When I created the “Football” category after the first week of the season, I figured I might have something to say other than to jab the Cowboys for picking up a terrible coach who couldn’t imagine his way out of a wet paper bag. It didn’t really turn out that way though (well, it did go with the Cowboys exactly as I thought it would).
But I guess I should say something about the Green Bay Packers now that they’ve done their typical NFC Championship game exit.
Face it. The Packers are never quite good enough to go all the way. The one year they did in the Rodgers era, they entered as a hot 6 seed. And that should have given them a clue as to what a hot, lower-seeded team can do.
Now, the Buccaneers weren’t the dominating team this year that the Packers were by the time they hit the playoffs in 2010, but unlike the Packers of 2020-21, they had it in them to make a decent show of it when it counted.
It wasn’t an entirely terrible game for the Packers. It’s just that the offense and defense couldn’t put together the complete game they needed to both at the same time. Their defense was atrocious in the beginning of the game. They just couldn’t stop Tom Brady on third down. And while their offense wasn’t as bad, they had their moments of disappointment too. So when the defense came up big in the second half, they couldn’t capitalize. Two picks followed by two failed drives. It reminded me of 2014 when, in the midst of a collapse against Seattle, still all they needed was one first down and they were in the Super Bowl. But they couldn’t put together a complete game then either. And that seems to be the story of the Green Bay Packers in NFC Championship games under Aaron Rodgers.
They were a pretty good team this year, though. With a few pretty obvious weaknesses. So I’m going to give you the game plan. This is pretty scratch – I don’t really know who they stand to lose over the offseason, but if personnel stay generally the same, here’s the scenario. But first, let me add that this is especially important in that I think it should be Rodgers’ last chance as a Packer (and I’ll tell you on that more later).
Number 1. Mike Pettine has got to go. Not much more to say there. It might hurt a bit trying to install a new defense all over again, but they need to invest in a coordinator who can get the job done. Maybe they can find one who can keep the foundation but give them enough to turn the corner.
Number 2. Kevin King is a backup corner. They need another starter opposite Alexander. Like in the days of Al Harris and Tramon Williams (with Leroy Butler back at Safety). The Packers have the Safeties and an incredible CB, but they have a glaring hole on the other side that gets beat regularly.
Number 3: LB. They showed a little promise here with Barnes, but a little extra help might be worth it.
Number 4: A consistent number 2 receiver. I think they’re almost there, but if they can convince someone to take a chance with Rodgers in his last shot at the Super Bowl with the Packers, they might have the one piece on offense that they really need.
Number 5: And yeah, it might be controversial, but give Rodgers one more year and then it’s time to move on. One last year to get Love ready. I mean, this is what they must’ve had in mind when they traded up to draft him. Rodgers has a couple of years left on his contract; he’s still playing at a great level. The Packers can probably get an incredible haul of players and picks for him to build the future of the franchise. Face it – he can’t win in the big games. While I place most of the blame on the horrendous coaching of Mike McCarthy, the Packers need to move on to a young QB who can win. Now, we don’t know that about Love, but the Packers threw their lot in with him when they traded up to draft him. They made their bed. They’d better be ready to lie in it.
And I think the move would be excellent for Rodgers too. We know he plays best with a chip on his shoulder. He can’t seem to muster that with the Packers any more. Let him go off and play lights out with a desperate team that needs him for a year where he’s got a good shot at winning it all (not the Bears or Vikings of course), and in the meantime tweak the Packers with the haul they make on the Rodgers trade and the successes of Jordan Love for another decade or so. I mean, that must have been the plan when they traded up to draft him.