Arnie Stapleton writes up a good summation of the Packers' season so far. The organization made two glaring mistakes. First, Mike Sherman overreacted on the 4th and 26 miracle play against the Eagles in last year's playoffs by dumping defensive coach Ed Donatell. Ed's now commanding the stout 4-0 Atlanta Falcons defense. Bob Slowik replaced him and installed a blitz-heavy scheme the players haven't become comfortable with. It also doesn't help that monster defensive tackle Grady Jackson is hurt. Without him or a decent replacement the opposing offensive line doesn't have to double team anyone which prevents Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila or blitzers from pressuring the quarterback.
Jackson's injury leads me to the second glaring mistake. Mike Sherman isn't a very good general manager. In the off-season it was pretty obvious how important Grady Jackson was to the defense's success. When you're dealing with a 350-pound man you should assume he will get hurt sometime in a 16-game season. Sherman didn't get adequate depth at defensive tackle. Instead he moved ahead in the draft to nab a punter who's so erratic the team had to find another one. The Packers have to be the only team in the NFL with two punters on the roster. That's a spot that could be filled with another defensive lineman, but Sherman refused to admit he made a mistake.
Regardless of how the Packers end up this season team president Bob Harlan must reevaluate his decision to make Sherman a GM/head coach. History shows us Sherman can coach. They just have to get someone to get him quality players. Ron Wolf, want to come out of retirement?
"Packers are a Team in Turmoil Even without McKenzie"
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