Packersnews.com:
Chris Havel column: Carroll must go, perhaps today
Schottenheimer should go, too
By Chris Havel
PHILADELPHIA — Why is Ahmad Carroll on the roster? Why is Kurt Schottenheimer in charge of the defensive backs?
That's easy.
Carroll is there to play pass defense and Schottenheimer is there to teach the secondary how to do that individually and collectively. The difficult question is what the Green Bay Packers should do when both are abysmal and continual failures?
In the real world, where production is expected and performance is evaluated, Carroll and Schottenheimer would be unemployed today.
Not for long, perhaps, but long enough to shake up the Packers in the wake of an embarrassing 31-9 loss to the Eagles in front of a national cable TV audience on "Monday Night Football."
That isn't going to happen, of course, and that's too bad.
Carroll and Schottenheimer have been down this road before. They were together when the Packers selected Carroll with a wasted first-round draft pick in 2004. Carroll didn't progress, Schottenheimer wasn't retained, and life went on.
Now, reunited and under the direction of defensive coordinator Bob Sanders, Carroll and Schottenheimer double as Exhibits A and 1A in any argument why the Packers are going to struggle mightily all season.
The Packers showed improvement in several areas Monday night.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy's team went toe to toe with Eagles coach Andy Reid's playoff-caliber team at Lincoln Financial Field.
Brett Favre cleverly managed the offense and Vernand Morency supplied the semblance of a running attack. Kicker Dave Rayner gave the Packers a 9-7 lead.
Furthermore, the much-maligned defense forced two red-zone turnovers and played stingy run defense against an Eagles team minus Brian Westbrook.
All that good was undone in the second half by a variety of forces, the most obvious being Carroll's wretched performance and Schottenheimer's inability to coach his unit to play at a reasonable level, let alone a high level, for four quarters.
Does McCarthy take drastic measures? Probably not, but I suspect he's at least considering all the possibilities. The public humiliation the Packers endured on Monday night doesn't sit well with anybody, especially the head coach.
Carroll probably needs to go, and the Packers should begin developing backup Jarrett Bush ASAP.
"I think like anything, if you've seen it done right, you have something to hold on to," McCarthy said. "I've seen the secondary, I've seen every phase of our football team, do it correctly. The problem is we're not doing it correctly for 60 minutes. That's what I hold on to. If I didn't think they could do it correctly, there would be a change."
With all due respect, overwhelming evidence to the contrary suggests Carroll, in particular, never is going to become a reliable NFL defensive back.
"We'll evaluate everybody tomorrow," McCarthy said. "There'll be no decisions made tonight."
Today would be soon enough to cut ties with Carroll. I can't imagine the Packers unloading Schottenheimer, but demoting him and promoting Lionel Washington to defensive backs coach would be a popular move in the locker room. That could pay dividends on the field, and, frankly, it couldn't hurt.
The Packers' current approach isn't getting it done, especially in a secondary that has become the primary concern.
Chris Havel column: Carroll must go, perhaps today
Schottenheimer should go, too
By Chris Havel
PHILADELPHIA — Why is Ahmad Carroll on the roster? Why is Kurt Schottenheimer in charge of the defensive backs?
That's easy.
Carroll is there to play pass defense and Schottenheimer is there to teach the secondary how to do that individually and collectively. The difficult question is what the Green Bay Packers should do when both are abysmal and continual failures?
In the real world, where production is expected and performance is evaluated, Carroll and Schottenheimer would be unemployed today.
Not for long, perhaps, but long enough to shake up the Packers in the wake of an embarrassing 31-9 loss to the Eagles in front of a national cable TV audience on "Monday Night Football."
That isn't going to happen, of course, and that's too bad.
Carroll and Schottenheimer have been down this road before. They were together when the Packers selected Carroll with a wasted first-round draft pick in 2004. Carroll didn't progress, Schottenheimer wasn't retained, and life went on.
Now, reunited and under the direction of defensive coordinator Bob Sanders, Carroll and Schottenheimer double as Exhibits A and 1A in any argument why the Packers are going to struggle mightily all season.
The Packers showed improvement in several areas Monday night.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy's team went toe to toe with Eagles coach Andy Reid's playoff-caliber team at Lincoln Financial Field.
Brett Favre cleverly managed the offense and Vernand Morency supplied the semblance of a running attack. Kicker Dave Rayner gave the Packers a 9-7 lead.
Furthermore, the much-maligned defense forced two red-zone turnovers and played stingy run defense against an Eagles team minus Brian Westbrook.
All that good was undone in the second half by a variety of forces, the most obvious being Carroll's wretched performance and Schottenheimer's inability to coach his unit to play at a reasonable level, let alone a high level, for four quarters.
Does McCarthy take drastic measures? Probably not, but I suspect he's at least considering all the possibilities. The public humiliation the Packers endured on Monday night doesn't sit well with anybody, especially the head coach.
Carroll probably needs to go, and the Packers should begin developing backup Jarrett Bush ASAP.
"I think like anything, if you've seen it done right, you have something to hold on to," McCarthy said. "I've seen the secondary, I've seen every phase of our football team, do it correctly. The problem is we're not doing it correctly for 60 minutes. That's what I hold on to. If I didn't think they could do it correctly, there would be a change."
With all due respect, overwhelming evidence to the contrary suggests Carroll, in particular, never is going to become a reliable NFL defensive back.
"We'll evaluate everybody tomorrow," McCarthy said. "There'll be no decisions made tonight."
Today would be soon enough to cut ties with Carroll. I can't imagine the Packers unloading Schottenheimer, but demoting him and promoting Lionel Washington to defensive backs coach would be a popular move in the locker room. That could pay dividends on the field, and, frankly, it couldn't hurt.
The Packers' current approach isn't getting it done, especially in a secondary that has become the primary concern.
