LeRoy Butler analyzes the Packers-Buccaneers game - JSOnline
Things need to be changed at the top. When you change players and change the defensive staff and for the second week in a row you’re giving up 38 points, now you have to reshuffle somewhere.'
Posted: Nov. 9, 2009
After each game, former Green Bay Packers all-pro safety LeRoy Butler teams up with Journal Sentinel beat writer Tom Silverstein in our "5 Questions with LeRoy Butler" feature. Butler appears on behalf of his charity, "The LeRoy Butler Foundation" (leroybutlerfoundation.org).
The following is the analysis of the Packers' 38-28 loss to the previously winless Buccaneers in Tampa Bay.
Q. It’s apparent the protection problem hasn’t been solved and it’s back to the drawing board for coach Mike McCarthy and his staff. If you were them, what would be your starting five on the offensive line?
A. It sounds like a broken record with the offensive line. We have to accept this is going to happen. They’re going to give up five to six sacks every game the rest of the year. You have to accept that they’ve got a general manager - this is his first time being a general manager - and a head coach - this is his first time being a head coach - who are going to need time for them to figure out what combination they want out there. You can put your two veterans in there, Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton. When they were in there, things seemed to be working well. But when Allen Barbre came in, for some reason he’s just not as physical in protection and I was surprised to see he was getting thrown around by some young guys.
Scott Wells can be a guy who is the leader of that line. He’s a smart guy, he’s not real big, but he can help Aaron Rodgers out with fronts and blitzes and can really give him some direction. With Spitz on injured reserve, you don’t have much depth there.
But if you have your two veteran guys at the tackles and Wells at center, Daryn Colledge just has to play better. There aren’t many other options. There’s not a combination out there that isn’t going to give up sacks. The only thing you can do is let Tauscher start and Clifton start.
If they’re healthy, let them play, if they’re not healthy, let them play. Bringing in someone now, they’re not going to do that.
Q. McCarthy said after the game that he might have worked the players too hard coming off the Minnesota loss last week and that it showed in the fourth quarter? Is it plausible that you could overwork a team in practice, especially when it’s the youngest team in the NFL?
A. The guys weren’t in full pads all week, so it’s hard to overwork a group that’s not in pads. If they were in pads Wednesday and Thursday, I could see him overworking them where they’re tired and you need to back off a little when you’re going to an environment where it’s going to be 80-85 degrees.
But if you have the youngest team in the league, they need to be overworked every day because you’re seeing the same mistakes. If he did overwork them, then they’re not working on the stuff that needs to be worked on. The one thing that kind of bothers me is that McCarthy says, ‘We have to get this cleaned up, we have to take advantage of our opportunities.’ What he should say is, "I will fix this.
If I have to play different combinations, different people, I will fix it." He did say it starts with the head coach and I applaud him for that because most head coaches, they hide behind their schemes or their players. McCarthy doesn’t do that. He understands it falls on him. I respect him for that.
But he needs to be more of a dad than a friend to these guys. Your dad disciplines you, but also loves you. Your friend tells you what you want to hear even when you’re playing bad.
Q. If you’re team president Mark Murphy and you’re overseeing the entire Packers operation, when do you start reacting to what’s going on and are there steps you can take now or do you have to let the season play out?
A. I would have evaluated things after the Minnesota game and maybe recommended to Ted that maybe McCarthy needs to turn the play calling over to Joe Philbin so he can get ahold of the team. When you’re calling plays, it’s hard to delegate.
I know a lot of coaches do that and maybe I would have gone to Dom Capers and suggested he scale the game plan down a little bit. I know when you hire a general manager, you have to stay out of his way. But ultimately, by giving Ted an extension and Ted giving Mike an extension, he’s responsible. But things need to be changed at the top.
When you change players and change the defensive staff and for the second week in a row you’re giving up 38 points, now you have to reshuffle somewhere. Maybe sharing the play-calling duties with the offensive coordinator gives Mike more time to concentrate on the defensive side and special teams side.
If it were me, there would have been a sense of urgency before this. These changes would have at least been up for discussion because at the end of the year, that’s when you make big decisions.
You don’t make big changes during the season with coaches. But there have to be some changes somewhere. The question is whether the locker room is lost and they can’t win winnable games right now.
Q. Give me one reason why you think the Packers can beat the Dallas Cowboys Sunday?
A. Aaron Rodgers. Let me address him first before people jump off his bandwagon. He’s 10-14 as a starter, which is not very good. What you saw Sunday you might not see again with him, a three-interception game, a bunch of passes that should not have been thrown, holding onto the ball a little too much.
This guy’s an accurate quarterback, but he’s accurate down the field. He has to get back to being sharp and quick and crisp with his passes. Anytime you have No. 12 in there, you have a chance.
I still think he’s a great quarterback - not a good one - and the future is bright for the Green Bay Packers. That lets me know they have a chance against the Dallas Cowboys. But I think the Cowboys are going to be like the big guy and we’re the little pipsqueak on the block and they’re bigger and faster and more physical than the Packers. But if Aaron plays well, they have a chance.
Q. If you had to pick two players - one on offense, one on defense - who absolutely had to pick up their play during the second half, who would it be?
A. One would have to be Daryn Colledge. He has to pick his game up to a level where you’re comfortable out there with him. I’m surprised with his progression. I just feel he has to play. If he doesn’t, the quickest line to the quarterback is through the guards. I hate to single him out because all of them can play well, but he’s the guy who I wanted to one day replace Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera.
He has to play to that standard because both of those guys were big, physical guys. Right now, Daryn Colledge is not that. These next eight games are pivotal if he wants to keep playing on the line and the Packers want him to develop into a Pro Bowl player. On defense, I could pick seven guys, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be A.J. Hawk.
If he’s going to be an elite player, now is the time for him to finish with some great numbers. He was one of my two players of the game with 10 tackles and a real dumb call by the referee on his interception - they should have let that pass but when calls like that are made it’s because of your reputation. I’m looking for A.J. Hawk to step up in these next eight games and be the great player everyone thought he could be being the No. 5 pick overall.
