By Chris Havel
Mike McCarthy's most important decision of his National Football League coaching career occurred months ago.
When the Green Bay Packers' coach named Bob Sanders his defensive coordinator on Jan. 21, McCarthy placed his future to a great degree in the hands of a man he had known for several weeks.
McCarthy's instincts may be proven correct. He cited several reasons for selecting Sanders. He appreciated Sanders' candor, admired his work ethic and respected his pedigree.
Sanders, 52, a Jim Bates disciple, brought continuity. The Packers were working on their fourth defensive coordinator in five years, and McCarthy valued Sanders' ability to build upon Bates' scheme.
McCarthy's reasoning seemed logical.
In 2005, Bates inherited a patchwork defense with few legitimate playmakers, and somehow elevated it from 25th in yards allowed to seventh overall and first against the pass. Those rankings were misleading in that opposing teams typically grabbed early leads and milked the clock by running the ball. Rarely did opponents have to pass to overcome a deficit.
Nevertheless, Bates wiped clean Bob Slowik's fingerprints and forged ahead with one gutsy performance after another.
In a sense, Sanders was hired to pick up where Bates left off. Ted Thompson, the Packers' general manager, signed defensive tackle Ryan Pickett, cornerback Charles Woodson and safety Marquand Manuel in free agency. He re-signed defensive end Aaron Kampman, and spent the fifth pick in the draft to acquire linebacker A.J. Hawk.
Through three games, the new defensive coordinator and the influx of talent have produced the NFL's 31st-ranked unit. The pass rush has been inconsistent, the run defense spotty and the pass defense unacceptable.
The Packers' defense has made Chicago's Rex Grossman, New Orleans' Drew Brees and Detroit's Jon Kitna look like Sid Luckman, Archie Manning and Bobby Layne.
If the trend continues, Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb is going to morph into an unstoppable, freakish combination of Norm Van Brocklin and Randall Cunningham come Monday night's Packers-Eagles game.
Where are Mike Boryla and Joe Pisarcik when you need them? For that matter, where is a Packers safety when you need one?
The better question: Will Sanders correct the mistakes, improve the communication and get the defense on track?
McCarthy, like Mike Holmgren before him, had better hope so. McCarthy is an offensive-minded coach. Ditto for Holmgren. The difference is Holmgren had Ray Rhodes, and then Fritz Shurmur, to coordinate his defenses in Green Bay.
When Shurmur died in summer 1999, Holmgren suffered personally and professionally. The Seahawks went 9-7, 6-10, 9-7 and 7-9 under one of the NFL's top head coaches before finding postseason success.
If a coach as renowned as Holmgren struggled without his right-hand man, what is McCarthy to do if Sanders isn't the right man for the job?
Kurt Schottenheimer, the Packers' defensive backs coach, has drawn fan and media criticism in his second go-round here. Certainly, he is responsible for the pass defense's substandard play.
Ultimately, the onus falls on Sanders. If he finds a way to tighten up a sievelike defense the Packers' future — and McCarthy's — looks solid. If not, McCarthy wouldn't be the first NFL coach to be doomed before he started.
Chris Havel can be reached by voice mail at (920) 431-8586 or by e-mail at [email protected]
