Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy held his season-ending press conference on Wednesday and of course the future of his coaching staff came up.
Specifically, the question was about the future of defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who’s head fans have been calling for for some time. Well, those fans will probably be disappointed because it sounds like the status quo will remain at 1265.
“Dom Capers is an outstanding football coach,” McCarthy said. “I’m not looking to make big changes, but you go through the process. It’s important to look into everything.”
McCarthy had exit interviews with the players on Monday and Tuesday. Today, he’ll begin to evaluate the coaching staff.
One change seems imminent. Quarterback coach Ben McAdoo interviewed for the Cleveland Browns head coaching vacancy this week. While that job looks like a long shot for him, McAdoo will be a candidate for several offensive coordinator openings around the league and is poised to jump.
Of the remainder of the coaches, Capers and special teams coach Shawn Slocum are the most embattled, at least outside the building.
The Packers offense still managed to hold up its end of the bargain, even with Aaron Rodgers sidelined, finishing the season sixth overall in passing and seventh in rushing. Capers’ defense was on the other end of that spectrum. They finished 24th against the pass and 25th against the rush.
We’ve long blamed personnel for those failures, but we know many of you disagree with that assessment.
As for Slocum, his unit failed miserably in coverage this season. The Packers gave up the fourth-highest average per punt return (13.1) and per kickoff return (26.0) in the NFL.
We’ve never been a fan of Shawn Slocum, but you could certainly make the personnel argument here too. When you churn the bottom of the roster every season you have to put guys out there who don’t necessarily know what they’re doing.
Of course, it’s the coaching staff’s job to get them ready.
Opinion: our personnel would work with a 4-3
Fact: The GB Packers did NOT get an interception from the safety position in the 2013 season. (wow)
Also: I love this stock photo of Big Mike…This was in Cinci when he had the tiff with Rodgers…He looks so pissed!
I thought that was the story behind the photo — thanks for clarifying.
I wish I had a GIF of Rodgers chucking the clipboard. When was that?
Thanksgiving ???
You’re welcome
http://sportsgif.com/tag/aaron-rodgers-gifs-2013/
Jesus — give me a chance to say “thank you”
Thank you.
Outside of [email protected], quite possibly his second-best pass of the season!
Expect more early playoff exits then Mike. Get a clue, having grown up Eddie Munster leading this defense is a serious mistake.
I am growing more and more pessimistic about our long-term window. … I fear the Rodgers era maybe another fart in the wind.
Need better personal period. The middle of this defense is garbage. The safeties and inside linebackers stink and another year with no pass rush.
Do I blame Capers for this? No, I blame Thompson for not identifying good defensive talent.
And the injury situation needs to be looked at by someone outside the organization. It is beyond ridiculous that this keeps happening year after year.
Again, I think it is a multi factor equation, partly talent, but also partly coaching and scheming. It is uncanny that the same GM who is hitting quite often on offense misses so much on defense. …
You can argue the offense works so well because of Rodgers and McCarthy alone.
Really? I think NOT!
Besides Rodgers:
Cobb
Nelson
lacy
Bakhtiari
Bulaga
Finely (although he is toast)
Sitton and Lang
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but then what would you expect in a press conference setting?
“Yeah, Capers sucks wild hog dick but since it’s such a big fucking hassle to go out and find a guy to take his place, I’m just gonna keep letting his shitty defense stink the joint up for another year?”
Stay tuned.
They are making so much money at 1265 they literally don’t know what to do with it. Changes ? You cannot be serious.
McCarthy:
“Dom Capers is an outstanding football coach”
Proof:
“finished 24th against the pass and 25th against the rush”
Ha ha ha — I crack myself up!
…
But seriously…
if Capers was that damned good then he could make wholesale changes and come up with some way to improve. Not just passively bitch that he doesn’t have the thoroughbreds to run his system.
“We’ve long blamed personnel for those failures, but we know many of you disagree with that assessment.”
Hawk
Jones
Jennings
Pickett
Raji
Burnett
Sure there are questions about talent.
But that’s what you’re dealt — try to do something with it!!!
From watching game after game, you know that Hawk is not fast — in fact, he’s quite slow. You know he can’t cover, and you know he doesn’t have closing speed if a RB gets loose.
So move him close to the line, so he has a chance of making a tackle before the runner gets through. Or, if you blitz him, he’s two or three steps closer to the target. Let him plug a hole and hope for the best.
Because if you leave him 5-6yds off the LOS, you know he won’t charge the gap — he’ll let the runner out for a good romp, or be engulfed by the lead blocker.
That would be coaching: gaining some utility from a marginally talented player.
I hope McCarthy is bluffing about firing Capers to confuse next year’s opponents.
Gamesmanship abounds!
Noooooooo! This horse has been declared DOA and no longer worthy of beating.
That my one-liners are remembered just comes to show I have a way of words. Do people remember or quote what you say? Gamesmanship abounds, Berty Judas, are just a couple of examples. I can’t take credit for “absolute metaphysical certitude” because i am just drawing off of that as a classic SNL reference.
Oh and I was right, there was gamesmanship. They knew on Monday for both the Steelers and Cowboys games that Rodgers would not be cleared, but muddied up the water to increase the amount of prep work by the opposing defense. That is gamesmanship, baby.
Old Will put it well – “There’s not one wise man among twenty that will praise himself.”
Self-praise raises more questions than it answers.
Self-praise, or merely a retort?
Anyway, this news is a serious piece of dirt. My support for Mac is becoming more tenuous.
Agreed 100%. If this dude has to praise himself because no one else will, he has already received his reward. It’s not so much the fact that he thinks it is necessary to remind all of us about his past so called correct assumptions, and therefore, pat his own furry back, but that fact that he gloats about it only proves to me that I was right all along about the moron. He is no more than a narcissistic fool spewing forth shit.
Sweetie, go back to phone and cam fucking with your internet boyfriend.
Wow. Just wow. I sure hope something else is going on behind the scenes and they are evaluating defensive coaches around the league. They are going to ruin what may be their last chance to win a super bowl for quite some time.
What about Capers’ gameplan vs. the Niners? The defense had one of it’s best performance in the biggest game of the season, without it’s top 2 players and a hobbled 3rd-string OLB and a DE sharing time at the premier defensive position in a 3-4. Throw me in the river and burn me at the stake if ya want, but I’m telling ya, folks, Capers ain’t the problem.
I’m here to tell ya it ain’t Capers, it’s the position coaches teaching techniques that don’t align with the overall defensive strategy that Capers employs. To whit, Linemen in the 3-4 are to occupy blockers, right? Then why are there always hats on the LB’s trying to make the plays? Shitty athlete’s? No, they wouldn’t be in the NFL if that was the case, it’s poor technique coaching.
DB’s that yield yardage in deference to turnovers? Then why are the DB’s not coached to be aggressive and attack receivers when the ball is in the air or after the catch instead of watching the ball sail by or standing on their heels waiting to react to the offensive player after the catch? Poor technique coaching.
There are three or four position coaches that need some time off. Campen, Trogjavic (however the hell you spell it), Whitt, Perry. Slocum is a fucking enigma that defies description – all I know is that I want a job like his where I can deliver shit performance year after year and still remain employed.
And while we’re at it, let’s get rid of the fakir who’s the strength and conditioning coach. How’s that been working out for you so far, Mikey?
Don’t take just a sample size of one. Yeah Capers did better than we expect, but they still gave it up when it mattered the most. Admittedly he had no one to work with, as Shields and Neal were knocked out as Jolly and Matthews were out too.
But just the look at the overall body of work. One good defensive year: 2010. In 09 the stats showed we were a top rated defense but that is because we played a bunch of shitty teams with shitty quarterbacks. Every game we played against a top flight quarterback we were torched (one certain ex Packer turned Viking, Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner, and to a lesser extent Carsom Palmer),. *AND* Capers had Woodson, Nick Collins and others.
I am not sure anyone can be too certain either way, but really find it hard to believe that each and every suspect player is a bust. Take for instance Nick Perry. Aside from the fact the guy is hurt *AND* is learning a new position, he has shown flashes, however inconsistently. Then there are times where defensive backs look outright confused–such as the last Dallas touchdown pass to Dez Byrant. The confusion was so palatable that Aikman and Buck pointed it out.
Again, I submit it is a mix of a couple of personal misses at safety and ilb, bad coaching/schematics and injuries. Also, I imagine defensive staff has some input into acquisitions made by the General manager and staff. …
Capers has had 1 fantastic and 2 good Ds in GB alone, don’t give me that 1 game BS-we shut down the Ravens, the Redskins, the Browns, the Lions (Game 1), the Vikings (Game 1), held the Giants O to 20, had a good game vs. Pitt, were solid in the 1st Bears game, and had 2 great halves vs. ATL and Dallas.
Versus SF, his OLBs were a combination of a 2nd-year converted college DE with a broken foot, a former DE in his first year at LB, a one-footed rookie OLB, and Datone Jones.
The ’09 D was comprised of many of the same players as the ’08 one, but was much much better.
Let’s break this down.
Redskins were in disarray all year. Anybody can and has shut down the Browns. The Giants were horrible this year as well. The Lions were without Megatron.
They had two great halves against Atl and Dallas, as well as a good first half on Thanksgiving, but a game is a full 60 minutes. … Also, the comeback in Dallas was more predicated on pure folly in terms of strategy and playcalling by Garrett. If they run the ball, we lose.
Sorry, Wolf, but this point provides no support for your rebuttal; you stated that was a singular example, I then provided a multiplicity of games as evidence to the contrary.
As for teams being able to score at will or shut others down, this us the NFL, any team can do that to any other on any given Sunday. Point in case, the Patriots did NOT shut down a browns team that was sans their 2013 starting QB and RB (in fact, they were on their 3rd QB), giving up 30+ points and damn near losing the game.
Furthermore, regarding the Cowboys, you can’t say for certain that they would’ve won if they had run more: Murray could have become injured (he does that) or turned the ball over (he also does that), or the run D could’ve stepped up like they did vs. SF and the 2nd half vs. ATL.
Regarding the Lions, they lost 5 or 6 games WITH Megatron, he even actively contributed to the loss to Balty. Furthermore, he hasn’t exactly led the Lions to victory vs. GB has he? We almost certainly would’ve lost that game regardless of whether be played or not.
The simple fact is, Capers D played good-excellent in more than a single game, in fact they played well for half a season’s worth of games.
No, because I explained why circumstances surrounding those games do not indicate this defense is what it needs to be.
Feel free to keep selling Capers to me. I am not buying. …
Slocum-his coverage teams were mostly awful, though they did play well vs. Dallas and ATL (that may be due to those teams’ subpar STs). Masthay actually had a down year by his standards. The KR team was even worse than coverage units. However, Crosby had a great season and Hyde and the PR team was one of the best in the league, Slocum deserves credit there. They also blocked a PAT and a punt.
I advise ya’ll to go look at the Packers’ ST stats since
Slocum arrived-they usually spend one year in the lower middle or bottom 10 then bounce back to upper middle or top 10. They also don’t give up a lot of TDs and have a solid number of scores themselves. Special teams can’t just be measured by yards or avg. return surrendered.
Yeah..hes a fucking genius…NOT!! Even when he had talent they only had one pretty good year defensively. Why has raji struggled? Hes not a DE! Hes a NT!! I dont get playing him out of position…just admit picketts old already and move on!! I thought these coaches could coach up any player..thats bs..even slowik turned a mediocre defense into somewhat respectable..with no talent upgrades!! Well looks like another mediocre season on defense..fuck you mccarthy..time to fire your grandpa!!
He’s had one fantastic year and 2 pretty good years in a 5-year span.
Fuck the excuses! The Packers need to stop holding onto duds! Obviously Jeremy Ross was not a dud and they let him go with ease and still continue to entertain non play makers. Get rid of the assholes that do not consistently produce. It’s a ball and a fucking field! Get it done assholes!
Ross was one of the players that did not consistently produce, henfumbled a lot and made bad decisions to start ’13. I’d be willing to wager that you were screaming for him to be gone at some point this season; shit, I was a big fan of his but I was even sick of his play by the time the Cincy game ended.
Its not like its rocket science..its fucking football!! If a guy cant tackle or cover..bench him!! Pickett has worn down towards the end of the last few seasons..time to let him go!! Why is it when dum sends an all out blitz..nobody gets home? And why if it doesnt work at all does he keep trying it? This defense makes avg qbs rbs and wrs look like all world players!! Why cant these players tackle? They knew how to in high school& college!! Youve studied kraperdick all offseason and still couldnt stop him..hmmm..something tells me hes no “genius”. Well better luck in 2020 when dums long gone.
I love it when you prove me right wolfie. :)
Now that I got that out of the way, the old saying about if it ain’t broke don’t fix it certainly does not apply to the Packers present football team. But the way that Capers handled Kaepernick last Sunday you would think that is exactly what he believes. He let it happen again. He knew exactly what he was dealing with and so did MM yet they chose to play it safe and be conservative once again in their offensive and defensive play calling. I seriously doubt that our bitching here is going to affect anything that they do in the future, so I am hoping that we are not the only ones pissed off about the handling of the games the Packers played this past season. Of course, there were a few good moments, I am not referring to those. So don’t get on my case please…everyone here knows that I kept the faith regardless unlike some moronic, narcissistic A-holes in here. And you know who you are. :P
Don Capers was actually aggressive, blitzing at times. … I am not sure how one would describe McCarthy’s playcalling. Let’s just say taking Lacy out at Ist and goal on the nine and handing off to Cobb was not a bright idea.
Also, one’s optimism or pessimism is not a gauge of one’s devotion to the Packers or any other team. It is simply a reflection of their assessment of the overall circumstances at a particular time. Dave Dameshek once said it is always the most hardcore fans who are the most pessimistic, because they are intimately familiar with the team and are uniquely aware of problems and weaknesses. I no longer listen to his webcast, but even a broken clock is right twice a day and this was a comment I found quite insightful.
Ahh, but balance is the key.. Being overly optimistic or pessimistic is ones choice. It’s not going to affect the outcome of the game being played one way or the other. I don’t purposely go out and try to judge another person’s fandom. I really don’t care. It is only when said person goes to the extreme that I find myself
propelled to say something to the contrary. But isn’t that kinda what this site is all about? Just saying…
You obviously didn’t read Shawn’s “Total View” or other sources as Lacy, not MM, took himself out of the game.
Not as of yet. Does it really change things though, with Starks available.
Actually, that was probably one of the more impressive games of Capers’ career all things considered. He shut down Gore and Hunter except for the TD run, he held Crapperdinck to all of 227 yards passing with a pick, and if it weren’t for Mulumba (x2) and Bush losing contain (not on Capers) he would’ve held him to 30 yards rushing.
Yes, actually you do. You bring it up every time you choose to “interact” with me.
Balance being key? You think your talk of going to the Super Bowl this year was balanced? Well FUCK ME.
I never said it was. You address me 99.9% of the time I comment in here. I rarely address you. Everyone talks about going to the SB. I never said we were 100% going to the SB. I just don’t like you. It has nothing to do with anything other than that. lol
99.9 percent of the time? Really? We have probably had these exchange five or six times, tops. For that to be right, you would have to have started it just once in a thousand times.
I guess it all comes to show 78 percent of statistics are made up.
I am surprised lot of you are saying we had a close game with SF. Score doesn’t mean crap and most of the time stats don’t either. SF looked like they were playing not to get hurt knowing the whole time they could score at will. Notice when we went up after scoring the touchdown they scored a touchdown so quick our defense looked like they were in slow motion. SF could have beat is by 20, but why do that and risk injury in the cold. Same with their D. They were taking it easy. I was ashamed how easy it was for them to step on the gas and dominate us any time they wanted. Yes SF cut it a little to close and by kicking the FG at the end but in the playoffs score doesn’t matter and they have crushed us in overtime if it came to that. We were never in that game and our defense did not play good they just were not trying that hard. Capers has to go!
You have no way of knowing that. You cannot prove it. But yah, I think Capers needs to go.
You’re ridiculous.
To begin, stats, when interpreted properly, can provide a great insight to the story that is the game-they’re much like
an outline or Cliff Notes.
As for the Niners, if they wanted to stay healthy and had the ability to score at will, why not establish an insurmountable lead and rest your starters instead of allowing the other team to hang around and potentially steal a victory, in the Playoffs no less?
Nope, “You play to win the game”. I repeat, “You play to win the game”. One more time now, “You play to win the game”.
You are right it is just a feeling and for me it was a strong feeling of us never being in control of that game.
No defensive coordinator has all 1st round picks..every team has 1 or 2 crappy players starting on defense!! Its dums job to get the most out of these shitbags!! If im not mistaken..he at least has some say as to the players he feels he can coach up to play his fucked up 3-4 defense!! Injuries or not..these guys get paid to play football!! If youre too chicken to coach em up or “dumb” down your defense so these morons can understand it then resign!! Most of us fans dont want you here anyway!!