It was certainly coincidental that the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl hopes were likely dashed on the very field where the game is going to be played in February. The loss of Aaron Rodgers for at least the rest of the regular season puts the pressure on someone whom I think has been allowed to skate for a number of years–Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
Gone is the “hustle to the line to catch the defense with 12-guys on the field on third down to pick up an easy first down”. So too is the hard count to get the defense to jump on third and short or to get a free play for a bomb down the sidelines. No more recognition that the roll out right, throw back left to Jordy Nelson on the deep slant will inexplicably be completely uncovered by the defense. The perfectly underthrown pass that creates contact by the defensive back for a huge interference penalty to flip field position won’t be so easy anymore. And the hail mary to save games on the last play won’t be as common either.
Mike McCarthy is going to have to re-design an offense on the fly that no longer has one exceptional player to make up for inadequacies in both personnel and balance. The last time Aaron Rodgers was out with a broken collarbone in 2013, the Packers went 2-4-1 with Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn at quarterback. And that was with a healthy offensive line and a young, still slightly-motivated Eddie Lacy in the backfield.
The 2017 Packers have an O-line that can’t stay healthy and a converted wide receiver at tailback. So how does McCarthy craft a scheme that keeps Brett Hundley from having to win games by himself? Will he finally commit to a running game? To seek actual balance on offense? To controlling the clock so his equally-ineffective defense doesn’t spend the entire game on the field?
Mike McCarthy is the seventh-highest paid coach in the NFL–and has never come under any scrutiny since his Super Bowl victory in 2011. For the rest of this year, we are going to see if it’s the coach that makes the quarterback–or the quarterback that has been making the coach.
