No one thought the Green Bay Packers would be 2-3 at this point in the season. In fact, it could be argued that the Packers have looked good in only one game — their week two thrashing of the Chicago Bears.
So, what’s the problem? A lot of things, it turns out.
Coach Mike McCarthy says the problem is consistency, or a lack thereof. Obviously, that’s been an issue with the players on the field — dropped passes, missed assignments, poorly-run routes, etc. However, McCarthy also points to the turnover in personnel and coaches.
Certainly, if Jermichael Finley wasn’t dropping balls and Joe Philbin wasn’t in Miami, the Packers would be in better shape. Would they be that much better though?
We’ve pointed it out before — the Packers are playing exactly like they were last season, even though opposing teams have figured out how to stifle their formerly high-flying offense. I mean, how many times do you throw into two-deep coverage before you realize the opposition isn’t going to get beat by your deep passing game?
The Packers haven’t adapted. They haven’t adapted to what the rest of the league is doing to stop them and they haven’t made adequate adjustments in-game. Their offense has largely been one-dimensional and now that Cedric Benson is gone for an extended period, who knows what’s going to happen.
If there’s hope left for this season, we all better hope McCarthy is right and the Packers can actually become more consistent. It doesn’t look like a shift in philosophy is on the horizon and it would be tough to make one during the season anyway.
So, either clean up the mental part of the game or it’s back to the drawing board next summer.