Despite guiding the Packers to nine playoff appearances in 13 years, they’ve only won one Superbowl over that time frame. McCarthy has gone 10-8 in the postseason and has lost three NFC Championship games. His overall record during his tenure in Greenbay was 125-77-2. When you have such a valuable quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, many feel like McCarthy underachieved in terms of what the Packers were capable of producing vs the end results.
They didn’t bring back Jordy Nelson, a move that rubbed Rodgers the wrong way and they didn’t make a huge push to try and get Khalil Mack when he was on the trading block from the Raiders. Their bitter division rival the Bears acquired Mack via a trade from Oakland. The Packers organization along with McCarthy have failed miserably to try and surround Rodgers with some weapons on offense.
The last few years they converted Ty Montgomery from a WR to becoming a featured running back in the Greenbay offense. That move displayed mixed results, and earlier this season Montgomery was released by the Packers after taking the ball on a kickoff out of the end zone despite direct orders from the coaching staff to facilitate a touchback.
Had Montgomery followed protocol, the Packers would’ve had the ball at the 25 yard line for Rodgers to possibly lead them down the field for a potential game winning field goal. Montgomery fumbled on the play and the Rams recovered, running out the clock and handing the Packers another disappointing loss.
The Packers put far too much pressure on the shoulders of Rodgers to win, particularly when you look at their inability to draft well in recent years, especially on the offensive side of the football. Rodgers has clearly been frustrated with the lack of effort on behalf of the Packers organization to put the necessary skill set alongside him to flourish.
We’ve all seen Rodgers bail out the Packers, lead them down the field on many game winning drives, but despite all of his talent and efforts, Rodgers is still human and can only do so much with what he has to work with. He just turned 35, and his window to win and play is slowly closing. I believe Rodgers will play at least another five years provided he stays healthy, so whoever becomes the head coach moving forward must recognize this.
Packers President Mark Murphy who fired McCarthy, has named Joe Philbin to be the interim head coach for now. Philbin does have some NFL coaching experience, as he had a stint down in Miami with the Dolphins a few years back. He never had a winning season or led the Dolphins to the playoffs, as his coaching record sits at 24-28 (.462).
After they’ve paid such a huge contract out to Rodgers ($134 million over 4 years), moving forward the Packers front office must put the necessary pieces together to get Greenbay back on the winning track. It’s mandatory to utilize the enormous talents of Rodgers effectively by surrounding him with the right personnel. The Packers are done and will not make the playoffs for the second consecutive year, currently sitting at 4-7-1.
Greenbay should consider hiring an offensive guru minded coach, particularly someone who can develop a strong chemistry with Rodgers. Proper drafting and bringing in the right offensive talent to complement Rodgers will be key for the Packers moving forward. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds, but rest assured that number 12 will be winning more games in the future.