Being Professional
Green Bay, WI--Poor management decisions trickle down, and the 2018 Packers are a good example of what a team looks like when a bad manager isn't removed soon enough.
The Packers culture is a culture of winning, and in 2014 the Packers were exposed at the end of a championship game. Poor coaching and using young players in place of veterans came back to bite them in the butt.
Ted Thompson had a choice to make, not an easy choice, and he didn't make it. He didn't remove Mike McCarthy. The head coach got a free pass when there should have been more accountability. Yes, it is easy to say that right now, but who didn't see the failure as a failure of coaching. The Packers did get rid of the players that made the mistakes that cost them a huge lead.
But there are reasons to believe that the coach should have been fired after such a debacle. The coach didn't call the right plays to grow the lead and didn't do what good coaches do to win the close games. The Packers lost momentum and they lost confidence.
Ted Thompson stood by his man, again, and that probably had something to do with the two winning a Super Bowl together.
The Packers can clean house, to a point, but they have a lot of bad players on the roster. These players quit when things got bad. The team rolled over and played dead at home. There is a culture in Green Bay that can't be fixed by hiring a new head coach. It is a trickled down effect that will be with the Packers for some years until the ghost of Ted Thompson gets erased from Green Bay.
If you look at the current Packers General Manager, he is a disciple of Ted Thompson. He didn't do enough to change the roster. He couldn't get Kahlia Mack and he stuck with Nick Perry and Clay Mathews. The defense looked horrible all year and he didn't have the guts to make any trades to help the defense. He had no problem trading defensive players and praying that rookies and second-year players could play like veterans. Good management doesn't wait for the draft to fix their problems and they take some risks when it comes to getting help.
Don't forget how horrible special teams play this year. There were a couple games where special teams blew it. The Packers did nothing to fix special teams. They really didn't do anything to fix the culture in the locker room. Aaron Rodgers got a free pass this year. He probably won't be held accountable because he is Aaron Rodgers.
What about the king's ransom the Packers paid for Aaron Rodgers. They didn't invest in the offensive line. They wasted picks on wide receivers that dropped balls like an undrafted rookie. Look at what the Colts when they drafted an offensive lineman with their first second-round pick and what a difference it made for Andrew Luck.
Aaron Rodgers didn't play like the best quarterback in the NFL, he played well enough, but not great. If all he seems to care about is not throwing interceptions, well, I think he did a good job that way, but he seemed to quit on the coach and the team this year. He looked like a pouting kid and a shell of a man.
The culture of winning is gone from Green Bay, and it probably won't be fixed until the Packers clean house. The team didn't play like professionals and Aaron Rodgers claimed to care about being perceived as a leader, but where was he after he got hurt?
It is foolish to suggest the Packers should get rid of Aaron Rodgers, but he is part of the problem. Aaron Rodgers did on the field this year is a joke. The Packers gave Aaron Rodgers carte balche to act like a spoiled child. At one point in the season, there were stories that Rodgers was bored. Really, and the Packers signed this guy to a huge contract.
Maybe next year Aaron Rodgers will prove me wrong and play like a professional, but I feel the Packers made a huge mistake by signing Aaron Rodgers to a long-term contract. He is part of the problem. There were no stories about Aaron Rodgers staying after practice to work with his young receivers. Aaron Rodgers demands excellence from his receivers but he doesn't seem to put in the extra work to make his receivers better, something that isn't probably unique to the Packers.
Last year should have been the wakeup call the Packers needed, but they just acted like Aaron Rodgers would fix everything. This year proved that Aaron Rodgers can't fix everything and how foolish it is to believe an old athlete will play like a young athlete.
I'm sure Aaron Rodgers isn't done being a good quarterback, but his true character showed this year, and boy it is ugly.
What happens next year if Aaron Rodgers doesn't like the new coach because he wanted Philbin? He already showed he has an ugly side and how he plays when he doesn't get his way. The Packers could be screwed for years to come.
The Packers have a lot of needs and drafting a quarterback in this year's draft will be a step in the right direction.
The Packers culture is a culture of winning, and in 2014 the Packers were exposed at the end of a championship game. Poor coaching and using young players in place of veterans came back to bite them in the butt.
Ted Thompson had a choice to make, not an easy choice, and he didn't make it. He didn't remove Mike McCarthy. The head coach got a free pass when there should have been more accountability. Yes, it is easy to say that right now, but who didn't see the failure as a failure of coaching. The Packers did get rid of the players that made the mistakes that cost them a huge lead.
But there are reasons to believe that the coach should have been fired after such a debacle. The coach didn't call the right plays to grow the lead and didn't do what good coaches do to win the close games. The Packers lost momentum and they lost confidence.
Ted Thompson stood by his man, again, and that probably had something to do with the two winning a Super Bowl together.
The Packers can clean house, to a point, but they have a lot of bad players on the roster. These players quit when things got bad. The team rolled over and played dead at home. There is a culture in Green Bay that can't be fixed by hiring a new head coach. It is a trickled down effect that will be with the Packers for some years until the ghost of Ted Thompson gets erased from Green Bay.
If you look at the current Packers General Manager, he is a disciple of Ted Thompson. He didn't do enough to change the roster. He couldn't get Kahlia Mack and he stuck with Nick Perry and Clay Mathews. The defense looked horrible all year and he didn't have the guts to make any trades to help the defense. He had no problem trading defensive players and praying that rookies and second-year players could play like veterans. Good management doesn't wait for the draft to fix their problems and they take some risks when it comes to getting help.
Don't forget how horrible special teams play this year. There were a couple games where special teams blew it. The Packers did nothing to fix special teams. They really didn't do anything to fix the culture in the locker room. Aaron Rodgers got a free pass this year. He probably won't be held accountable because he is Aaron Rodgers.
What about the king's ransom the Packers paid for Aaron Rodgers. They didn't invest in the offensive line. They wasted picks on wide receivers that dropped balls like an undrafted rookie. Look at what the Colts when they drafted an offensive lineman with their first second-round pick and what a difference it made for Andrew Luck.
Aaron Rodgers didn't play like the best quarterback in the NFL, he played well enough, but not great. If all he seems to care about is not throwing interceptions, well, I think he did a good job that way, but he seemed to quit on the coach and the team this year. He looked like a pouting kid and a shell of a man.
The culture of winning is gone from Green Bay, and it probably won't be fixed until the Packers clean house. The team didn't play like professionals and Aaron Rodgers claimed to care about being perceived as a leader, but where was he after he got hurt?
It is foolish to suggest the Packers should get rid of Aaron Rodgers, but he is part of the problem. Aaron Rodgers did on the field this year is a joke. The Packers gave Aaron Rodgers carte balche to act like a spoiled child. At one point in the season, there were stories that Rodgers was bored. Really, and the Packers signed this guy to a huge contract.
Maybe next year Aaron Rodgers will prove me wrong and play like a professional, but I feel the Packers made a huge mistake by signing Aaron Rodgers to a long-term contract. He is part of the problem. There were no stories about Aaron Rodgers staying after practice to work with his young receivers. Aaron Rodgers demands excellence from his receivers but he doesn't seem to put in the extra work to make his receivers better, something that isn't probably unique to the Packers.
Last year should have been the wakeup call the Packers needed, but they just acted like Aaron Rodgers would fix everything. This year proved that Aaron Rodgers can't fix everything and how foolish it is to believe an old athlete will play like a young athlete.
I'm sure Aaron Rodgers isn't done being a good quarterback, but his true character showed this year, and boy it is ugly.
What happens next year if Aaron Rodgers doesn't like the new coach because he wanted Philbin? He already showed he has an ugly side and how he plays when he doesn't get his way. The Packers could be screwed for years to come.
The Packers have a lot of needs and drafting a quarterback in this year's draft will be a step in the right direction.
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