GREEN BAY — If you're among the villagers in cyberspace who are at the gates of Lambeau Field with virtual torches and pitchforks, calling for the head of Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers, coach Mike McCarthy didn't give you much hope Monday that you'll get your way and Capers or the defensive staff will be dismissed.
After watching his defense give up 447 yards to the Minnesota Vikings, including a season-high 232 rushing yards, McCarthy was asked if the Packers' defensive issues were scheme-related or the result of poor execution.
McCarthy's answer made it clear that he believed his players needed to do their jobs better. While some may argue that McCarthy wasn't about to throw Capers or any of the defensive coaches under the bus, he easily could have framed his answer in a way that would have shown that he feels the staff is as culpable or more culpable for the problems — due to scheme or calls — than the players. But McCarthy did nothing of the sort.
The run defense has been the team's biggest problem of late, as Green Bay has given up a whopping 514 yards rushing over the past three games. Those struggles have dropped them from ranking third against the run earlier this year to 19th (115.5 yards per game) now.
"I watched (the film) this morning with the defensive staff. We went through every call," McCarthy said. "It's a very talented, organized defensive staff. I really like the teaching ability, the demand and their personality.
"That's what we're talking about, preparation and execution. We need to play better. When you're an eight-man front football, you need to stop (the run). They had over 200 yards. We had a chance to address all of that, go through hat this morning, go over it with the team at the team meeting. We're really about the Lions right now.
"I'm very comfortable in our coaching staff. I think it's definitely one of the strengths of our program."
Entering Monday night's action, the Packers defense had plummeted to No. 20 in yards allowed per game (359.6) and tied for No. 18 in points allowed per game (24.1). They are tied for the NFL lead in sacks with 37.
"That's why they're season stats," McCarthy said. "We're in a valley right now; we need to get out of it in some aspects of our team. Going through the grades, going through every call, every assignment, it really comes down to leverage, fits and tackling and tenacity of the finish of the play was a little up and down.
"Time and time again, we had excellent leverage but then we don't complete the play. They had two excellent runners (in Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart) that extended runs. That's the part you've got to win. When you create leverage and fit in run defense, that's where the play starts, that's not where it ends. We just didn't do a very good job finishing once the leverage and the fit (were) established. You can go all the way through it, double teams and this and that, but it really came down to execution."
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