Well, I guess ole Bob has changed his tune since he wrote the now "infamous" Packers can win without Aaron Rodgers" story.
Or is it he is just trying to make the fans forget HOW WRONG HE WAS then and next year, with a little luck, The Packers stay farly healthy, he will once again have written a "I'm just a dumbass writer trying to appease the fans" article.
Let's see how long "these elite teams" stay that way when all thier 1st round top 5 draft picks start demanding more money than a team can afford.
Down year, still North Champions, did everything but "win" their playoff game", which is a hell of a lot better than the 2 prior years where they forgot to show up.
Hell, I may be in the minority here, but after a certain point,(15 guys ir'ed), I was impressed with the Heart and Desire of the guys left playing.
Outmanned and playing with a bunch of "Babies" and career "backups", they still managed to make it to The Playoffs, that is all anyone can ask.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO PANIC!!!!!!!
There will be changes this offseason, but IMHO, not as drastic as some may want or think.
Originally Posted by: buckeyepackfan
That's all well and good, but look a little closer and we are in serious trouble. We did not beat a single team with a winning record. We've had 4 picks on D in Rounds 1 and 2 over the past two years at key areas of need, and not one of them did anything exceptional for us this season. Not one. Not a single player out of those 4 made a real impact on this defense in 2013.
We have a HC who refuses to part ways with coaches on his staff who are not performing up to task. The status quo is not good. How do you expect to see change for the better when there will be no change?
Until I see some real commitment from this staff to change their ways, we are unfortunately in for much of the same. No key FA acquisitions. No turnaround in a Strength & Conditioning staff that has left us with the most adjusted games lost in the NFL for 4 years running. No change in DC. Our defense has set all-time NFL records for futility over these past 3 seasons, and last season showed very little change there. Its not like we're ticking up, getting better.
I don't see it. And, barking about winning the NFC North? Really? I'm happy we did win it, but, wow. The rest of the division is a laughing stock.
Offensively, I thought we did some good things this season. Got a running game going. Got an OL together that was serviceable. We sure weren't road graders, but we saw an improvement. Boykins came on as a 4th WR and did well. And, Rodgers was good when healthy enough to play.
Aside from that, we pretty much sucked. Even on offense we had questionable play calling and game time mismanagement from and experienced HC. How many pre-snap penalties did we get at crucial moments during games? 12 men on the field, twice in a row? Our clock management was suspect at the end of the first half during our playoff loss to SF. How?
Defensively, we didn't get the job done, and we looked to have gaping holes at a number of position groups on our D. We showed heart in beating DAL and CHI teams that continually choke under pressure. That is pretty much it.
There is an awful lot that needs fixing this offseason and regular season. How will we be healthier next season? How will we not telegraph our intentions to the opposition? The good teams we played knew exactly what we were going to do, and we too often failed to execute. We looked out classed, and let's face it, we were. Exactly how is that going to change?
Personnel acquisition philosophy needs to change as well as coaching philosophy, and hopefully some staff that will perform better, and get more results from our players. Hopefully we add new, top tier talent. Will that happen? How?
No one got the job done last year, from Ted on down to the coaching staff and the players. Time for some real change on this Packers team.
The Patriots won 3 Super Bowls since 2001. Their coaching staff is better, their personnel staff is not bound to using only young draftees and UDFAs, they are fluid, willing to take risks with trades and signings, and their players have a professional attitude in going about their work at game time. We should have won at least two during Rodgers' tenure to date. Yet, we've surrounded him with inexperienced draftees and complacent coaching and personnel staffs.
We need vets who can show our younger players the way to win, the way to prepare, and we need a staff, both in coaching and in personnel, who is accountable, who will exhaust all of their energies and resources to win. I hope we see these changes. But, my expectations have been lowered, beaten down after three years of the same old BS lip service. I want to see this team change for the better. Both Ted and Mike might be too stuck in their ways for that to happen...