Playoff elimination is exactly what the Green Bay Packers need to give Aaron Rodgers what he truly deserves.
Carolina beat Green Bay 31-24 on Sunday in Rodgers' return from a collarbone injury, which effectively knocked the Packers out of the NFC playoff race for the first time in nine seasons. (The Falcons with their win over the Bucs on Monday offcially eliminated the Packers.)
"We are not out of it yet but we have had a great run around here," Rodgers said afterward in his press conference. "As long as I am here, I am confident that we will be in the mix every single year."
They will be — no question. Rodgers has led the Packers to the postseason in each of the last eight seasons, several with run-the-table drama. That happened in 2010 en route to Super Bowl XLV. It happened when he returned from a collarbone injury in 2013 and last year with six straight victories to close the regular season en route to the NFC championship.
Rodgers is great.
The Packers are not.
Green Bay can no longer count on the "Save us, Aaron!" routine. If we're having this same conversation next year, it will be an indictment on the Packers' organizational refusal to put Rodgers in position to win a second Super Bowl.
The Packers in some way need to shake up the combination of general manager Ted Thompson, coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Thompson needs to take more chances with personnel. McCarthy is an interesting discussion. Capers likely takes the fall. It doesn't have to be all three, but status quo is no longer good enough. Anything less than a shake-up is irresponsible given what the Packers have in Rodgers.
Otherwise, the same movie will unfold, and Rodgers will be this generation's Dan Marino, an incredible talent who was never given the right supporting cast. We know the difference is that one Super Bowl ring, but the comparison sticks. Rodgers is 1A-1B with New England's Tom Brady, much like Marino was with Montana in the 1980s.
Brady has the Patriots in position to win a sixth Super Bowl. He's one of 12 quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl wins as a starter, and one of three who spent their entire time as starters with one coach. Brady has Belichick. Roger Staubach had Tom Landry and Terry Bradshaw had Chuck Noll. Those are systemic dynasties.
The Packers are not. They have not been able to get back to the Super Bowl with Rodgers. It's not quite the same as the Brett Favre era, which produced back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, but it's fair to expect more. Not from Rodgers — any hot takes on his three-interception performance Sunday should be placed in the trash bin. We're talking about Green Bay here.
Since Rodgers held up the Lombardi Trophy, three flashpoints have prevented the Packers from getting back.
The first happened in Carolina on Sept. 18, 2011, when the Packers were defending that Super Bowl championship. Safety Nick Collins went down with a career-ending neck injury, a year after that Super Bowl season in which the Packers ranked second in points allowed and fifth in total yardage. Green Bay hasn't ranked in the top 10 in either category since, and the common themes revolve around the secondary.
That was the case in the NFC championship game against Atlanta last season. That was the case Sunday, when the Packers took a secondary that had three undrafted cornerbacks into a gotta-have-it game. Cam Newton responded with four TD passes. Nobody should be surprised. If the Packers keep Capers, then it's fair to demand a top-10 defense. Otherwise, that's just bad judgment by McCarthy.
Green Bay doesn't have a defense it can trust, which leads to the second flashpoint.
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It happened Jan. 15, 2015, when the Packers blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in a 28-22 loss to Seattle in the NFC championship game. Green Bay was good enough to win the Super Bowl that year despite Rodgers' leg injury. They haven't been good enough since. Rodgers' legendary Hail Mary throws weren't enough in 2015, and running the table wasn't enough last year.
Does that mean McCarthy goes, too?
Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning won Super Bowls with different coaches, but all of those quarterbacks were set up for success by their surroundings. Montana went from Bill Walsh to George Seifert; Aikman from Jimmy Johnson to Barry Switzer; Roethlisberger from Bill Cowher to Mike Tomlin; Manning from Tony Dungy to Gary Kubiak. Even Favre played under four different head coaches in Green Bay.
So if somebody else takes over at Green Bay, then it's either a big name or somebody Rodgers essentially hand-picks. That would put intense pressure on both, but it's not more than what McCarthy faces heading into 2018.
Ditto for Thompson. Have the Packers made enough improvements? Sporting News offered five suggestions in the aftermath of last year's loss to the Falcons, and the only significant change came in the running game. Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones give the Packers a youthful 1-2 punch for the future, but that's about it. The Martellus Bennett signing was a disaster. The pass defense is the same-old mess.
The protection could be better, and this season is another missed opportunity. Rodgers turns 35 next season, and his contract runs through 2020. How many swings are left?
Which brings us to the third date. It's Dec. 17, 2017, when the Packers found out that "Save us, Aaron!" is no longer good enough to get anywhere close to the Super Bowl. It's no longer enough to win the NFC North. If the Vikings beat the Packers next week, Green Bay will be 4-5 against NFC North opponents at Lambeau Field over the last three seasons. Even if the Packers would have beat the Panthers, then when would the end have come? Minnesota? Detroit? Wild-card round? This wasn't a Super Bowl team. Any realistic Packers fan knows that.
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"Well it's not the fairy tale we were hoping," Rodgers said. "As I lay in that surgery bed eight weeks ago thinking about this moment, I was hoping it would go a little differently. I'm proud of our guys for the way they have played the last few weeks."
They did play well. Backup quarterback Brett Hundley did his best in back-to-back overtime victories to give Rodgers a shot, and Rodgers still has a fantastic group of skill position players with Davante Adams next in line to get paid.
Rodgers is right about one thing. Green Bay will always be in the mix as long as he's the quarterback, and they'll always be mentioned among NFC contenders. That's the power of having 1A-1B at QB. Sunday's loss, however, means the organization can no longer hide behind playoff appearances to confront the problems keeping them away from the Super Bowl.
That's why this loss this is exactly what Green Bay needs. Rodgers deserves more. Change is coming, or at least it should be coming.
Anything else, for Rodgers' sake, wouldn't just be irresponsible.
It would be incomprehensible.
