Sherman must show

IPBprez

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Posted Oct. 22, 2005
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Mike Woods

Sherman must show he deserves to be coach

The idea, at least in part, was clearly understood. By stripping Mike Sherman of his general manager’s duties, the extra time would allow him to be a better coach.

A 1-4 start by the Packers says that hasn’t worked out too well. Sherman will be fighting to reverse his team’s fortunes the final 11 games. What isn’t certain is whether it also will be a fight to retain his job.

Only General Manager Ted Thompson knows what he thinks of the job Sherman has done and what he believes he’s capable of doing, and his is the only opinion that matters.

With almost three months left in the season, that thought process may change, perhaps more than once.

One line of thinking says the two-year extension Sherman received before this season will mean nothing if he fails to produce a winning record, which is reasonable, considering the company the Packers keep in the NFC North.

Another quarter will argue Sherman’s opportunity for success has been handicapped by Thompson, who failed to sign either of the Packers’ two free-agent guards this offseason, added no free agents of note to a talent-depraved defense and took a player who could not help them immediately with the first pick of the draft.

That said, one of the reasons Thompson was handicapped was because of the bad contracts Sherman signed off on as GM, which put the Packers tight against the salary cap.

One of the reasons the defense is short on talent is because the Sherman-led drafts failed to produce enough quality players. That is Thompson’s reality, but it is Sherman’s problem.

When you view the Packers after five games, there’s only one portion of the team you can say is improved. That would be the defense, which ranks 10th in the 32-team NFL.

An early school of thought heading into the season was that if first-year defensive coordinator Jim Bates could somehow transform a unit that ranked 25th last season into a top-10 unit, the Packers could make a run deep into the playoffs.

The season is far from over, but Bates has held up his end of the bargain with a unit that can’t compare talent-wise to the offense.

While they have hurt themselves too many times with penalties, have not forced enough turnovers — save for the victory over New Orleans — and there are issues with the pass rush, no one can complain about the defense’s performance. It has given the Packers a chance to win every game.

Now it’s up to the offense to deliver on its promise.

True, injuries have been a problem, but not as much as the problems associated with the offensive line. No one really knows whether Ahman Green has lost a step or his inability to find holes is directly tied to the line or is a combination of both.

But Sherman needs to find answers. Like Bates, he needs to find ways to do more with less. This season, and his future, may depend on it.

Sherman was given more time to be a better coach. Now he has to prove he can be.
 
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IPBprez

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Posted Oct. 22, 2005
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Mike Vandermause

Poor choices sink Vikes

Not only have the Minnesota Vikings looked miserable on the field this season, their behavior off it has been even worse.

As most everyone knows, roughly one-third of the Vikings’ roster took part in a boat cruise during the team’s bye week that reportedly degenerated into a free-for-all involving inappropriate and immoral behavior.

No criminal charges or suspensions have been issued, but this trip makes the Titanic voyage seem like a success.

Besides giving the Vikings’ organization a black eye, it leaves in doubt the team’s hopes to get a publicly financed stadium approved by voters. It also leaves in question whether Vikings coach Mike Tice has lost control of his team.

Things are looking even more grim than usual in Minnesota, where choke jobs and underachievement have become a way of life.

No time to gloat

But the last thing the Green Bay Packers want to do is gloat about the Vikings’ woes, especially with the two teams facing off Sunday at the Metrodome.

“I don’t think anybody can be self-righteous in regard to issues that occur off the field. They happen everywhere,â€
 

retiredgrampa

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As regards the future of MS...a great deal of it could well be tied up in this game. If he loses to another 1-4 team and sits alone at the bottom of the weakest conference in the NFL, it will take a miracle to pull back to respectability, and mere respectability alone is not an acceptable status in Green Bay. Ray Rhodes posted an 8-8 season(respectable in most places) and got canned and rightfully so. I doubt if too many Packer fans see 8-8 as a real possibility since we'd have to go 7-4 the rest of the way. This is a HUGE game.
 

packedhouse01

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For some reason under Mike Sherman his teams seem to take a long time to develop. Perhaps it's a training camp issue, but we always seem to start so slowly. Then the team has to turn on the after burners to make the playoffs and when it comes playoff time, we seem to burned out. So once again we find ourselves in a big hole. Thankfully Minnesota isn't any better. Their fans have to be very disappointed after the off-season acquisitions they made. It doesn't seem all that long ago that the media was talking about a possible SuperBowl for the Vikings. This is what happens when you have a coach who doesn't have the skill to control his players. Although the situation in Green Bay isn't as bad, there certainly are too many issues that have evolved that point to the same problem with Mike Sherman.
 

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