Enough of the Blame Game: It Was A Complete Team Collapse
Packers media and fans have picked over the carcass of the 2014 Green Bay Packers, looking for a scpaegoat. It's time to move on.
By PackerAaron
Packers linebacker Clay Matthews attempts to tackle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson—Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports.
Stop. Just stop.
The Packers beat. Packers fans. National sites. Everyone has an opinion on exactly who should be blamed for the fact that the Green Bay Packers will be sitting at home watching the Super Bowl when they should be playing in it.
The game was over. The game was won. Morgan Burnett’s interception should have sealed it. You know it. I know it. The Seahawks know it.
Unfortunately, the Packers thought they knew it. The problem, of course, is that they thought it with 5 minutes remaining in the NFC Championship Game.
Yes, you can put a good part of the blame on Mike McCarthy here for going into a conservative shell and leaning on the percentages. Goodness knows the starting quarterback would like you to. But it’s hard for me to fault McCarthy too much for trying to salt the game away with a four minute offense that had sealed the deal several times in 2014. They just didn’t get it done upfront.
It’s also tough for me to lay too much blame on Aaron Rodgers for what was, no question, a sub-standard performance by his lofty standards. You can’t use injuries as an excuse, the old football axiom goes, but you also can’t be blind to their effect on a player’s performance, especially if it’s the star of your football team. I agree with Bob McGinn’s assertion that special plays were few and far between against the Seahawks. But you also can’t blame Rodgers for Jordy Nelson tripping coming out of his break in the end zone. Without that trip, that’s most likely a touchdown and we’re all getting ready for the Packers to be facing the Patriots on Sunday.
And that’s the problem with a lot of the ultimate blaming of one person or even squad when it comes to the Packers choking that game away. Every misstep has some kind of “Yeah, but…” attached to it.
Morgan Burnett goes down after the interception. “Yeah, but Julius Peppers was telling him to get down.”
Aaron Rodgers doesn’t convert a 3rd down. “Yeah, but have you seen the coaches tape? If he’s healthy, he has 20 yards wide open to run to his right. A healthy Rodgers converts there, easily.”
Mike McCarthy goes conservative. “Yeah, but did you see how pedestrian his quarterback was playing at that point in the game? Plus, grinding out the clock was something this team leaned on all year.”
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix misplays the 2 point conversion. “Yeah, but the dude picked off Wilson twice and helped completely shut down the Seahawks offense for 50 minutes. It should never have gotten to that point.”
Brandon Bostick tries to be a hero.
And here is where “Yeah, but…” loses some of its luster. Bostick is the easiest scapegoat. If he simply does his job and allows Jordy Nelson to do his, we’re all watching the Packers arrive in Arizona on Sunday rather than the Seahawks.
But even Bostick can’t be blamed entirely. And his “Yeah, but…” is probably the most interesting.
I’ve been told that after the game in Seattle there was a loud scene in a nearly-empty press box with one member of the personnel department (I know who it was, but his identity doesn’t really matter) went into a profanity-laden tirade about how he had told everyone last year that Bostick should have been cut, that he was weak and would cost the team if he remained on the roster. Needless to say, it’s easy to understand why the guy was frustrated, especially after watching the player he wanted cut over a year ago cost the Packers a trip to the Super Bowl.
So, Bostick’s “Yeah, but…” becomes “Yeah, but he shouldn’t have even been on the team.”
And on and on we go. Capers calling a craptastic prevent defense on 3rd and 19. Davon House not playing his contain assignment as well as he should have on the fake field goal. Clinton-Dix droping a potential pick-six. So many plays where you could see the game slipping away from the Packers, so many scapegoats.
Enough. We’re done. It was a complete team collapse.
Yes, it was a gigantic missed opportunity. Yes, it will sting for a long, long time. A lifetime, no doubt. But this team isn’t done being a contender. Not by a long shot. The Patriots, DeflateGate nonsense notwithstanding, are playing in the Super Bowl this year after losing the AFC Championship Game on the road last year. That’s the path.
Regroup. Reload. Return.
And win it. All.
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Comments (25)
DoURant
January 26, 2015 at 02:35 pm
I agree Aaron, unfortunately it is how the game played out, on to next year.
P.S. Would you PLEASE write something to the Cowboy fans who 2 weeks later are still complaining about the no catch call.
jmac34
January 26, 2015 at 02:53 pm
Yep on all accounts this was a total team collapse. I have to believe there is no chance that Bostick will be on the team next year, but unfortunately it will be too little too late. It's not easy to get to the NFC Championship game and GB had a very fortunate year in terms of healthiness, which had been missing in previous years, which makes this a very tough game to swallow
Justy_FB
January 26, 2015 at 03:02 pm
The problem is how many times is this going to happen in the McCarthy / Capers era in Green Bay!!! Its starting to look a little too much like a broken record to make it to almost the top and then have an epic collapse on one side or the other of the ball or the whole damn team implodes from within like what just happened!!!!
badaxed
January 26, 2015 at 05:01 pm
That 33 1/3 record is skipping over and over and over. Time to break that record. Time to trash all those old records and CD's and memory sticks and go to the clouds with new personnel and "some" new coaches.
HankScorpio
January 27, 2015 at 05:02 pm
I'm not so sure I'd agree or disagree that McCarthy is a bad game day coach. He definitely has his ups and downs on game day. I agree he went into a shell vs Seattle and it surely cost them. In addition to Aaron's "yeah but", a pick or sack would have cost more. Rodgers had already thrown 2 picks. Plus, the defense was just killing it. But really, you can go back and forth on gameday stuff forever. But that's not all there is to coaching.
Great teams are built in the offseason. Most games are won during the week, not on Sunday. Those are truisms, IMO. And McCarthy has a pretty good handle on both, IMO. I just have a hard time believing that canning a guy with 3 straight division titles and 6 straight playoff appearances is going to make things better.
I would love to see a "gameday assistant" hired. Some old time NFL guy to help with operation details like clock management or personnel management or whatever else. I would love to see Slocum go. A few others leaving wouldn't bother me any. But I would hate to start over completely with someone else as HC.
Clay
January 26, 2015 at 03:04 pm
Agreed and thanks for saying it.
Some Pack failings that had been an issue all season reared their ugly head in the game. I hope those things get addressed in the off season. The good news is I think we have a lot LESS to fix this year. The offense was in transition (new receivers, hurry up offense) this year so some of it's failings were predictable.
My off season wish list:
1) Figure out how to move the ball one yard when it counts!
2) Red zone offense
3) Special teams
4) Eddie Lacy could work on conditioning a little and improve his speed.
The list goes on of course but these come right to mind because they bit us hard in the playoffs....
701Packer
January 26, 2015 at 04:18 pm
#4 is hard to achieve. A guy can't just "get over" asthma.
HankScorpio
January 27, 2015 at 05:18 pm
My number #1 offseason agenda items is getting better at ILB. Hawk and Jones are not NFL caliber, IMO. Without another addition, they almost have to move Matthews full time in order to have a credible play from ILB. The defense was much improved over the 2nd half of the season. ILB is the weakest link, by far, IMO.
FITZCORE1252
January 27, 2015 at 10:23 pm
100%
chrisdavis
January 26, 2015 at 03:05 pm
Thanks for your "way" at looking at things and the final synopsis. I am sixty and have been a Packer Fan for my entire life. My Father, before me was as well. We grew up outside of Milwaukee. It was fun going to the games at Milwaukee County Stadium, but even more so going to the games at Green Bay! I moved to Columbus, Ohio in 1980. My Father did as well in 1979 (Go Buckeyes), But we have always stayed true fans. I have had 3 Kids since that time and all have Stock in the packers, no different than my father and I. I have been down the path of all the losing seasons after Lombardi. We were relived with the Wolf/Holgram era and cherished it big time. The lost in the super bowl against Denver hurt, but not nearly as bad as we all feel right now. We were blessed with getting Aaron Rogers when we did. We won the Super Bowl with him. These are all things I keep reminding my kids of before every play-off game. We are "Blessed". Somehow during this "game" we became "condemned". I have never cried after a game ever. I did after this game. The players played there hearts out to win and the coaching staff (yes..STAFF)) let the players and the fans down. This is not a team loss....it is a coaching failure. With the team that TT has put together this was a no brainer. Mike McCarthy really needs too accept the fact that he just blew the "pouch". He needs to get a OC that calls the plays with Aaron. The special teams coach should have never been allowed on the plane ( Like the USC coach). My Thoughts are that once again we will hit the road and go to packer games. We will go to Lambeau Field and pay the $400.00 per ticket. I just wish the Coaching staff doesn't ley us down again!~
Lphill
January 26, 2015 at 03:59 pm
Actually the reason for the loss comes down to two things , nether being the onside kick or two point conversion , had the Packers scored one touchdown early on instead of field goals then there is no onside or two point play to worry about, also during the season someone here said I hope-poor special teams play does not come back to haunt us , Well it did , the fake field goal . So either one more TD in the red zone or no fake field goal and we were in .
TommyG
January 27, 2015 at 06:03 am
This is a revelation! If we score more points, or allow fewer, we win! Lphill, what you are saying is exactly what the article refers to. There are so many incidents during the run of the game in which altering any one of them changes the outcome, that saying that the loss comes down to one or even two things is absurd. You're not wrong, if we had an early TD or stop the fake FG then we would have won. But we also would have won if we recover and onside, maybe run an INT a bit further down field, if a TE makes a catch on a key 3rd down, if we pass instead of run when they had 9 in the box. The list goes on and on and on. Special teams mistakes did indeed bite us in the butt, again, however there are so many other failures all over the place that we simply cannot say it was any two things.
RCPackerFan
January 27, 2015 at 09:01 am
My personal opinion is the 2 things that you can't allow to happen, happened. The fake field goal and onside kick.
Yes there were mistakes made a long the way. But when you have turnovers and allow points on special teams, those 2 are hard to overcome. And they were.
Special teams is something that has really hurt the Packers all season and in the final game their was 2 huge, costly mistakes.
The biggest change I want to see made is at Special Teams coach. These mistakes may not have necessarily been Slocum's fault per say, but someone has to be accountable for it. He is the head of the special teams therefore it is on him.
HankScorpio
January 27, 2015 at 05:21 pm
I definitely want to see Slocum go away. I'm hopeful that McCarthy will show him the door.
In addition to the 2 huge ST gaffes vs Seattle, the 7 blocked kicks demands accountability.
RCPackerFan
January 28, 2015 at 06:25 am
exactly right. Special teams were a problem all season long. They basically were none existent on KR and really have been since Cobb was a rookie.
The blocked kicks you just can't have. How many blocked extra points did they have? IMO more then 1 is way to many.
They need a change in special teams. Hopefully McCarthy will share that with us later today at his press conference.
KenEllis
January 26, 2015 at 04:00 pm
I agree with much of what Aaron states, particularly that it was a total team collapse.
However, simply moving forward without reflection would be to ignore some recurring problems, most obviously, Special Teams.
That fake field goal should have been sniffed out. Yes House was wrong, but so were Brad Jones and Hawk. Most to blame, however, is Slocum.
With the 32nd ranked STs unit in a year with so few injuries, moving forward WITH SLOCUM AS STs COACH would be a huge mistake.
HankScorpio
January 27, 2015 at 05:27 pm
I don't think the point is that we shouldn't reflect, or even react, to the events vs Seattle. I think his point is that no one thing is THE one thing. Offense, defense and STs all had a hand in the collapse. If any one phase executes even a little bit, the collapse of the other two would not have mattered. At least that is what I took from the article.
Having said that, I completely agree with your points on Slocum. He must go. For reasons that showed in Seattle and elsewhere.
MarkinMadison
January 26, 2015 at 04:13 pm
Apparently I'm in a small minority. I just don't find this loss to be that devastating. It took a million small failures to add up to a loss? True dat, but it also took a million small Seahawk failures to put Green Bay in the position of having the game nearly salted away.
One big one that stands out to me is that Seattle was 3rd in the NFL this year, giving away the ball only 14 times, but they gave the ball to Green Bay 5 times in a single game. Imagine the Seahawks losing and you're a Seattle fan. "Gosh, they never give the ball away, and in the most important game of the year they throw it away five times." Guess what, when you lose you always focus on the what-ifs. When you win you brush that shit aside and look forward. Look forward people.
But most importantly, I think the arrow on this team is pointing up. It won't be the same team next year, but it may very well be a BETTER team next year. I agree that Slocum should be fired for season-long (really, multi-season) issues, but to get down on this team? No way. Too many good things going.
#12 with a chip on his shoulder, angry about how the season ended? Great! Put away the blues people. Next year they win it all.
Handsback
January 26, 2015 at 04:36 pm
Like Chris from above, I have been a Packer fan since they played the Browns in the mud. They have done what no other team has and that's to win three consectitive championships. Because only two had SBs tied to it doesn't matter.
Green Bay has also done what only one other team has done.....won a SB three different times w/ three totally different teams. I believe Pittsburg may have done it but not sure.
So in regards to the Seattle game.....Green Bay gave it away. The players lost it. Yeah, MM had a hand in it, but when you start looking at all the mistakes in the last 5 minutes the players lost it. They missed several blocking assignments that would have picked up the first down after the interception. Bostick, no need to discuss that dead horse anymore. Without Matthews, very little rush/pressure and the CBs made elementry mistakes including Tramon Williams on the last TD pass. (Let his guy go inside instead of directing him outside.)
I think everyone misses the big picture.....Green Bay has an excellent team that can go into Seattle and beat them. Most >90% of NFL experts didn't think it was possible. A few saw the talent and know they could do it even w/ a one legged QB.
They will be back, and if they solve the ST issues......there will be some ass kicking in the future.
Of course this is my opinion, but I also said in another blog that Green Bay would win by > 6 points IF they didn't lose the ST battles.
stockholder
January 26, 2015 at 09:59 pm
Bostick is the easiest scapegoat. Everyone knew how good the seahawks were in the 4th quarter all year. Champions/Legends make the plays. They use their smarts and overcome all pressure. If the pack gets the on -side kick, you have nothing to write about. Everyone could have been Happy.
RichBeckman
January 26, 2015 at 11:10 pm
I agree completely. The loss is on everyone's shoulders and the team will be better next year.
I'm already looking forward to it.
canadapacker
January 27, 2015 at 05:30 pm
I get pretty disgusted when I think of the way that we lost this game. I get even more disgusted when I see people dumping on MM, Capers, TT and blaming this loss on them. This was a team loss yes, this was primarily lost on special teams ( on side kick, fake field goal, 2 point conversion). Do we need to make changes yes ( and maybe after analysis it is a new special teams coach - I am sure that they will figure that out). But I would rather still be a Packers fan over the MM/TT era than be a fan of any other NFC North team and you dont make changes for the sake of changes. MM did that when he changed out the Defensive side of the ball in going to Capers. We have lost a lot of coaching ( and management) talent and the beat goes on. I look forward to what they are going to do to Special teams and I am hoping for a major change because I think that we need to play with more desire and better discipline. I also am looking forward to the draft because I believe we need to get a lot faster and meaner with respect to our inside linebackers.
We gave the chance to go to the SB away in Seattle, it is now time to be thankful for the season that we had and move on.
KenEllis
January 27, 2015 at 06:19 pm
Why would the Pack "figure" Special Teams out this offseason if it is already time to turn the page and not look back?
It is not like the Special Teams suddenly went bad in the NFC Title game.
They were bad all season. Heck they've been bad for years.
Unless and until someone is held accountable for the Special Teams dumpster fire, I for one will refuse to ignore what took place in Seattle.
bart
January 27, 2015 at 06:26 pm
Aaron-Great article. I have had it with this nonsense. Move on. They bitch slapped the NFC champions for 57 minutes.They will rise from the ashes.
hybridauth_Facebook_100004765273075
January 28, 2015 at 02:44 pm
The game was completely mismanaged from the kick off. Not the five minutes left, the kick off.
MM had a one track game plan, Lacy Lacy Lacy.
MM was going to show the world his Packers were just like the Steelers of old he was on: were tough, we can run that ball, we will show everyone.
MM passed the ball a couple of times but with that lousy QB and receivers and the great lacy pounding it away, MM had it made.
Sadly, someone who didn't watch the Packers by just seeing the game would believe the above. There is a lot lot lot wrong with this team and its starts and ends with MM's football philosophy.