MCGINN---NEW JSO ARTICLES..........THE BLAME FALLS ON

[Smidgeon]

Really? D- If that's true, he's achieved Troll Status. You may as well give his job to Runtnstrut.

Q: gene, chicago - bob thanks for taking my question. your coaching grade of d- seems aimed at McCarthy. If so, what grade would you give Capers?
A: Bob McGinn - Gene: You're right, the D-minus was strictly for Mike McCarthy. Capers? B, I guess, without being able to think it through. The only glaring negatives were inability to take the ball away (and that's a significant one) and the overtime in Az.

COACHING (D-minus)

Aaron Rodgers played 1,286 of a possible 1,296 snaps. That alone all but guarantees eight victories. The Packers won 10 and a playoff game, of course, but the offense was an impediment most of the way. This was McCarthy's worst coaching job, and it wasn't even close. Overreacting after the setback in Seattle, McCarthy handed off what he does best to a play-calling neophyte, Tom Clements, in a staff reorganization that was top-heavy and largely unworkable. McCarthy finally came to his senses and resumed calling the plays, but the damage had been done and the offense never caught fire. Great coaches adjust to injury and find ways to keep moving the ball, especially those with a franchise quarterback and a strong roster like Green Bay's. McCarthy didn't. Injuries shouldn't have been an issue; mangameslost.com, using quantitative and qualitative barometers, ranked Green Bay just 24th among teams hit hardest by injury. McCarthy should have known what Janis was capable of and been playing him all along. He didn't even know his own players, giving Don Barclay and Josh Sitton calamitous late-season starts at LT when the capable JC Tretter was the obvious choice. McCarthy's dominance of the division, remarkable record as a touchdown-or-more favorite, rich history as a second-half-of-the-season team and winning ways at Lambeau Field all were diminished. The 58 penalties on offense were a high for a McCarthy-coached team. What didn't leave McCarthy was his sustained excellence in turnover differential. At plus-6 for 18 games, he's now plus-99 for his 175-game tenure. It's why he has won at a .643 clip.

He didn't look too kindly on TT's moves either:

PERSONNEL MOVES (C-minus)

The final four playoff teams all were heavily involved in free agency in the spring, summer and fall. True to form, GM Ted Thompson in his 11th season adhered to his home-grown philosophy of roster building. He hasn't signed an unrestricted free agent since 2012 or traded for a player since 2010. From Jan. 20 to Aug. 1, the Packers signed 34 free agents. The best turned out to be CB LaDarius Gunter, who played 39 snaps. Thompson's only move of consequence was re-signing Jones, who appeared Sept. 5 on the Giants' cut list. Of the nine players added after the opener, three came from reserve lists, four from the practice squad, LB Joe Thomas from the Cowboys' practice squad and LS Rick Lovato from the street. In the draft, Thompson might have hit big with QB Brett Hundley in the fifth round and cornerbacks Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins in the top two rounds. Montgomery, Jake Ryan and Aaron Ripkowski might be starters, too. Even as the crying need for a tight end became obvious in camp, Thompson passed on Jermaine Gresham and Vernon Davis. He didn't add any speed at WR, either. Management re-signed Letroy Guion and didn't cut Andrew Quarless after their gun-related arrests in Florida. Instead of letting backup SS Sean Richardson go, the Packers retained him by matching the Raiders' exorbitant offer sheet ($2.35 million guaranteed). With $6.954M in cap space at year's end, the Packers rolled it over to their 2016 cap.

[pbmax]

M3 has had holes developing on offense for some time and this year, without a reliable deep threat or TE down the seam, the chickens all came home to roost.

If he didn't see it coming, I am somewhat concerned. He has to know other facets were found wanting after this year. What used to be a liability only against the best defenses able to play Cover 2 Man and rush the passer with 4 was now a vulnerability for all to exploit.

Nelson or no, that has to be fixed and it needs to start with the no huddle.

However, the rubric of having a Pro Bowl QB and getting to the playoffs being mundane is getting tiresome:

Brady is an exception because of his coach and his Division.
Ben R. missed playoffs 4 years
Drew Brees missed playoffs 9 times (horrible Division with up and down Atlanta)
Peyton Manning missed playoffs 3 times (horrible Divisions)
Brett Favre missed playoffs 7 times
John Elway missed playoffs 6 times
Steve Young missed playoffs 3 times
Phillip Rivers missed playoffs 7 times
Eli Manning missed playoffs 7 times
Tony Romo missed playoffs 7 times
Matt Ryan missed playoffs 4 times

Aaron Rodgers missed 1 playoff, his first as a starter

[ThunderDan]

I don't get why he disliked TT's moves so much.

The Packers were the preseason odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl. To me that says you have a pretty good team put together to have Las Vegas rank you as #1. Obviously, the season didn't turn out how we wanted.

[wist43]

I love how you homers are using the failures of others as a salve for the failures of our own.

Losers and excuse makers think in such terms.

[Smidgeon]

I don't get why he disliked TT's moves so much.

The Packers were the preseason odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl. To me that says you have a pretty good team put together to have Las Vegas rank you as #1. Obviously, the season didn't turn out how we wanted.

And the high round draft picks look like gold...

[Patler]

It is really unbelievable. McGinn references personnel moves as far back as 2010, but cleverly selects terminology so that he can completely ignore the signing of a possible HOF'er to a 3 year, $26 million contract in 2014.

Would it have been a better, more positive signing if Peppers had been a free agent because his contract expired, instead of it being terminated because the Bears couldn't, or didn't want to afford it?

The same applies to Guion, although an obviously much less significant contract and player.

[esoxx]

McGinn nails it in this answer me thinks:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/366380861.html

Q: Journeyman, New Orleans, LA - Bob, in Andre Agassi's memoir, he describes what happened when longtime coach Brad Gilbert left his coaching team. Gilbert said essentially "we've been together for almost a decade and we could keep going, but we've run through my bag of tricks. We've worked together long enough. You need a fresh voice". I feel like that can happen when any partnership runs long enough. This season will be Rodgers tenth with McCarthy and ninth with Clements, and I'm not calling for anyones head, but I think Rodgers badly needs a fresh voice to get him out of his head and back to consistency in his mechanics. Your thoughts?

A: Bob McGinn - JM: Rodgers has had four QB coaches: Bevell, Clements, McAdoo and Van Pelt. Joe Philbin, as OC, also was heavily involved with him. As for McCarthy, coaching QBs might be what he does best. The work McCarthy and Clements did in developing Rodgers should never be minimized. Can't anyone remember how awful Rodgers was in the summers of 2005 and 2006? That was fantastic coaching to get him where he is now. Hey, it's up to Rodgers. He has been taught the proper mechanics but people that are the best in the business at it. If he wants to keep throwing all arm off his back foot and bolting the pocket prematurely and sulking when adversity strikes or whatever else, coaches can't stop that. Rodgers just needs to play better next season.

[Pugger]

I love how you homers are using the failures of others as a salve for the failures of our own.

Losers and excuse makers think in such terms.

It isn't a salve. It is just pointing out that it is damn difficult to win a SB multiple times even when you have a top QB, HC, GM and excellent facilities. None of that guarantees squat.

[mraynrand]

I love how you homers are using the failures of others as a salve for the failures of our own.

Losers and excuse makers think in such terms.

I know, really. We are - we are homers and losers because we think it's unreasonable to expect to win Superbowls every year. Someone needs to come by and beat the shit out of us until we recognize conspiracies in everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - and then start just accepting the fact that if we don't win the Superbowl every year, things are terrible and miserable and people need a firin' 'til things start getting right around here. cuz Rodgers ain't gettin' younger and TT refuses to surround him with the talent he needs to win. Or something like that.

[Maxie the Taxi]

[mraynrand]

That's what my brother said to me just before he sailed away under my contraption of fourteen linked kites in a high wind. My parents still haven't forgiven me.

[Striker]

I love how you homers are using the failures of others as a salve for the failures of our own.

Losers and excuse makers think in such terms.

[pbmax]

I love how you homers are using the failures of others as a salve for the failures of our own.

Losers and excuse makers think in such terms.

A person or a team cannot hope to improve if they do not first correctly identify their shortcomings.

~ Aeschylus


Bob McGinn is a font of disinformation.

~ pbmax

[pbmax]

I don't get why he disliked TT's moves so much.

The Packers were the preseason odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl. To me that says you have a pretty good team put together to have Las Vegas rank you as #1. Obviously, the season didn't turn out how we wanted.

And he identified them himself as such. Then he reiterated it after they lost Nelson.

So in hindsight, Ted sucks.

[Bossman641]

McGinn has to be grading TT on in season moves only. Look how often he has hammered TT for not picking up Vernon Davis, regardless of the fact that Davis was a disappointment in Denver.