Green Bay Packers: 4 things that doomed Mike McCarthy

Everybody knew it was coming unless some sort of miracle happened. It didn’t, and thus the Green Bay Packers put an end to the Mike McCarthy era.

A man who missed the playoffs just three times in 13 seasons and won a Super Bowl wasn’t able to go out in the way many, including himself, had hoped. He’s the longest-tenured coach of the Super Bowl era in franchise history. Yet many treat him as if he’s little more than dead weight who was holding this team back. Maybe it’s time to accept reality.

Green Bay is a 4-7-1 football team. They’re going to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row for the first time since 2005 and 2006. Something that seems inconceivable to the fans who have been spoiled by consistent success for over two decades. Many are glad to see him go. However, it wouldn’t be surprising before too long that people realize how good he actually was.

Either way, it begs the question. How did things get to this point? It’s never one reason. So below is a collection of four that help explain it.

Packers have fired Mike McCarthy and named Joe Philbin interim HC.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 3, 2018

Cooling relationship with Aaron Rodgers

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Even as far back as 2012, there was evidence that things weren’t symbiotic between McCarthy and his superstar quarterback. They managed to make it work because the team kept winning and Rodgers kept dominating. However, the past few years began to really peel back the curtain on how at odds the two were. Rodgers was clearly unhappy in McCarthy’s system and it was only a matter of time before the franchise did what their best player wanted.

His own mistakes

McCarthy was a tight game manager once upon a time. It seemed like he made the right decision at the right time almost every time during the first three-quarters of his run. That began to change last season. His once sharp handling of game situations was replaced by mind-numbing play calls, costly non-challenges, and an inability to manage the clock properly. Things hit bottom this year as a series of blunders by him cost the Packers some crucial games.

Declining roster

McCarthy wasn’t the first man fired, don’t forget. Ted Thompson was forced to step down first. That’s because he’d been unable to reload the team’s once formidable roster. After a period of excellent drafting from 2005 through 2013. However, from 2014 onward they suffered a string of down years and over time it began to show more and more on the field. McCarthy held it together for as long as he could, but even he had a breaking point.

A new GM

In truth, the writing was probably on the wall the moment Thompson was replaced by Brian Gutekunst. Every GM prefers to hire their own head coach at some point. So no doubt Gutekunst was merely looking for the first opportunity to get McCarthy out. That would explain the decision to fire the head coach before the season even concludes. It’s apparent more than ever that this move may have been planned all along short of a Super Bowl run.

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