Time for a Change?

by mkcubs21 on Nov 8, 2009 9:18 PM CST Comment 26 comments

Mitchell kinda of hit on this at the end of his recap that McCarthy has to be on the hot seat. I only got to watch some much of todays game (the financee and me purchased a brand new flat screen tv!!), but what I took from today (as well as the rest of the season) that are a very undisplinced team. To many penalities at bad times (see Hawk, A.J.) or a ever mounting number of sacks (see all season long), that something has to change. I'm not sure if McCarthy is to stubborn to admit that the offensive line is a issue or find a way to correct it but Aaron Rodgers isn't going to make it through the season at this rate. (I do understand that there are times that Rodgers holds on to the ball to long, but there are times that he just has no time).

Sorry for the rant and I know that there is more you can hit on to argue either side but something has to give b/c like Mitchell said in his recap, todays loss is Unacceptable! I know that coaches sometimes get to much of the blame but i don't see where else this can go, we have the talent on the field but just can't take that next step. We are what our record says we are, 4-4! Discuss...

Poll

Is it time to make a change at head coach?

No, let McCarthy finish the year and see where we are

111 votes

No, not yet. Lets see what happens the next few weeks

45 votes

Yes, no time like the present. Its not working at the moment.

131 votes

287 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 26 comments

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Comments

Something I noticed

Aaron Rodgers drops back a lot more than the normal three-five step drop, he can’t keep his eyes downfield if LB’s keep blitzing him on the left and right side. I do know that he can be athletic but he needs to dump if off or throw it deep, more than once.

Why do you kill threads????

by Some other guy who does not care on Nov 8, 2009 10:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Oline is 70% off the problem

When we have to keep a TE and RB in to pass protect against a 4 or 5 man rush that leaves our 3 WR against 6-7 defenders. Even when we give Rodgers some time there isnt anyone open so he has to scramble or wait for someone to get open. This is a vicious cycle and it starts with our pathetic offensive line, I heard John Runyun is a free agent maybe we should give him a call.

by Eman6880 on Nov 9, 2009 9:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

very good point

the necessity of having a guy chip affects the pass routes themselves

Frye is honestly gotta be one of the top 10 3rd Stringers in all of the NFL right now--colbyb

by verno329 on Nov 9, 2009 9:53 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Tampa was rushing 4-5 guys..

and getting to Rodgers

by cheddarhead on Nov 10, 2009 6:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Blitzing

You can tell it’s the oline because most of the sacks are coming from the D-Line and not linebackers. I’ve noticed that when teams blitz our offense actually does better because their are guys getting open. It’s pathetic that teams can get pressure on us with just their front four.

by chewie on Nov 9, 2009 1:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

One of the best ways to beat the blitz is the screen play which we don't run very often.

by cheddarhead on Nov 10, 2009 6:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

And I can't understand that for the life of me

We ran a couple screens in the first half of the first Minnesota game and they worked pretty well…and then disappeared for the second half. I only remember us running one screen against Tampa (one to Ahman), and that worked pretty well too. Is the coaching staff not noticing that? Are they trying to injure Rodgers by not calling plays that slow the pass rush? As much as I hate draw plays, why aren’t we running more of them? It totally baffles me.

dickie_thon: Third baseman Bill Hall / Watches the third strike go by / Gamel grabs his glove

by GoGregGo on Nov 10, 2009 10:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Screens

First you need players that can run the screens effectively. You need a QB who can stare down defenders, look off the screen, and then make an accurate throw. Screens are dangerous if the QB can’t do this as they are easy to pick and take to the house. You need a RB that is not only a very good receiver but also shift and ellusive. You need nimble blockers that are quick enough to shed their block and get in position. You need a coach who knows how to get the players ready for this.

I am not sure we have the people to effectively run a lot of screens. I’d like to see it more too but they are dangerous (remember Favre’s game losing play in the Pitt game was a screen gone bad).

by TrevorR on Nov 11, 2009 8:49 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

But the few times we have run screens this they have been successful. I agree we don’t necessarily have the right personnel for screen passes but we have to do something to slow the pass rush down.

by packallday555 on Nov 11, 2009 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yup...we agree then...

Quick slants are the easy answer…not sure why we aren’t at least seeing them. I feel like we are always looking for the 15+ yard gain, and not the 5 yarder that allows our WRs to make plays in the open field. I used to say the D was covering it, but I am not sure they are. I think we are just choosing to not do it.

by TrevorR on Nov 12, 2009 2:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes

Quick slants and screens would work. Remember when the Packers tried to do the long ball with track star recievers such as Schreader, it didn’t work out so well for Favre and the Packers. Right now long ball patterns take a while to develop and with our O-line that means sacks. Playing the dink and dunk game would work great concidering or recievers built for that type of game. Last couple of years our recievers have been in the top of the league in yards after catch.

by cheddarhead on Nov 12, 2009 6:07 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yep

Slants have been our bread and butter forever! We had a beautiful drive against the Bucs early for a Td and I think Jennings caught 3 slant passes. We need to get back to the slants. Driver and Jennings run great slant routes, and even better sluggo’s. We need to throw short to open up the deep throws. Right now MM is doing the opposite and it doesn’t work because our o-line can’t hold up long enough for things to open up down field.

We need to throw the ball to our guys in space. Anytime Jennings, Driver, or Jones catch a pass and have a little space, you can expect them to make a guy or 2 miss and get 5+ extra yards. Our wr corps is one of our strengths, and we need to lean on them a bit more.

by packallday555 on Nov 12, 2009 11:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I said it in Mitchell's post

but I’ll repeat it here. It’s come to the point with me that I’m willing to root for loses if that means McCarthy is fired and another coach (say Holmgren, Gruden, Cohwer, Dungry…) is hired.

battlekow: Bill is having an oppo-gasm

by Michael M on Nov 8, 2009 10:49 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

grammar fail.

by rootsmaneuver on Nov 9, 2009 12:12 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I’m not writing a paper for grammar class here, plus after re reading it there isn’t any major grammatical errors so not sure what your issue is.

Greg Jennings.. Future All Pro

by mkcubs21 on Nov 9, 2009 6:29 AM CST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

re-reread

I totally agree with your post and I’m sorry to be a d1ck, but I just see way too much of this on these blogs. Its time someone said something.

kinda of
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that are a very
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to = too x 4

by rootsmaneuver on Nov 9, 2009 2:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

well i'll be the first to admit..

that i’m not a english major and that sometimes i don’t always word everything correctly, but i’m not here for a grade either. again tho rereading my post above, i feel you are more nitpicking then anything else as i’ve read much worse than this and haven’t seen anyone comment. Plus with some of the things you are critizing sure should be slightly changed but I know my overall meaning was accomplished based on the number of people that have responding for reasons other than grammer. If you want perfect grammer go read the paper, but blogs consist of many people that aren’t english majors, won’t apoligize for being such and will continue to write the way they do. Get used to It!

Greg Jennings.. Future All Pro

by mkcubs21 on Nov 9, 2009 3:02 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

That does not excuse poor grammar. There is an automatic spell checker which helps, but re-read your post or at least scan it before you hit send…especially if you are doing a FanPost. I might let it go when you are just responding, but if you are taking the time to do a fanpost, we are going to have a little higher expectations.

I don’t understand how little value people put on proper grammar these days. It makes you look sloppy and discredits your opinion some when you cannot form a complete sentence or don’t know the difference between to and too or other 4th grade level writing aspects.

I get what you are saying though…the opinion doesn’t change, but our willingness to listen to it changes!

by TrevorR on Nov 10, 2009 2:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

alright..

this will be my last post on this and again i’m sorry but i did re read this a few times and even had a few people in the room with me read it and to all of them it came out clean. Again I was still a little hot after the game but as a whole it for the most part came out pretty damn good. i do pride myself on making sense and making sure it looks good on paper (or computer screen) so I wouldn’t have posted it if it wasn’t clean. I come to this site to share my opinions and what not about the Packers, and i’m sorry this has rubbed a few people wrong but i can promise you (b/c i’ve read them before) that there are far worse posts out there then this one. Also it must not be that horrible if there have been 15+ responses to the football end of it.

No harm no foul, i respect your guys opinion and i do appreciate it. Just understand my side and we can call it a day! Go packers!

Greg Jennings.. Future All Pro

by mkcubs21 on Nov 11, 2009 5:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I didn’t mean for it to be some big ordeal either. I jumped in a little late on it but I was just reinforcing what they said. I understand that the point was there…I think it was more of a general overall frustration with some of us and the kind of junk you have to sort through on sites like this. Some people (not you actually) make me wonder how low our standards have sunk if that is acceptable these days. Anyway, moving on…

by TrevorR on Nov 12, 2009 2:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Get rid of McCarthy

Watching todays game was almost painful. Our team isn’t disciplined whatsoever, he rarely has them ready to play, and he is a HORRIBLE play caller.

There are a lot great coaches out there right now. Maybe get Shanahan, Gruden, or Holmgren. Then put the 4-3 back in. The 3-4 has been cute, it’s clear we just don’t have all the right pieces for it. Kampman is the best overall 4-3 DE in the league, and we need to play to our best players strength. With Pickett actually playing well, and Raji being able to be the other DT, the d-line would be great.

by packallday555 on Nov 9, 2009 12:35 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Lets get to the heart of the problem first...

Fire Ted Thompson now!! Give McCarthy a chance to turn the season around. If he can’t I’ll feel bad we gotta cut him loose too. But this is Thompsons mess. We should get rid of him yesterday.

by jabuddha on Nov 9, 2009 8:40 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Just curious

Are you saying that firing Ted Thompson is going to make a light bulb go off in McCarthy’s head and he’s going to suddenly say “Oh…I’m supposed to tell these guys to engage the defenders after the snap? Maybe I’ll try that now. Ooo! And maybe I’ll actually get in someone’s face when they make a dumb penalty and hold them accountable too, that would be fun, but I couldn’t before because mean ol’ Ted wouldn’t let me yell at his players.” I really don’t see a turn-around happening this year, regardless of who’s coaching, much less McCarthy.

I think both of these guys need to be gone. Thompson has been unable to draft consistently (especially for o-linemen) or make any move in free agency to shore up weak positions (Anthony Smith? Seriously? And don’t even get me started on matching Bush’s offer). And McCarthy inherited a (fairly) disciplined team and managed to create one of the most penalized teams in the league, not to mention, to my untrained eye, having rather conservative and predictable play-calling.

I’m sorry, I think McCarthy is a good guy and all, and, while I think the situation was handled poorly, Thompson made the right move with Favre vs Rodgers for the future, but this team is in a downward spiral, and I feel a sub-.500 season is in store, in which case out with the old and in with the new.

dickie_thon: Third baseman Bill Hall / Watches the third strike go by / Gamel grabs his glove

by GoGregGo on Nov 9, 2009 8:29 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

good explanation

I hope its not as dire it appears at times but we’ll see

Frye is honestly gotta be one of the top 10 3rd Stringers in all of the NFL right now--colbyb

by verno329 on Nov 9, 2009 9:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Probably not

But I see this as a top down problem. The Pack are being mismanaged, and the turn around needs to start now. Getting rid of Ted would send a message. Anyone who doesn’t step up after that is gone in the off season. Honestly, I don’t think McCarthy is going to make it, but you have to admit, the tools he is working with aren’t that great. And that’s on Ted Thompson.

And I don’t think the Favre situation was handled right. Rodgers is a good young QB with the potential to be great. But the future is now. You put the best team possible on the field. We were in the freakin’ NFC championship game with a 13-3 record. And I know Favre can be a sports diva, but we aren’t talking T.O. here. It could have been managed better, and we had a shot at another Superbowl Title.

Water under the bridge though. Rogers is our QB, and I’m damn glad to have him, but this ship needs to be righted quick or we are going to end up losing him too. Get rid of Ted and get someone who will make some moves and clean house, and if McCarthy cant hack it, so be it. Time to reboot.

by jabuddha on Nov 9, 2009 9:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Forget Favre

Traitor…jane fonda on an antiaircraft gun in hanoi, quisling in norway, Favre in a vikings jersey. the only reason you don’t hang him is it is only a game. Give number 4 to the punter. Make a pig mascot and put the 4 jersey on it. Never retire the number. Never have the brett favre day. don’t buy his steaks. Burn your wranglers. Nobody really can take it seriously enough what he did to the town. Put a stake in it. Knife in the back. Hopefully he gets his knee blown out next game. Legacy. Lost it.

by daldog on Nov 10, 2009 9:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs