Snowplowed In Seattle » Brats & Beer

November 28, 2006
posted under: Packers, Post-game, Seahawks

If anyone happened to get the license plate number of the truck that ran over the Packers last night, please contact the Green Bay defense so they can call their insurance company.

Well, it was another Monday night and another embarrassing performance by the Green & Gold, only this time it wasn’t the defensive secondary causing the big gaffes but the big men up front. The Seagals of Seattle plowed through the Green Bay line like a Toro Power Max through two-foot snow drifts, racking up 235 yards rushing. Going into the game, the Packers had allowed an average of 3.7 yards rushing per carry; last night Seattle gained 4.9 yards per running play.

It didn’t help matters that the offense was only able to create seven points off three turnovers in the first half, and when they had the ball in the second half they only scored 10 more points. (Congrats, though, to rookie linebacker Abdul Hodge for scoring his first NFL touchdown on his first fumble recovery.) A big part of the problem there, of course, was the lack of any sort of rushing attack by the Packers. While Shaun Alexander was running willy nilly all over the place, Ahman Green gained a paltry 44 yards on 14 carries.

I wonder, too, how much of a bribe the officiating crew took from Mike Holmgren last night? The phantom holding call on Marquand Manuel was bad enough and the delay of game call against Cory Williams was comedic in the least, but the roughing penalty on Cullen Jenkins was just flat out ridiculous. Favre took more than a couple shots that were as late or later than the one Jenkins delivered, but no flag was ever thrown.

But the criminal incompetence of the officials didn’t cost the Packers the game last night, there was enough of that on the Green Bay sideline. Clearly, something went wrong on the defensive line calls because there’s no reason for anyone to run for 200 yards against Ryan Pickett, Aaron Kampman, and that linebacking corps. They just got outplayed and out-coached. And maybe it’s time Mike McCarthy turned the play calling over to someone else, because he seemed to be in a real rut: Every running play was to the left side of the line, so much so that Seattle started to stack up on that side. And even that didn’t encourage McCarthy to try a run in the opposite direction.

The Packers are now 4-7 and definitely out of the playoff hunt, so it is time, I think, for McCarthy and Ted Thompson to start re-evaluating the coaching staff and the schemes, and time for some heads to roll. In most of the games I’ve seen, the Packers look like a JV squad just getting lined up for the next play, like no one’s sure what they’re supposed to be doing. Youth is part of that, yes, but it comes down to coaching and pre-game preparation, and that seems to be an area where Green Bay has been sorely lacking all season.