Following Sunday’s defeat to Arizona, head coach Mike McCarthy of the Green Bay Packers was dismissed. It was a startling move, but the move was probably coming.
Following the Green Bay Packers’ 20-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, there was general agreement that Mike McCarthy’s stint as head coach may come to an end as a result of the upset. Few few anticipated that the shift would occur so rapidly. Only a few hours later, the Packers said that Joe Philbin, their offensive coordinator, will take over as head coach in an acting capacity in lieu of McCarthy. McCarthy’s 13-year tenure in Green Bay came to an untimely and shameful end with that shocking news.
“The Green Bay Packers’ goals and standards have not been met by the 2018 campaign. Packers CEO Mark Murphy thanked Mike McCarthy for his service in a statement and stated, “As a result, I took the tough decision to remove him of his duties as head coach, effective immediately.” “Mike has led the Packers and been a fantastic head coach for 13 seasons, during which we have had a lot of success both on and off the field.”
McCarthy has undoubtedly had a good tenure in Green Bay, but it was clear that the previous strategies were no longer effective. There was a growing feeling that, unless a miraculous comeback, this was going to be McCarthy’s season as the losses piled up. Following a home defeat to a Cardinals squad that had won precisely two games, the Packers’ record dropped to 4-7-1. The team concluded there was no use in postponing the inevitable.
Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback, had the final say on the matter, as he usually does in Green Bay. For the most of his career, Aaron Rodgers has been among the top starting quarterbacks in the game. The club has made the playoffs each year that he has been healthy since 2008, and he is a two-time MVP. But in all those travels, he has only emerged victorious in one Super Bowl. Although the kind of players the club has surrounded McCarthy with has a part in it, there has been a perception that McCarthy’s play-calling has been, at most, inconsequential. The Packers had no intention of making any significant changes as long as the Rodgers-McCarthy combination was winning and making it to the postseason. The Packers, who are now in third place in the NFC North and have lost their previous three games, will not be participating in the postseason this year.
Sports Illustrated published a thorough piece by Kalyn Kahler titled, quite bluntly, “How It All Went Wrong in Packerland” only a few days ago. McCarthy and Rodgers are reportedly becoming more tense, especially when it comes to play-calling. The fact that Rodgers, a player of extraordinary intelligence, is frequently allowed to direct his own plays has increased conflict: “McCarthy may call the same play three times in a game, without the play really being performed as he called it.” Furthermore, it may ruin the vibe for the remainder of the game if McCarthy calls a play that Rodgers finds objectionable early on. This relationship was never going to continue very long, to put it mildly, and when a head coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback are at odds, a club is going to go with the quarterback. It is just not realistic for Green Bay to search for and interview prospects to take Aaron Rodgers’ place.
Naturally, even if the two were in agreement, there’s a chance that other factors would have compelled the team to alter direction. There was a general feeling across the league after this season that the team needed a new beginning in order to maximize its chances of winning with Aaron Rodgers. McCarthy may not have been the cause of the Packers’ underperformance, but complacency on its own may occasionally be fatal. The question now is where the team goes from here, presuming Philbin is only a stopgap rather than a serious contender for head coach. They’ll have lots of time to consider it.
Week’s MVP
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers were defeated 43–16 by the Seahawks. Wilson completed 11–17 passes for 185 yards via the air, which isn’t particularly impressive, but he did so with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Regarding the economics, there is something to be stated.
Weekly Stat
19 years old.That’s how long it took Tom Brady, the unfathomably immovable quarterback for the New England Patriots, to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing. In his team’s 24-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, he reached the milestone. In maybe an understatement, Brady declared following the game, “Obviously I’m not a scrambler.” With their current 9-3 record, the Patriots appear to be in a strong position to win the AFC East.
The week’s quote
Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt said ESPN, “I recognized what I did when I viewed the tape,” in reference to the unsettling film that his team decided to remove.
It’s never too early to spin, I suppose. Days after Kareem Hunt’s brutal attack on a lady in a hotel corridor was made public by TMZ, the now-empty-handed Hunt made a pathetic attempt to apologise on ESPN. Additionally, he stated, “I’m not that sort of guy,” which is obviously false.
Meanwhile, everything that has come to light has demonstrated that the NFL has not changed in the slightest since the Ray Rice incident some years ago. It appears that during its investigation, the NFL did not speak with Hunt or the victim. Other than the fact that the league occasionally would like to remain in the dark about its sportsmen abusing women, it’s hard to draw any conclusions from what we’ve heard thus far.
The Chiefs had a real football game on Sunday in the midst of all of this. The Chiefs appeared to be the same club even without Hunt: their formidable offensive outscored the Oakland Raiders 40 points to win, while their dubious defense let up 33 points. From a purely football perspective, the Chiefs are still an intriguing club, but this season has been clouded by doubts about how the league and the franchise handled the Hunt issue.
In Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants both caught and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass. Who was the last receiver for the Giants to do that? That was back in Week 5, with Odell Beckham Jr. After Beckham’s valiant efforts, the Giants prevailed 30-27 in overtime, but not before Bears running back Tarik Cohen tied the score with a touchdown throw of his own.
In other parts of the leagueIn the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams have once again established themselves as the team to beat. They were discussing things with the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints before to this week, but they have separated themselves from the group. Initially, they prevailed over the Chiefs in that completely absurd Monday Night Football match, 54–51. With a 30-16 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, they increased their record to 11-1. Concurrently, the 10-2 Chiefs are addressing the controversy surrounding the Kareem Hunt video and the Saints—well, those Saints.The New Orleans Saints were defeated 10-2 by the Dallas Cowboys, despite their 13-10 setback. With this victory—one of the best defensive efforts of the season by any team—the Cowboys raised their record to 7-5 and extended their winning run to four games. Right now, Washington has to be favored to win the NFC East since they are still struggling with the loss of quarterback Alex Smith.
– On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals—who are already missing quarterback Andy Dalton—got more worse injury news. The Denver Broncos defeated the Rams 24–10 Sunday, and wide receiver AJ Green suffered a scary-looking non-contact toe injury.
His situation is still unclear.For the Carolina Panthers, who have officially lost tight end Greg Olsen for the season, the news was even worse.
Olsen tore his plantar fascia in the same foot that required surgery on it the previous season during their 24-17 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He remarked following the game, “I’ve got to get this foot put back together a little bit. It’s been a long time since my foot has been normal.” The Panthers, on the other hand, are now 6-6 and their once bright season is in ruins.
Before kickoff, the Houston Texans observed a minute of silence in memory of the late President George H.W. Bush, who often attended their games. In his tribute, they went on to destroy the Cleveland Browns, building a 23-0 lead before halftime.
The game was never in question, even if the Browns put together a better second half to make the 29-13 finish appear something more palatable. With a nine-game winning streak under their belt, the Texans have bounced back from their 0–3 start and appear to be favorites to win the AFC South.
On Sunday Night Football, the Los Angeles Chargers successfully fought back from a 23-7 lead at halftime to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers 33-30 on their third try at the game-winning field goal.
The first two tries by the Chargers were unsuccessful and blocked, respectively, but Pittsburgh’s subsequent offsides flags negated both. The Steelers’ record dropped to 7-4-1, weakening their hold on the AFC North, while the Chargers’ record improved to 9-3, keeping them in the AFC West. It seems likely that they will search for a new special teams coach at some point in the near future.
