Several weeks back, when it looked like the Packers would miss the playoffs entirely, there was some talk that maybe Mike McCarthy's job was in jeopardy, or that perhaps Ted Thompson's was. That talk died down when the team went on an impressive run to the NFC Championship Game. But maybe it shouldn't have.
Full disclosure, as many know I have been one of Brett Favre's biggest, most excuse-making fans for many years. I have no love for either Thompson or McCarthy, largely because of the bitter end to Favre's tenure with the Packers. Maybe Favre and his waffling ways deserved most of the blame for that, whatever. In any case, I harbor some resentment over that, so my opinions should be qualified. I'm not without my biases here.
But I'm not alone in thinking the Packers have underachieved. How much leeway do Thompson and McCarthy get for their one Super Bowl in a dozen years?
The facts are that Green Bay has been set at the quarterback position for essentially 25 years, from the day Favre entered the starting lineup -- thanks to Ron Wolf's belief in him -- through the day 20-odd NFL teams let Aaron Rodgers slip to Thompson in the 2005 NFL Draft.
In Favre's 16 years as a starter, and Rodgers' 9 years as a starter -- a quarter of a century -- Green Bay has been better than most NFL teams at that critical position. While the rest of the NFC Central and then North stumbled around, Green Bay finished 1st or 2nd in the division 21 times; a playoff team 19 times. And they won 2 Super Bowls.
Favre miscues contributed to a couple of playoff losses, sure. But the other key takeaway is that 23 times in 25 years the rest of the team wasn't good enough to win it all -- wasn't good enough to even get out of the NFC 22 times, despite a ticket in as one of the NFC's six playoff teams in 19 of those years. That falls largely on the team-builders: Wolf at the end of his run, Thompson, and the various coaching staffs.
A lot of success enjoyed in Green Bay over the years; division titles, Championship contenders. The Browns, Jets and a dozen or more other franchises -- maybe more -- would happily trade places. But that success is primarily because the most important position on the team has been set for all that time; the issue most franchises spend every offseason trying to address (and some never do). Given that, there could -- should -- have been more success. It was a failing of Ron Wolf and the coaching staff during the final years of his tenure, and with a decade of Thompson-McCarthy running things, it looks like a failing now, too.
| GREEN BAY PACKERS, 1992-PRESENT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Division | Wins | Losses | Ties | Outcome? |
| 1992 | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Missed playoffs |
| 1993 | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 1994 | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 1995 | 1st | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost NFC Championship |
| 1996 | 1st | 13 | 3 | 0 | Won Super Bowl |
| 1997 | 1st | 13 | 3 | 0 | Lost Super Bowl |
| 1998 | 2nd | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost Wild Card |
| 1999 | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | Missed playoffs |
| 2000 | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Missed playoffs |
| 2001 | 2nd | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 2002 | 1st | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost Wild Card |
| 2003 | 1st | 10 | 6 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 2004 | 1st | 10 | 6 | 0 | Lost Wild Card |
| 2005 | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | Missed playoffs |
| 2006 | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | Missed playoffs |
| 2007 | 1st | 13 | 3 | 0 | Lost NFC Championship |
| 2008 | 3rd | 6 | 10 | 0 | Missed playoffs |
| 2009 | 2nd | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost Wild Card |
| 2010 | 2nd | 10 | 6 | 0 | Won Super Bowl |
| 2011 | 1st | 15 | 1 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 2012 | 1st | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 2013 | 1st | 8 | 7 | 1 | Lost Wild Card |
| 2014 | 1st | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost NFC Championship |
| 2015 | 2nd | 10 | 6 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round |
| 2016 | 1st | 10 | 6 | 0 | Lost NFC Championship |