I've chastised people many times for the "fire everybody" thinking when the Packers lose.
But clearly Thompson and McCarthy have to say, "we can't win the Super Bowl with this defense". This is the second season in a row this defense has let the Packers down in the playoffs.
Before anyone says injury as an excuse, all teams have injuries, especially late in the year.
Capers has put together a defense that has worked, at times. But the loss of Cullen Jenkins a couple of seasons ago started a downward trend. After he left they never had a pass rush that was comparable. Raji is good and Pickett can play, but gets worn down by larger o-lines. Because the opposite linebacker never performed to the same level, teams many times could take out Clay Matthews with double teams. Hawk has proven to be an adequate inside linebacker, but as was shown Saturday, can be overpowered by a larger man. The loss of Desmond Bishop hurt. Compare Hawk and the rest of the Packers linebackers to Patrick Willis. The secondary has an aging Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams has not played to his Super Bowl level, and some rookies, a couple show promise.
But I think the overall speed at linebacker isn't there.
But Colin K. and RGIII represent the new breed of NFL QB: (it's actually a throwback to the 1940's)...a QB that is at least a double threat: run or pass. The Packers defensive scheme has been proven to be wholly inadequate to handle the 49'ers. They lost to them twice this year. So until the Packers can face the reality that they will continue down this road with the same scheme and personnel, they will continue to lose to the 49'ers.
As in college, you need a wide-split defensive end to begin to contain a wide-running offense. A wide-split DE means a 4-3 defense. The first time around with the 3-4 defense in the 70's and 80's the demise of that scheme was that teams could exploit the edges of the defense. Teams went back to the 4-3. So lets face reality: it's time for a change. Remember the adage that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the mark of insanity. It will take the Packers a year or two to adjust. Given the fairly large turnover in personnel expected this year, next year could be down year. But it will be worth it to build a defense that doesn't routinely give up record-setting amounts of yardage. If the Packers didn't have an offense that is as good as it is, this team would be 4-12.
Some old truths about football still hold true:
1)If they can't score, they can't beat you.
2)It all begins with the offensive line(look at the 49'ers offensive line.)
3)Fundamental blocking and tackling wins.
4)Running the ball successfully.
The 49'ers are ahead of the Packers and probably the rest of the NFC. The first step to remedy that is to find a new defensive coordinator with another approach and build the league's best defense. With a potential Hall of Fame QB at offense, good things will return.
