I am getting really weary of these artificially set benchmarks set by sports writers and impatient fans. Last year, people (including lots of fans on this forum) were saying that Ted Thompson "had" to win a playoff game, or he should be gone. Now this year people are talking "Super Bowl or bust," as if Super Bowls are commodities that are handed out to a bunch of teams on a regular basis.
What nonsense.
Let's interject a little reality into this discussion, shall we?
Every year, a grand total of ONE team wins a Super Bowl. That means 31 teams do not. Should 31 managerial teams be relieved of duty every five years if they do not win the big dance? That would mean we'd have, guaranteed, at least 6 front offices being relieved every year! What patent absurdity.
Moving on. Since the Packers last won a Super Bowl in 1997, a grand total of 9 teams have won a Super Bowl. That's less than 1/3 of the league in 14 years. By the standards of this board and various sports writers, that means 23 front offices should have been relieved during this period for the gross negligence of having failed to notch a ring. Or perhaps they believe a different team should win the Super Bowl each year, in which case only 18 front offices "should" be on the chopping block. Again, obviously absurd.
Before we move on, read that again: only 9 teams have won a Super Bowl since the Packers last won one. Nine. A whopping 28%. This isn't something that happens everyday for every team, folks.
Since the Packers last won a Super Bowl, 18 teams (including the Packers in 1998) have played in the big game. Now that's a more impressive number -- 56% -- and perhaps makes a more reasonable benchmark of front office success. Still, it shows how difficult Super Bowl victories are. If it were as easy to reach the Super Bowl as some of you seem to think, on average, 28 teams (88% of the league) should have made it there in the past 14 years. But that's obviously not the case.
Now let's move on to the NFC Championship Game. Since the Packers last won the Super Bowl in 1997, 11 teams (including the Packers) have won an NFC Championship Game. That's 69% of the conference. If a new team took the crown every year, that would mean on average, 88% of the conference should have won one in the past 14 years. So it looks to me like the conference isn't all that terribly unbalanced. Interestingly, however, only 13 teams have played on the NFC Championship Game in the past 14 years: that means that with the exception of the Vikings and 49ers, every team that has played in the NFC Championship Game more than once has won it at least once, including the Packers, who've been there twice in the past 14 years --
including once in this current front office's tenure.
That bears repeating:
The Packers have already been to the NFC Championship Game once in Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy's tenure here. Since Ted Thompson took the job in 2005, only 9 teams (56% of the conference) have made it to the NFC Championship Game. Two of those teams were the Seahawks and Packers, both of which he had a hand in assembling.
Finally, let's look at record: Last year, the Packers went 11-5. Only 4 teams in the league (13%) did better than that, and only two other teams equaled it. Fans of over 20 other teams would have killed to have the same record the Packers had last year, not to mention a playoff appearance.
Did I mention the Packers have been to the playoffs twice, including an overtime NFC Championship appearance, in their tenure?
The men are doing fine. Get off their back.