2018 Green Bay Packers Season Thread: 6-9-1: Mike McCarthy Fired, Philbin Interim HC

[nodakfan17]

If it’s any consolation, ESPN had the Packers’ win probability pegged at 33% after the Rams’ last score. I know we all thought Rodgers was going to orchestrate a game winning drive (myself included), but in reality, that would have been a tall order.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

My only point is that a lot of players would have been a lot less willing to change positions than Monty was, especially from WR to one where the average career is 2-3 seasons and the average salaries less. Most pro athletes would have put up a way bigger stink about that. And I think it is funny how fans hold athletes to such a high professional standard. The ladies at my office go into a tizzy if you ask them to color code stuff differently, I can't imagine telling a pro athlete you want him to change positions, much less in GB where you will probably get 6 carries a game.

 

I think he was fine at WR, but when they went through that experiment they were so loaded there it was unlikely he would play. It was McCarthy's genius way of getting his "best athletes" on the field. Throughout the first offseason after he switched to RB, numerous scouts thought it was a joke and made comments that he was never going to be a RB. Then the Packers go out and get a bunch of RBs, which made it all the stranger. What was aggravating though, is that they almost never seemed to utilize packages that would create those matchups. You basically never saw the Bennett/Kendricks 2TE mistmatches everyone was dreaming of last year (before he was hurt), and you rarely saw them spread Montgomery out to get him matched up with LBs and etc. He seemed so hell bent on making him into this power runner he isn't.

 

If I were him, I'd have wished they just cut me so I could play WR somewhere else. It wouldn't be the first time the Packers have made guys play out of position. See Hyde, Micah; Randall, Demarious, and numerous DL/OLB.

 

Lots of weird roster construction the past few seasons. TT/MM or whoever was calling shots seemed to have this obsession with drafting "athletes" and making them play positions they aren't used to.

 

Doesn't matter, even if some of that is true. I have wanted MM gone probably longer than you have, but none of what you have written has anything to do with making a bone-headed play when the game is on the line.

 

Even if he didn't fumble, it was still a horrible decision- especially if he was specifically told to kneel down. So no, I don't have any empathy for him. In fact, these hybrid players are all the rage in the NFL today, so the Packers did him a favor. Problem is, he's just not explosive enough.

 

Well....yeah, it does have something to do with it, because all of that stuff contributed to the boiling point where he finally said to himself "I have to do this my own way if I'm ever going to make a play."

 

Was he wrong? Yeah, but that's still has to do with what he did yesterday. He is most likely guilty of thinking he's better than he is, like every athlete.

 

Even if the Packers cut him this week, they'd still deserve criticism for waiting this long. Basically a guy that can't play and had to get on the field and lose a game before getting released. That reflects pretty poorly on them especially since Aaron Jones is clearly 15x the RB, in spite of all that pass pro nonsense. Lot of good it did yesterday having Monty in pass pro on 3rd and 6, lmao.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

If it’s any consolation, ESPN had the Packers’ win probability pegged at 33% after the Rams’ last score. I know we all thought Rodgers was going to orchestrate a game winning drive (myself included), but in reality, that would have been a tall order.

 

I really don't think Rodgers getting a FG with 2 minutes left is a tall order. This is where I have a big issue with probabilities. I really think the Packers' shot at winning is +50 if they get the ball there. Even a supposed 1/3 chance is pretty depressing when someone decides to play hero ball.

 

My opinion has always been that McCarthy lost his hold on the team after the 2014 NFCCG. It is kind of interesting to see a guy going rogue in that game come full circle today, to what I think will be his final season as coach.

[GAME05]

I have a hard time with any "never given a chance" argument. If you've got the talent you'll be given the chance. The Packers don't draft three RBs in one draft if they think they've got a star RB already on the roster. The only players asked to switch positions are the ones who aren't quite good enough to stick at their current one.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Then he shouldn't be on the team. And this is my biggest issue with Mike McCarthy. He sticks out his "plans," WAY too long, which can be a positive at times but usually isn't.

 

If Ty Montgomery is cut this week he should have been cut a year ago. Nothing changed since then. He had to cost them a game and make it blatantly obvious that he can't play before they finally woke up to that reality. He's on the roster because Aaron Jones can't pass block or something, which apparently Ty can't do either. Everyone's great grandmother can see that Jones is an every down back but McCarthy has to come to that conclusion in the most painstakingly stupid and costly way.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on possibly being traded before tomorrow's deadline: "I've got about 24 hours and then we can talk."

 

When asked if he'll be talking here or somewhere else, he said: "I don't know, you guys might be surprised."

 

Sort of weird but can be taken either way.

[nodakfan17]

I hope they trade HHCD for a late 2019 draft pick.

 

They could let him walk and hope for a higher 2020 compensatory selection, but that also means they couldn’t sign a major free agent (because the two would offset). I wouldn’t be upset if they traded other players either (what’s a Cobb rental worth to someone?). I don’t think this team has the horses to go all the way in 2018, but I also don’t think they’re that far away from contending again.

[pacopete4]

After watching Whitehead play, I appreciated HaHa that much more.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Cobb is another Thompson black eye. A contract he was absolutely never worth. He isn't fast, he isn't big, the only thing he is, is fairly tough which I give him credit for. I doubt he is worth more than a 5th in a trade.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Cobb is another Thompson black eye. A contract he was absolutely never worth. He isn't fast, he isn't big, the only thing he is, is fairly tough which I give him credit for. I doubt he is worth more than a 5th in a trade.

 

Cobb is an injury-prone slot receiver. He's solid when healthy, but that health is rare. The injuries have sapped his explosiveness and burst as well. He's the "oldest" 27-year-old you're going to find.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Yes, he is a solid slot receiver because his toughness plays into that role, but when you're always hurt it is less valuable. He is also one of the better guys in the league at responding to busted plays and getting open when that happens, but it's a good thing his contract is expiring and it was way overvalued as per usual with Thompson and "his own guys."

 

I think the Packers will be a much better team with another offseason to build the roster and more $$$ room to do so.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Montgomery finally speaks and basically copied what I said yesterday...wanted to make a play, etc., and feels insulted by the talk of him doing it because he's selfish, even specifically mentioning "jeopardizing money and the length of my career" to make a position change. So there is clearly some sourness there with he and the coaching.

[pacopete4]

What I don't buy is Montgomery saying he didn't want to put it in the refs hands about bringing it out of the end zone. He was clearly inside by a couple of yards. Pitty card is a hard buy when you are clearly lying.

 

What is pathetic though is those fans that would say stuff to his wife and such. My god people, it is just a game. Your life still sucks whether they win or lose.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Montgomery is a veteran and needs to understand the situation. Even if he doesn't fumble, he still took the ball out with 2:05 on the clock, which basically eliminates a time-out (2-minute warning) from a team that needs to get in field goal range. It's just a very bad play all around by a veteran player who needs to know better. I get that players make mistakes, but it seems like the Packers' big mistakes this year have come at the most inopportune times (i.e. Matthews roughing call against the Vikings, Cobb's fumble against the Redskins, Crosby's horrible game against the Lions).

 

The Packers are not a great team, but they are a good enough team to play anybody tough. This team is theoretically a bad call and a couple horrible plays away from being an undefeated or one-loss squad. I blame a lot of that on McCarthy and his lack of "going for the throat". What is so wrong about getting a big enough lead where the outcome isn't in doubt?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

It is easy to watch it on TV and say "he's deep enough to know better." It is another thing to make that call when the ball is in the air. I doubt he knows exactly where his heels are by the time the ball is 3/10 of a second from landing in his chest so you have to make that decision beforehand go with it. It's still his mistake, but I don't think he was lying or intentionally disobeying the coaches.

 

I don't know why he's the return man in the first place anyway. He's not explosive at all.

 

I personally don't think the Packers are any better than a .500 team but remember that they were 3-3 in 2010 and people don't remember how much their offense struggled in the first half of that season. This team lacks the defensive prowess that one did, with Woodson, a young Williams and Shields, a young Matthews and Raji, etc., but there is still a lot of time to figure things out. The last wild card is 4-3 right now so the Packers are very much in the thick of it as bad as they have looked at times.

 

My opinion is that they are an 8-7-1ish squad, but it is possibly they go on a tear and make a run. Teams evolve in the NFL over the course of the season so much more than they do in other sports.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

It is easy to watch it on TV and say "he's deep enough to know better." It is another thing to make that call when the ball is in the air. I doubt he knows exactly where his heels are by the time the ball is 3/10 of a second from landing in his chest so you have to make that decision beforehand go with it. It's still his mistake, but I don't think he was lying or intentionally disobeying the coaches.

 

I don't know why he's the return man in the first place anyway. He's not explosive at all.

 

I personally don't think the Packers are any better than a .500 team but remember that they were 3-3 in 2010 and people don't remember how much their offense struggled in the first half of that season. This team lacks the defensive prowess that one did, with Woodson, a young Williams and Shields, a young Matthews and Raji, etc., but there is still a lot of time to figure things out. The last wild card is 4-3 right now so the Packers are very much in the thick of it as bad as they have looked at times.

 

My opinion is that they are an 8-7-1ish squad, but it is possibly they go on a tear and make a run. Teams evolve in the NFL over the course of the season so much more than they do in other sports.

 

Montgomery has regularly returned kicks as a Packer, and was a returner at Stanford. His return prowess is one of the big reasons the Packers drafted him in the 3rd round, even though he wasn't prototypical receiver size. I could buy the "maybe he didn't know where he was" argument if he was an inexperienced player in that area, but Montgomery is not. Between the pros, college and high school, between games and practice, he's returned hundreds if not thousands of kickoffs. I think he knew exactly what he was doing. I doubt anything was malicious or that he was deliberately going against coach's orders because he was mad, but I think his ego and the need to make a splash play overruled his brain in this case.

[pacopete4]

I actually think Montgomery is elusive and makes people miss. He hasn't been doing that lately out of the backfield but a couple of seasons ago, he was one of the best in the league in this category.

 

He is probably frustrated with his role, having switched positions and such, but he just made a decision that will likely cost him any trust the Packers have in him and it may be hard for him to find a good dollar amount this offseason. Hopefully, it will be another case where he ends up coming back around and producing a big moment for us. But for those that want to see a lot of Jones, may just very well get their wish.

[MrTPlush]

Montgomery has been shipped out to the Ravens.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Montgomery was just traded to the Ravens for a 7th rounder:

 

Probably not a bad thing that the Packers were able to salvage some value out of him.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I guess the 7th rounder means you don't have to wait for waivers.

[pacopete4]

Disappointing end to that situation. Third round pick that seemed to never really find his role.

[MrTPlush]

Ha-Ha is off to DC.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Knew Ha-Ha was gone after that weird response yesterday. Good move if they weren't going to re-sign him, which they obviously weren't.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Interested in seeing what the return on Ha-Ha is. I can't imagine it is much.

[MrTPlush]

Interested in seeing what the return on Ha-Ha is. I can't imagine it is much.

 

4th