Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy has said countless times that being the head coach of the Green Bay Packers is the best job in all of professional sports. But with that job comes the constant scrutiny by the teams fans and media.
The Packers 23-16 win over the New York Giants last week pushed the Packers record to 3-1, but that’s not what those outside of Lambeau Field see. The fans and media see a 3-1 football team that is struggling at times on offense.
They see an offense that ranks 25th in the NFL, 31st in completion percentage and 19th in quarterback passer rating.
Fans watched their quarterback throw two interceptions and wide receivers drop several passes.
The response from within is to tell those concerned not to worry.
“It’s one or two plays here or there that, if they’d gone our way, if we had executed better, that it would have looked a lot better on paper,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers could be right, but I can’t help but recall back in the day, how Lindy Infante used to analyze a Packers season by saying if he could change the outcome of just seven plays, things would have been different.
While some aren’t taking the scrutiny too seriously, head coach Mike McCarthy is growing rather impatient. He jumped all over a reporter on Wednesday, who dared ask the coach why Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find anybody to throw to when he was given so much protection from his offensive line in the win over the Giants.
AUDIO: Mike McCarthy’s exchange with a reporter during his Wednesday presser :44
McCarthy’s patience level with local reporters has been growing increasingly thin.
Rodgers has dismissed his lack of accuracy on more than one occasion this season. But it is clear in watching the Packers quarterback, that many of his passes are thrown on the run or off balance with his feet not set. Sometimes that can’t be helped, but Rodgers in many cases has failed to get set when he’s had the time to do so.
Certainly, it isn’t all the fault of the quarterback. Wide receivers have dropped passes and have been guilty of poor route running.
So far, the players have kept their cool and agreed that they have work to do, but are confident things will improve.
McCarthy should probably take note. He is right. They are 3-1, just four-games into the season. It’s not all about style points. Winning is what counts.
Should the numbers be scrutinized to the level that they are, even in victory? Probably not. But this is Green Bay. The Packers are the only thing that matters to the majority of the fans. They spend their money and their time on the Green & Gold. They want to feel good about winning and about how winning looks.
That’s the issue at the moment, how winning looks. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but McCarthy has to learn to live with and embrace it, because the stress that goes with the alternative isn’t worth it.