Zero2Cool
16 years ago

Communication breakdowns rattle team chemistry

[img_r]http://cmsimg.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20081214&Category=PKR01&ArtNo=81214036&Ref=AR&Profile=1058&MaxW=318&Border=0[/img_r]JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The quarterback chewed out his tight end, who then got chased down by his irate head coach. Defensive teammates nearly came to blows, and the coaches called an impromptu meeting on the sideline to quell emotions.

Thats what became of the Green Bay Packers, who bordered on implosion at times during Sundays 20-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that eliminated them from playoff contention and assured them of their first losing season in Mike McCarthys three-year run as coach.

A seasons worth of close, frustrating losses finally turned ugly at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

The root of it all, according to several of the interested parties, were so-called miscommunications a catch phrase not used readily around the Packers since their 4-8 start to the 2006 season.

You shouldnt have these kind of communication problems in Week 15, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. Attention to detail, thats all it is.

The first blowup came late in the second quarter, when the Packers had a chance to take a double-digit lead. Leading 10-7 and facing a third-and-goal at the Jaguars 5-yard line, the Packers were in prime position. They had the benefit of a Jacksonville timeout with 1:28 remaining to set their play call. Yet somewhere between McCarthys mouth and tight end Jermichael Finleys ears, the call was lost on the rookie tight end. He didnt know where to line up and went from one side of the formation to the other. With the play out of sync even before the snap, Rodgers dumped the ball off to his other tight end, Donald Lee, who barely got back to the line of scrimmage.

We should be set and ready to go there, McCarthy said. Not being lined up initially factored into the (result of) the play. Thats why were kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns.

When the field-goal unit came on, Rodgers gave Finley an earful.

It wasnt just Jermichael, Rodgers said. There were multiple plays where we had either the wrong formation, or part of the call was left out or guys didnt hear something they should have or I didnt say it.

Finley stayed on the field to block for Mason Crosbys 23-yard field goal, but on his way to the sideline, McCarthy met him on the field and followed him toward the far end of the bench, where Finley was supposed to join the kickoff unit. When he got there, special teams assistant Shawn Slocum waved off Finley.

Finley, who earlier in the season angered the coaches when he said he wasnt be used correctly and also criticized Rodgers, again deflected the blame.

It was really just miscommunication with the play call, Finley said. It wasnt on me at all.

When asked what McCarthy said to him, Finley said: Just to get down there on kickoff. He said, Well fix it tomorrow. But we needed this game.

Halftime apparently didnt provide enough time for players to cool down because the first time the defense took the field in the third quarter, trouble resurfaced.

On the Jaguars second-play from scrimmage, they went with an empty backfield formation. With the Packers in the base defense, no one lined up near receiver Reggie Williams in the slot left. Cornerback Al Harris noticed Williams was uncovered and pointed vigorously for someone to pay attention to him. The play went to the other side and resulted in a 35-yard completion from David Garrard to Dennis Northcutt, but on the way back to the huddle Harris approached Poppinga and appeared to yell at him. Poppinga didnt back away, and it looked like he barked back at Harris.

Harris would say only that it was an animated discussion, while Poppinga also tried to downplay the situation. Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said he may have been late getting the play call relayed to his players.

The bottom line is were both competitors, Poppinga said. Stuff like that is going to happen on a team, especially two guys who want to win. Well all of us want to win, so sometimes you have a little conflict. To say that conflict is a bad thing is not true. I think conflict solves things, and it brings teams closer together.

Regardless of how it looks, seeing something is a perception. The reality of it is I dont have hard feelings against him, and he doesnt have hard feelings against me. Things werent unraveling. It wasnt a frenzy. If anything, it lighted a fire in us. You can make it out as big as you want it to be, but its not as bad as it looks.

At the conclusion of the series, which ended with a Jaguars punt, Sanders and assistant head coach Winston Moss called together the entire defense on the sideline.

We settled them down, Sanders said. We just tried to make sure everybodys on the same page. We said, Hey, everybody stay together, which they were. We had a miscommunication on the drive before.

Everybodys fighting as hard as they can to win the game, so in the heat of the moment, everybodys working as hard as they can to try to do things the right away. We just calmed everybody down and got everybody back together. Weve got a lot of competitive guys.


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Blitz
16 years ago

Well fix it tomorrow.


Lots of time to fix things now.
"... There.. is.. your.. dagger..!! "
yooperfan
16 years ago
I guess a question that has to be asked is; Is McCarthy losing this team?
Nonstopdrivel
16 years ago
The Jaguars (5-9) won at home for the first time since September, ended Green Bay's slim playoff chances and left the Packers (5-9) arguing, pointing fingers and searching for answers after another fourth-quarter collapse.

"We shouldn't be having this miscommunication in Week 15 of the season,'' quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "Disappointing. You get an opportunity to win the game down the stretch and can't do it.''

The second drive was even more efficient that the first, with Garrard hooking up with Northcutt for a 41-yard gain - the Jaguars had been the only NFL team without a pass play of at least 40 yards - and later scrambling for 16 yards on third down.

The defense was the Packers' biggest problem - again. Green Bay failed to generate much pressure on Garrard, and defenders spent much of the fourth quarter squabbling with each other and pointing fingers.

"We had opportunities and didn't capitalize on those opportunities,'' safety Charles Woodson said. "I don't know what you do. At this point, we're not good at all. We're just not very good.''

Notes: The Packers might have won had they not had to settle for two short field goals in the first half. ... Jaguars LB Daryl Smith (groin) left the game late in the third and did not return. ... Jaguars won despite missing a field goal(Josh Scobee has missed four in last four games), dropping two passes on third down, blowing several coverages, having two plays reversed on challenges and failing to down two punts that bounced inside the 10-yard line.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28224588/site/21683474/ 

I said it during the game: Every time we settle for short field goals instead of going for the touchdown, I know we're going to lose.
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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
16 years ago
This late in the season there are no excuses for having to fix things. If the right play was called and the players did what they were suppose to do they wouldn't have to show their deisre to win in that manner.
Championship calliber teams want to win too but they get their formations right and everyone knows who to cover from the get go.
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Pack93z
16 years ago

I guess a question that has to be asked is; Is McCarthy losing this team?

"yooperfan" wrote:



I asked that several weeks ago.. maybe there is some things still sitting leftover from this past offseason.

Either way.. this is a poorly coached and discipline team this year.. and things haven't been addressed.. Poppinga makes at least one mental mistake a week it seems, yet he keeps lining up and doing it again.

And it doesn't stop there.. Clifton, Colledge, Hawk, etc... they make mistake after mistake consistently while guys like Harris come back from a ruptured spleen and play pretty damn solid ball.

There is a lack of accountability on this team, IMO that has been pretty clear all season.. a red flag to me, is that under this structure, you have assistant coaches that can only speak to the media one time a week with a Packer PR guy hovering.. can you say lack of trust?

I think there are some reminant issues carrying over from the offseason.. and they have to be resolved early this offseason.. and rebuild that focus again and play up to potential next season.

BTW.. I liked that MM got a little heated at Finley.. maybe not in the middle of the field but at least he showed some fire.
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