Each season in which the Green Bay Packers’ defense ends up being the reason (again) why they lost in the playoffs, people call for defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ head.
Each time that happens, head coach Mike McCarthy predictably does nothing.
Led by a awful secondary and mostly non-existent pass rush, the 2016 season again ended in that fashion. The Packers gave up 44 points and 493 yards to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. Those numbers surely would have been greater if Atlanta hadn’t coasted to a 31-0 lead and taken their foot off the pedal.
But Dom Capers shall not take the blame for that. Not now, not ever.
McCarthy explained his thinking on Wilde and Tausch this morning.
“I think all of us in life have always gone through experiences in our past that you may have quit on something just to get that fresh, new start, and it feels good but in hindsight it was not the best thing for you,” McCarthy said. “I know I have personally. So I’ve always held true to that in my decision-making process.”
“Results don’t always prove to be the answer to the right decision. It’s no different than the way we view plays, and this is a conversation Dom and I have all the time.”
I really enjoy how McCarthy basically says “results don’t matter” right there.
McCarthy actually circled back to kicker Mason Crosby. Everyone wanted Crosby’s head after his disastrous 2012 season, one in which he hit a career-low 63.6 percent of his field goals.
The Packers brought in some token competition the next year, but they stuck with Crosby and he’s kicked well since then.
And while that’s swell, I would say it isn’t the same thing. Crosby has performed at a consistently high level since the 2012 season, connecting on more than 85 percent of his kicks each year.
Capers hasn’t coached a top 10-ranked defense since 2010. That isn’t coincidentally the last time the Packers won a Super Bowl.
The Packers’ defense hasn’t ranked better than 15th since 2012.
So it isn’t like Capers had one bad year sprinkled among a bunch of good ones like Crosby did.
But that’s why he’s Teflon Dom. Nothing will ever stick!
So…Fat Mike’s been demanding no accountability from Capers for years? Fuck, that’s something new Joseph.
And wtf does this quote even mean? “Results don’t always prove to be the answer to the right decision.”
Someone far smarter than i, will have to explain that one for me.
When will this train wreck come to a stop? You have perhaps, arguably one of the most skilled QB’s in NFL history, who i believe, carry’s this President, GM, and Head Coach, on his back and it’s the same old tired shit year in, year out.
You’d think after 3 or 4 years of playoff ineptitude someone, somewhere would possibly think….hey, this isn’t working.
But fuck no…we’re headed into the seventh season of this same shit, same President, same GM, mostly the same Coaches, same bullshit double talk.
It makes me ill in the pit of my stomach.
What’s next?……2018-19 rolls around and Packer Nation is wondering how long it will take the new GM to fix this? Better yet, can he, before Rodgers retires? Will we be talking about the players big contracts that big Ted gave them, when they are underperforming like we always seem to be doing? It’s funny, when Ted signs big money deals and some fans rejoice over the signing…those same fans 1 or 2 years later are discussing when we can dump him and his contract. But at the same time, the players who perform at a high level, year in and year out, get shown the door (Sitton and Lang).
Rant over…thanks for reading.
“When will this train wreck come to a stop? ”
Wouldn’t say train wreck but mediocrity or average is a better word to say. Train wreck is when a team is bad completely.
Trainwreck.
Getting off the field on 3rd and 15 consistently is so much more important than winning the turnover battle…. we don’t have a problem holding teams to third and long but then like clockwork wide-open receiver over the middle …… capers had 3 good months as Our DC ….. which we fortunately parlayed into a Super Bowl!!!!…. we wasted the prime of Favres career under Sherman…. and now we’re wasting the prime of Rodgers career
I think what Mikes saying is nobody can coach these turds we have on defense.
Its’s like saying Joe Whitt is a horrible DB coach. Nobody can coach the pile of shit that white haired dick licking freak builds his roster with. Until personnel decisions are taken away from that asshole, absolutely nothing’s gonna change. May very well be too late by then. Rodgers may get killed behind that OL this year!!
I was going to acknowledge that it isn’t all on Capers, which i’ve done plenty of times, but my rant was too long already, and i figured that it was just understood by now. On the other hand, Capers is way past his prime, and some of his comments, going back to 2011 about his defense, should be cause for termination.
Bobby D, Oline should be fine. We added Evans and we might even add Cody Wallace for either depth or to replace Linsley. Joe Whitt did develop Shields and Williams to Pro Bowlers.
McCarthy is insane. So much doublespeak. He doesn’t even speak coherently. Stringing his quotes above into one glorious statement, what does half of his doublespeak even mean? Look at this garbage.
“I think all of us in life have always gone through experiences in our past that you may have quit on something just to get that fresh, new start, and it feels good but in hindsight it was not the best thing for you. I know I have personally. So I’ve always held true to that in my decision-making process. Results don’t always prove to be the answer to the right decision. It’s no different than the way we view plays, and this is a conversation Dom and I have all the time.”
In McCarthy’s world, the results of constantly screwing the pooch in new and awe inspiring ways each playoffs doesn’t warrant getting himself fired. In hindsight, wouldn’t the defense finishing higher than say middle of the league or lower each season be something to feel good about?
And speaking of how you view plays, are you speaking of defensive plays or offensive plays? During a game when you are on the sideline and Dom is up in the box, which one of you dipshits view “plays” in such a manner that you decide not to take advantage of a hurt defensive player, say Richard Sherman with his arm dragging in that 2014 NFC championship game? Did Dom tell you that you needed to run a set amount of running plays in the second half to meet some stupid metric you came up with before the game ever played itself out? Dom, with his wealth of experience getting expansion teams off the ground could actually teach McCarthy something. But McCarthy would have to be willing to acquiesce every once in awhile.
I will be so glad when this clown is gone from Green Bay. Unfortunately for us, that will be when Rodgers calls it a career. What a waste, being saddled with McCarthy from start to finish.
McCarthy’s contract is up after 2018, same time as Thompson. I think the new GM decides on the new coach once Ted is gone (once his contract is up).
One can only hope.
First, it is not what is the best thing for you MM. It is what is best for the Packer organization. Every year we are told winning championships is the most important thing to the Packer organization. So that is the standard for what is best for the Packers.
The Falcons had a defense that was not quite as bad as the Packers last year. The Falcons go to the Super Bowl and in epic fashion blow a huge lead. The Falcons get rid of their defensive coordinator, even though I would make the case the reason the Falcons lost that game was very poor clock management by their offense. The Falcon head coach made a decision his defensive coordinator did not get the job done when needed, and made a quick decision.
Capers has not got the job done as defensive coordinator in several playoff losses. Two years ended in defensive meltdowns that did not allow the team a chance. Three years ended when the defense could not stop the opposition on long game winning drives.
The NFL is nothing more than a business. MM appears to have a business philosophy that in part indicates if you make a bad hire you need to live with it because your next decision may be worse? Some of us have the philosophy that when you see you made a bad hire you make a change immediately and correct your mistake otherwise it can end up resulting in the company losing money or championships.
90 to 95 percent of the time when you start seeing bad results from an employee in upper management the problem usually never ends in good results without a change. My experience says you make the change. MM I guess may be right in how he looks at his experience in making upper management changes, but the results in the last several years do not reflect such.
^^^^^So much this! Excellent Howard.
Thanks, Empacador.
Was it the defense that missed a FG?
Was it the defense that fumbled inside the 10 the next series?
Was it the defense who went 3 and out after stopping Atlanta?
It was the defense that gave up 44 points, mostly playing with Randall, Rollins and Burnette at about 50% and no Hyde and Brice when they were both knocked out of the game.
I see Mr. Bonham has reached his core readers with this article.
Name calling, immature, neophytes who are only HAPPY when they have something to whine about.
During the 8 game “run the table” +2, I think it was The defense that created 15 turnovers to help lock down the wins.
Another year in the way, enjoy the games, quit thinking you know more than the coaches and GM.
Was it the offense that allowed Fitzgerald a wide open 75 yard pass play. Was it the offense who couldn’t find the ball as it was in the air for what seemed like a minute on a 2 pt conversion play? Was it the offense who allowed Lynch to be wide fucking open? Was it the offense covering Jermaine Kearse? Was it the offense letting Kaepernick run for 181 yards? Was it the offense that told Mathews to “sit it out”?
I could go on and on and on and on counter pointing your witless argument points, but i’m losing brain cells.
Guys like Tony need to stick with packers.com or jsonline where most articles/comments reach THEIR core readers and support McCarthy as the best coach since Lombardi. And if you say anything to the contrary you become ostracized and even banned. Thank goodness here there is freedom of speech and a wealth of decent posters who are actually fed up with same old same old being “good enough”.
Also in packers.com Vic uses fallacies whenever someone questions the current regime. When a guy asked “shouldn’t we consider acquiring a FA or two?” that idiot Ketchman replied “yes! where should keep all our free agents! and all the other teams’ too!”. The claim was legit, but Vic tried to make it ridiculous by blowing it up to idiotic proportions. The common fan was just asking for a few agents to patch glaring holes, not deals like the Jags and Browns do. With this offseason movements the point is a but outdated, but you can see the way they deal with honest criticism. The official team writers may not be critical, but at least they could answer questions more logically without recurring to hyperboles.
Very, very true MJ. Does that condescending tone by Ketchman remind you of anyone else currently coaching the Packers?
I’m think Capers is a good coach. He devises schemes based on current trends in the NFL and does the best with what’s given him. If he has a faults , its 1) that he doesn’t get his defense fired up. That’s what they had Kevin Greene for and 2) when he’s down a bunch of players due to injury, he goes into conservative mode and gets killed.
The larger problem is the Packers spend a lot of high draft choices on defensive lineman who are duds. A lot of that has to do with where the Packers are drafting, but one would think Thompson would hit on a winner at some point.
I agree Deepsky. Only bad thing Capers does is play zone/prevent when they have a lead. I wonder what would happen if he had the right players. King and Jones are great picks who could fit this defense but that’s not enough. The Packers need a pass rush. I do think the secondary will be better than 31st (move up to 19th or 20th next year) but I think the middle linebacker will be the team’s achillies heal this year. It doesn’t matter if you have the Seahawks Legion of Boom. If you had the LOB with a average at best pass rush, it wouldn’t mean anything. When Ted leaves after his contract is up, hopefully the new GM: 1) Sign free agents (FYI until this offseason, Ted hasn’t signed free agents or drafted needs.) 2) Decide on McCarthy’s future 3) Get rid of players who don’t produce 4) Build a good pass rush 5) Draft players that fit the scheme (and please no UCLA players) and 6) Resign players that should come back WITHOUT overpaying them.
Before Ted retires, we need to sign Cody Wallace since next year, we need to extend HHCD, Adams, and #12. And hopefully Eliot Wolf actually is like his dad while players like Bakhtiari, Aaron Rodgers 12, Haha Clinton-Dix, Kevin King (who I think will be a stud), Josh Jones (who I think could be a steal as the Buccanon role), Jordy Nelson, and Davante Adams.
Honestly, I think the main problem is that the players Ted gives Dom isn’t that talented enough (other than Dix, Daniels, and possibly Josh Jones and Kevin King). Yes, Capers plays prevent defense when we have a lead but also you have to have the personal to have a good defense. In 2009 and 2010 he had talent on defense (Woodson, Collins, Matthews, Raji, Jenkins, and Pickett) unlike now. The problem is that in the first round, the last five (or six) picks haven’t resulted in a top 10 defense for 6 years. Ted normally has drafted players out of the Pac12 and some other colleges that have been more busts than studs (Perry besides 2016, Datone Jones, Jerel Worthy, Brad Jones, Jerron McMillian, and jury is out on Clark, Martinez, Fackrell, Randall and Rollins).
Yes Capers plays prevent defense when we have a lead and I wouldn’t call him awful, I would call him a bad coordinator. If he has the personal, then I’d see if he is a awful coordinator or not.
McCarthy and Thompson’s contracts are up after 2018 and they should be gone by then.
Oops. I thought MM was talking about his first marriage…….
I believe the previous posts are all pretty much factually correct. There is a mixture of personnel & coaching that has led to inconsistent & subpar performance on that side of the ball. It certainly hasnt been championship caliber….that we know for sure.
Another factor I believe to be just as damaging, at least historically, is MM’s habitual tendency to try to manage games instead of win them. Offense performance is definitely tied to defensive too. Momentum impacts & swings games. And we all know nobody squanders momentum & shuts it down like MM. Voluntarily (!!) ceding the initiative & momentum to the opponent puts a tremendous amount of UNNECESSARY pressure on the defense. It can, and has, cost us games and made dozens closer than they should have been. Until MM figures out what Belichick already knows…. that Tom Brady is also his best defensive player….pointing the finger at only TT & Capers wont solve the problem.