God the penalties
The Packers committed seven penalties for 57 yards on Monday night. Those penalties resulted in killed drives, poor starting field position and nullified big plays (Charles Woodson’s interception of Judas in the end zone, for example).
This is the most glaring failure of his time in Green Bay. He has never been able to get this team to play with any discipline at all. They just keep drawing flags week-in and week-out.
Being an aggressive team is fine, but as I’ve said before on this site, you can be aggressive without drawing penalties. Look at Pittsburgh. Look at Baltimore. Look at the New York Giants. It can be done.
But I’m starting to realize it can’t be done by McCarthy. For whatever reason, it just isn’t going to happen.
And that’s the big question you have to ask yourself as this team heads into the second-most important bye week of McCarthy’s tenure:
Is McCarthy the man to lead this team to a Super Bowl? Do you ever see that happening?
I did as recently as this summer, but what he’s shown over the first four games of this season has made me re-examine my stance. I’m not saying he should be fired or anything crazy. I’m just simply asking if he’s going to be the guy to lead the Pack to greatness. Because if he can’t clean up the same mistakes he’s making over-and-over, this team isn’t going anywhere ever.
The most important bye week of his time in Green Bay came in his first season. The Packers were 1-4 and coming off a tough loss to the St. Louis Rams. Things looked pretty bleak, yet McCarthy got the team to bounce back and win three of its next four games en route to an 8-8 finish.
We have to hope he can do the same thing this season. Otherwise, he might not be around when the next bye week comes up.
-Chris Lempesis
Wow – I would hate to have seen what you would have posted right after the game…
I understand the frustration, but your take on McCarthy is misguided. I think it’s funny that you call for more three step drops – did you notice that Allen’s first sack came on a three step drop when Rodgers held the ball too long? That’s not on Colledge or McCarthy for that matter – that’s on Rodgers. Or how about the ’sack’ awarded to Allen when Rodgers looked to throw on a running play but forgot that he needs to make sure the WR is on the same page he is – that’s not on McCarthy.
I could go on and on – but you get my point. Again, I understand the frustration, and McCarthy is ultimately responsible as Head Coach. But he was not the only reason they lost that game.