In America’s real Sin City the Green Bay Packers found defending Drew Brees to be a devilish task and in the end the Packers’ playoff hopes died with an awful sound. Not even Funky Claude could save the Packers on this night. The best secondary in the NFL, just ask them, was torched early and often and left New Orleans in a shamble. This unit will never be the same again as the Saints showed just how easy it is to beat an average linebacking core and aging secondary. Shutting down Tarvaris Jackson, John Kitna, Brian Griese, Gus Frerrotte, Kyle Orton is easy, shutting down Drew Brees is not. The Packers had their heads so far in the clouds they couldn’t even see the Superdome. For whatever reason, head coach Mike McCarthy always has his team thinking they are better than they are. I would think it should be just the opposite.
McCarthy’s blatant refusal to run the ball is certainly going to be his demise as a head coach. We saw it happen with Mike Sherman. Sherman saw first hand how easy it is when you have a great running game when Ahman Green ran for 1800 yards in 2002 I think it was. If he would have given it to Green one more time that year there never would have been fourth-and-26. After that all the Packers did was pass and quarterback Brett Favre had two of his worst seasons of his career, throwing 29 interceptions in Sherman’s last season as head coach. McCarthy, after seeing Ryan Grant save his season last year by rushing for 1000 yards while only starting 9 games (including playoffs), is now following the same path as Sherman. McCarthy wouldn’t give the ball to Grant in the NFC Championship game and used him only sporadically this year, instead relying on a first-year starter at quarterback to win the game. I would think it should be just the opposite.
General manager Ted Thompson has improved almost every position on this team but has failed miserably at offensive line, defensive line and now punter. The linebackers are not that great either. As far as the offensive line is concerned I attribute part of that to the stupid zone-blocking scheme the Packers use. Instead of grading a conventional lineman the Packers either have to find guys who know the zone-blocking scheme, which are few, or project how a guy in a real system will adjust to the Packers’ harebrained scheme. I’m starting to wonder about the scheme on defense, too. Guys like Johnny Jolly and Colin Cole show glimpses of great play, but can never sustain it. Cullen Jenkins was becoming a force when he got hurt, but it doesn’t seem like a defense that really allows the lineman to make plays. Just hold your gap and wait for help. There must be a reason why nobody wanted Jim Bates anymore. The bump-and-run works great on average receivers, but the system doesn’t allow adjustments because the corners only know one style of playing. If they are getting burned, they will continue to get burned, just like Al Harris in last year’s NFC Championship game. The Packers had no answer, and last night, they were absolutely clueless. If the secondary is as good as Al Harris says it is, wouldn’t that be just the opposite?
Thompson has clearly made his mistakes. While he really had no choice but to take A.J. Hawk, Hawk has proven to be just another guy. I don’t have a problem with taking a defensive lineman the next year, but he clearly picked the wrong one. One almost has to consider the Corey Williams trade a mistake, even though I don’t know what Williams is even doing in Cleveland, but by taking Brian Brohm with the pick received from Cleveland was clearly a mistake. I do think Jordy Nelson will be a major player, but not if he makes mistakes like he did last night. I think he’ll gets better. Certainly Thompson’s last two drafts are nothing to write home about. The moves he makes in 2009 will determine his future if you ask me.
The reason I think the Packers’ playoffs died last night is simple. To win the division they would have to win their last five games to have any chance even that might not get it done if the Vikings beat the Bears Sunday. There will be no wildcard entry from the NFC North. You can rip me if you want, but I’ll be happy with 8-8 at this point in time. A non-losing season at least and hopefully 16 games of experience for Aaron Rodgers. This offseason Rodgers will have plenty of film to watch of himself and this is a guy who is always trying to get better, much like his predecessor. I do think the Packers have the talent to win all five games, but they have not shown the consistent good play that they would require to win five straight. If McCarthy puts the offense on Ryan Grant’s capable shoulders, it would certainly help matters. Let’s see where it goes from here, the Packers are at this season’s crossroads. Plenty of football to be played, and the character of men will be revealed, from the front office on down to the players.