Yesterday, the Green Bay Packers completed a miserable 6-10 season with a 31-21 victory over the Detroit Lions, and in the process managed to avoid infamy by not becoming the only team to lose to the Lions this year.
The Lions are the first team in league history to go 0-16.
At times it was ugly. In fact, most of the time it was ugly.
As usual, the Packers defense played sub-par football. The offense was inconsistent. Stupid mistakes were made, and we all sat there with that here-we-go-again feeling, which, according to Ryan Pickett, is something that we weren’t alone in.
“You feel like, ‘Oh man, we’re trying to hand this game over again,’” defensive tackle Ryan Pickett told the Press Gazette. “But that’s how I felt all year. We’d be winning and it’s just like, just waiting for them to come and take it from us. That’s good that we got to finish like that. It’s good that they pushed us to the end and we were able to come through and finish like we should have been doing all year.”
In the end, it was really only the near complete ineptitude of Detroit that allowed the Packers to win the game.
And so the Packers move into the offseason with a multitude of problems to address.
Certainly, there will be changes made on the coaching staff, although I would prefer to see the entire staff overhauled.
Player personnel needs an upgrade, most notably the defensive and offensive lines. Fortunately, the Packers have ample salary cap space and there will be some big names in free agency.
The culture also needs to be changed. Too often in the past season have stupid mistakes, lack of effort and fire been accepted.
As the Packers move into the new year, let’s look forward to a new start. And remember, we could be from Detroit, where the overhaul is beginning today with the ouster of coach Rod Marinelli.
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