DALLAS — Breakups are never easy, but the only saving grace of Mike McCarthy’s departure from Green Bay after a nice, long stay was that the locals didn’t run him out on the street named after him. The exit “left a dent,” as the Cowboys’ coach put it Monday. And Aaron Rodgers drove the bus that made it.
A Bleacher Report story in spring 2019, citing unnamed sources, alleged that Rodgers changed roughly a third of McCarthy’s plays, questioned his coaching IQ and might even have been the source of rumors that the head coach skipped meetings to take massages.
One source told Ty Dunne that Rogers “undermined” McCarthy, perhaps because he needed someone else to blame for the team’s failings.
But that was then, and this is now as McCarthy makes his way back to Lambeau for Sunday’s reunion:
The Cowboys are rising in the hearts and minds of Vegas.
And the Packers have crapped out.
Sunday’s game represents an opportunity for McCarthy to get the last laugh, not that he’s the type to do so. At least not in public. But his team better give him reason to yuk it up, or we can question just how good the Cowboys really are.
Because if they can’t beat the mess the Packers have become in losing five in a row for the first time since 2008, they’re probably not going anywhere.
Consider how bad it’s going up in Titletown: The five-game losing streak includes losses to both New York teams as well as Washington and Detroit. Or “that team,” as Rodgers called the Lions. The latest loss also cost them the services of their best defensive player, linebacker Rashan Gary, with a torn ACL, as well as Romeo Doubs, one of the receivers charged with replacing Davante Adams. They miss Adams. The nine points the Packers put up against Detroit make three times this season they’ve scored 10 points or fewer. The quarterback was a primary culprit against the Lions, throwing three picks, two in the red zone.
Rodgers, always expansive in pointing out the failures of others on the team and in the organization, was succinct about his own shortcomings Sunday.
Probably shouldn’t have thrown this.
Off balance on that.
He had elaborated a little more when the Packers managed just 10 points against the Jets on Oct. 16, calling for Matt LaFleur to “simplify the offense.” Asked about the comments, LaFleur told reporters they’d have to ask Rodgers what he meant. The Packers’ head coach gave basically the same response a week later after a loss to Washington when asked about Rodgers’ assertion that mistakes had become chronic, implying the head coach didn’t hold players accountable.
No coach likes to answer questions raised by his players, especially if the player in question is one of the greatest quarterbacks ever.
For his part, Rodgers asserted last week that his relationship with LaFleur is better than it’s been at any point over the previous three seasons, a stretch that included 39 wins, a couple of conference title games and back-to-back MVPs.
But, when things go bad for Rodgers, history indicates he can be hard to live with. And lately it’s been as bad as it gets in Green Bay.
McCarthy could probably give LaFleur pointers on how to negotiate Rodgers’ dark periods. They got along famously early on despite the grudge Rodgers carried over the fact that the 49ers drafted Alex Smith instead of him in 2005. McCarthy, the 49ers’ offensive coordinator at the time, reportedly favored Smith. Turns out Rodgers didn’t forget that snub, even in the good times.
And when the bad times came in 2017-18, it cost McCarthy his job and a little of his reputation.
He’s rebuilding it in Dallas, if in fits and starts. No Sean Payton sightings or alerts, anyway.
Frankly, before anyone gives McCarthy a thumbs up, he’ll have to go further than he did in a first-round loss to San Francisco last season. Considering the shape of the NFC’s usual suspects, anything short of a conference championship game should be considered a bust.
BTW: In an effort to shore up those odds, Jerry Jones is practically skywriting love letters to Odell Beckham Jr. He needs to step it up. Bring in Barry Switzer, if necessary. OBJ, coming off an ACL injury, might not make a big difference in the regular season, but he was terrific in the Rams’ Super Bowl run. He’d also likely remove some of the attention on CeeDee Lamb, who hasn’t exactly responded well to the burden of being No. 1.
Despite what’s gone wrong this season and given Rodgers’ seven wins in his last eight games against the Cowboys, is it possible he could turn it around Sunday? Lesser quarterbacks than Rodgers have given the Cowboys fits. Arizona had lost three in a row last season and five of eight when Kyle Murray preserved his winning streak at JerryWorld in January.
A reporter asked Rodgers this week if his record against the Cowboys makes any difference now.
“Not really,” he said. “New teams.
“Different situations.”
This will take some getting used to, that’s for sure. Mike McCarthy needs to enjoy it while he can.
