For a second there, I thought it wasn’t going to happen. The Packers fired their Special Teams coach (Shawn Menenga) but didn’t say a word about their Defensive Coordinator. The man who single-handedly kept Green Bay out of…well, at least one Super Bowl, but I’m gonna go ahead and say two. Mike Pettine.
But in the end, they got it right. It’s just that the clown held out on a new contract last year – maybe thinking he was gonna get a sweeter deal this year – and so the Packers just…“fixed the glitch.”
Mike Pettine. Who last year decided that since the San Francisco 49ers destroyed them during the regular season, there’s no way they would be able to do it again in the NFC Championship (sounds a lot like what happened again this year). Then again, being down 27 – 0 at halftime wasn’t exactly Pettine’s fault against the 49ers, but 27 points is enough to win a whole game, let alone a half, and when the opponent scores…well, you know.
But it was Pettine’s near total incompetence in this year’s NFC Championship that was most inexcusable. He prepared his defense so poorly for the game that the Buccaneers were able to stroll down the field unopposed on their opening drive. It’s amazing the Packers recovered to the point of keeping it close after that. And actually, they’d have only been down by 4 at the half if it weren’t for Pettine completely blowing a call at the end to allow a TD. When the players heard that call they should’ve called a timeout and walked over to check the man’s sanity. But they were good soldiers who did what they were told by their clueless leader. And the rest was history.
Thankfully, it’s all over now. And honestly, it’s just as well. If they’d won, the Packers may have been tempted to keep Pettine…even though they’d have been killed in the Super Bowl. At least against Mahomes he would’ve had the excuse that they’d lost against a great quarterback. Don’t forget, Brady threw 3 picks against the Packers – not because the Packer defense was getting to him, but because he’s just not that good anymore. You might recall, the penalty that sealed the game for the Bucs (pass interference on King) was on an overthrown and uncatchable ball — one of a few that he’d thrown as the game progressed.
Matt LaFleur made two major mistakes at the end of the game, but we can’t hang this on him. He’s young and inexperienced. His first mistake was to not go for it on 4th down with just over two minutes left. But then again, Rodgers was not instilling the best of confidence. He couldn’t find the end zone with a first and goal…for the second time in the game. So that wasn’t entirely inexcusable. What was inexcusable was the other mistake involved in that decision – depending on a Mike Pettine defense to hold the Bucs and get the ball back.
But like I said, LaFleur is young, and was inexperienced. He’s learning along the way. And I think he’s already an offensive genius. And that’s why I’m sticking to my previous post on this, and now even more so. I said last time that we should give Rodgers one more year, and firing Pettine is the first step. With Pettine out of the way, if the Packers pick up one more good receiver in the off season and make a few tweaks, he’s got the goods to go the rest of the way.
And if he doesn’t (and I’d almost say even if he does), trade him. Get a boatload of picks, and then it’s time for the Jordan Love show. I’m leaning this way for two main reasons. I’ve mentioned the first – LaFleur is an offensive genius. I think he can win with a his QB in his offense. And here’s the other thing. People are talking – “if the Packers keep Rodgers, they’ve gotta dump Love. Trade him.” This would be a mistake – and this is my second reason: Rodgers homers are forgetting something important – Jordan Love is a first-round talent, and a lot of teams are looking at him right now. He’s a young guy who can flourish in a LaFleur offense. That’s why they traded up to pick him. Stick with Love and the Packers are at the top for at least another 10 years. That’s 35 years of Packer dominance. And people are talking about throwing that away because Rodgers is a butt-hurt prima-donna.
So yeah, we can rejoice in the “letting go” of Pettine. But that’s only the first step. If Packer fans want to keep on rejoicing for at least another decade, they’ll stop hanging all of their hopes on Rodgers after next season and let Love do his thing.