It’s hard to believe that come Sunday evening in Los Angeles, the Bengals will have played in as many Super Bowls as the Packers in the last half century. That’s a reminder of two things – Cincinnati was pretty darn good in the 80s, and Green Bay hasn’t come close to taking full advantage of having Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers at quarterback for the past 30 years. Anyway, here are a few more Packers-related thoughts that ran through my mind in recent days:
1) How bad have the Packers been on special teams lately? In the past three seasons, they have only 219 more yards on punt returns than Chicago’s Jakeem Grant had in one game against Green Bay in Week 14. And while it’s fair to blame former coordinators Shawn Mennenga and Maurice Drayton, don’t let general manager Brian Gutekunst off the hook. Aside from Tyler Ervin (32 returns), who was merely competent, the Packers have cycled through the likes of Amari Rodgers (31), Darrius Shepherd (23), Tremon Smith (17), and Malik Taylor (15). Ironically, Smith, who Gutekunst released after seven games in 2019, averaged 25.6 yards on 21 kick returns for the Houston Texans this season, including a 98-yard touchdown in Week 10. Barack Obama was in his first term as president the last time the Packers returned a kick for six points.
2) It’s surprising that outside linebackers coach Mike Smith hasn’t drawn any interest from teams looking for a defensive coordinator. The Rex Ryan disciple has done really good work in Green Bay. Za’Darius Smith went from a part-time starter with the Ravens to a two-time All-Pro under his watch, and no player in the league improved more in the past three years than Rashan Gary. But perhaps Smith’s greatest accomplishment came this season when he got a seventh-round pick (Jonathan Garvin) and a couple of undrafted free agents (Tipa Galeai and La’Darius Hamilton) to hold their own as injuries decimated the outside linebackers room. And while I totally understand why teams are more enamored with Green Bay’s offensive assistants, nobody on Matt LaFleur’s staff is any more deserving of a promotion than Smith.
3) Most Packers fans have heard the story about how team president Mark Murphy’s lowball offer cost LaFleur his first choice to be the team’s special teams coordinator in 2019 (Darren Rizzi), but that’s not the only example of his penny-pinching. Because Murphy didn’t want to fire Mike Pettine with two years and close to $6 million left on his contract, he forced his new coach to keep the incumbent defensive coordinator. Had LaFleur been able to choose for himself, perhaps he would’ve promoted then-linebackers coach Patrick Graham, who’s now one of the most highly respected defensive coordinators in the league. Sure it would’ve been expensive to add Rizzi and subtract Pettine, but imagine how differently the past two seasons might’ve ended had Murphy simply done what was right and not what was economical.
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Fine observations. Important to understand why we win and why we lose. Your focus on Coaching decisions is well made. Mark Murphy has proven ill equipped to make Football decisions. He must step down. Odell Beckham a clear example of how committed GB was to ‘all in’. A bitter irony and humble pie that he runs out for the Rams in a SB. Rams have paid a Kung’s ransom but they have a shot. You are either committed or you are not. Beckham said the Rams wanted him… it all starts in the front office.
If my math is correct, the Packers have 350 punt return yards in the past three seasons. That’s 117 yards a season and about 7 yards a game. That’s pathetic.