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Mike Woods column: Solutions start at home
By Mike Woods
If this is the path to reconstruction, then Mike McCarthy needs to man up and do the right thing.
Stop and ask for directions.
Maybe the guy at the Kwik Trip can help. Or perhaps the checker at Festival Foods has a clue. It shouldn't be that hard, and he's going to get the same answer from everybody.
If he wants to turn around the Packers, the first thing he's got to do is start winning at home.
On Sunday, that task proved as difficult as learning Latin. This time it was the New York Jets, an average outfit from the rugged AFC, who came to Lambeau Field and undressed the Packers 38-10.
The Packers are 1-5 at the Tainted Tundra this year and 4-12 in their last 16 tries. As the paying customers can attest, that's cold.
Things got out of hand so fast Sunday that some of the 70,527 started heading for the exits in the second quarter.
We briefly interrupt this dissertation for a pop quiz. Quickly, can you name the coach who said this?
"We need answers, because we have problems that are happening over and over again, and they need to change.''
A, Mike Sherman; B, McCarthy; C, Lindy Infante; D, Forrest Gregg.
The answer is B.
The point is, be it that we're three-fourths through the season, this kind of assessment is a sure sign your team is in deep doo-doo.
Say what you want about Sherman, but his teams didn't get pushed around at home. Of Sherman's 10 home losses in his final two seasons, nine were by 11 points or fewer. Only once was his team beaten by more than 20 points. They may have been pedestrian to bad, but at least they were competitive.
This season, McCarthy's Packers have been humiliated by 26, 35 and 28 points at home.
"You cannot perform like that, and to play like that at home, it just infuriates everybody involved,'' McCarthy said. "And it's unacceptable.''
The fact McCarthy can't find the answers is troubling. It calls into question not only his abilities, but those of his staff.
"I'm not considering any changes,'' he said. "We're not sending anyone off the building or anything like that.''
But sooner or later, you know it's going to come to that, and defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer are the leading candidates.
The problems don't just reside with the coaches. General Manager Ted Thompson is in charge of procuring the help, and perhaps his eyes have deceived him.
Then, there are the players. The idea of this being an inexperienced group can be sold for only so long. At some point, they are required to show something that resembles progress.
If this program is going to turn around, you've got to take care of the most important things first. In this case, it's learning to win at home.
McCarthy knows that's the answer. He knows that's the direction this team needs to take.
Right now, though, he has no idea how to get there.
Perhaps on the way home, he should stop and ask a letter carrier. He might know. For unlike the Packers, he never looks lost when he gets to 1265 Lombardi Ave.
Mike Woods writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at [email protected]
Mike Woods column: Solutions start at home
By Mike Woods
If this is the path to reconstruction, then Mike McCarthy needs to man up and do the right thing.
Stop and ask for directions.
Maybe the guy at the Kwik Trip can help. Or perhaps the checker at Festival Foods has a clue. It shouldn't be that hard, and he's going to get the same answer from everybody.
If he wants to turn around the Packers, the first thing he's got to do is start winning at home.
On Sunday, that task proved as difficult as learning Latin. This time it was the New York Jets, an average outfit from the rugged AFC, who came to Lambeau Field and undressed the Packers 38-10.
The Packers are 1-5 at the Tainted Tundra this year and 4-12 in their last 16 tries. As the paying customers can attest, that's cold.
Things got out of hand so fast Sunday that some of the 70,527 started heading for the exits in the second quarter.
We briefly interrupt this dissertation for a pop quiz. Quickly, can you name the coach who said this?
"We need answers, because we have problems that are happening over and over again, and they need to change.''
A, Mike Sherman; B, McCarthy; C, Lindy Infante; D, Forrest Gregg.
The answer is B.
The point is, be it that we're three-fourths through the season, this kind of assessment is a sure sign your team is in deep doo-doo.
Say what you want about Sherman, but his teams didn't get pushed around at home. Of Sherman's 10 home losses in his final two seasons, nine were by 11 points or fewer. Only once was his team beaten by more than 20 points. They may have been pedestrian to bad, but at least they were competitive.
This season, McCarthy's Packers have been humiliated by 26, 35 and 28 points at home.
"You cannot perform like that, and to play like that at home, it just infuriates everybody involved,'' McCarthy said. "And it's unacceptable.''
The fact McCarthy can't find the answers is troubling. It calls into question not only his abilities, but those of his staff.
"I'm not considering any changes,'' he said. "We're not sending anyone off the building or anything like that.''
But sooner or later, you know it's going to come to that, and defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer are the leading candidates.
The problems don't just reside with the coaches. General Manager Ted Thompson is in charge of procuring the help, and perhaps his eyes have deceived him.
Then, there are the players. The idea of this being an inexperienced group can be sold for only so long. At some point, they are required to show something that resembles progress.
If this program is going to turn around, you've got to take care of the most important things first. In this case, it's learning to win at home.
McCarthy knows that's the answer. He knows that's the direction this team needs to take.
Right now, though, he has no idea how to get there.
Perhaps on the way home, he should stop and ask a letter carrier. He might know. For unlike the Packers, he never looks lost when he gets to 1265 Lombardi Ave.
Mike Woods writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at [email protected]
