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The season is all but over for the Green Bay Packers. While Titletown is not yet mathematically eliminated from a 2018 playoff berth, they are facing a nearly impossible path to the playoffs, as Clutch Points has previously detailed.
The Packers appear to be treading in murky water. For an organization wrought with victories and beaming with pride, these waters are unchartered. For the first time in almost 15 years, there are serious question marks surrounding the Green Bay Packers.
Green Bay is currently at the mercy of a newfound power structure between head coach to be determined, rookie general manager Brian Gutekunst, and team president Mark Murphy. There were many that believed the Packers were not going to move on from recently fired head coach Mike McCarthy until after the conclusion of the 2018 season. Obviously, however, that is not what happened. Following an embarrassing loss to the Arizona Cardinals at home this past Sunday, Green Bay moved swiftly and decisively to relieve McCarthy of his head coaching duties.
The past two days that have ensued have been comprised of social media madness. Fans, bloggers, and writers are discussing and speculating as to who will be the next head coach of the infamous green and gold. The Packers head coaching job will be one of the most, if not the most, coveted jobs this offseason. Coaches, and prospective assistants, will be lining up to inject new life into this Packers franchise. That alone should have fans excited.
This isn't a rebuild either. The Packers have an incredible amount of talent at several positions. The reason that pundits were calling for McCarthy's firing was due to the under utilization of this talent.
For the new head coach, there will be an innate desire to field an innovative and creative offense in 2019. An offense led by star quarterback Aaron Rodgers should be near the top, if not best offense, of the league every single year. But, this year the offense was simply depressing and disappointing.
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There is a good chance that the next head coach of the Packers will be an offensive guru; a wizard with the dry erase marker. But, more importantly, this team needs a guiding light. A leader and motivator of men. This team specifically needs someone with whom Rodgers can banter and thrive with. Who that is remains to be determined.
The next step is cleaning up the roster. The Packers entered the season as one of the younger rosters in all of the NFL despite some aging talent. However, that aging talent is holding the roster back as a whole.
The final four weeks of the 2018 regular season should be used to evaluate the quality of the young talent on this roster. That is not saying that the Packers should tank, however, playing some of the younger players over the proven stars could benefit this team more in the long run. This would give Gutekunst a solid opportunity to evaluate his options going into 2019 free agency and the 2019 draft, in which both cases will be strong opportunities for the team to improve this offseason.
There may be some unpopular moves this offseason. But, tough moves are necessary to move forward. It began with McCarthy and it won't end there.
This team, coaches and players, could and most likely will look very different heading into the 2019 season. Whether that is good or bad remains to be determined. It is good to finally see the initiative being taken to get this team back to a championship level as opposed to just a winning one.
