The Green Bay Packers aren’t big on changing head coaches.

Since 1992, the Packers have had four coaches. They quickly admitted a mistake on Ray Rhodes and dumped him after one season. The other three coaches – Mike Holmgren, Mike Sherman and Mike McCarthy – combined to lead the Packers for 24 seasons.

Even though it would come as a culture shock in Green Bay, it’s time for a new head coach. When we look back on McCarthy’s 11 Packers seasons, there will be many fond memories, including a Super Bowl. But if this is McCarthy’s final season, we’ll remember Sunday as the day it was clear he’s not the right guy for the Packers job anymore.

The Packers were awful against a good, but not great, Tennessee Titans team. Had the Titans needed to pile up points, they could have dropped 50 on the Packers. Maybe 60. Instead they rode a 21-point first-quarter lead to a very easy 47-25 win. The Packers looked like they weren’t ready to play.

The Packers are now 4-5. It’s the first time the Packers have been under .500 since 2008, Aaron Rodgers’ first season as a starter. And McCarthy is a big part of the problem.

The Packers shouldn’t fire him right now, because that rarely works during a season. And McCarthy could rally and save his job. There are seven games left, and it’s not like the rest of the NFC North is pulling away. But McCarthy looks like a potential lame duck for reasons that go beyond a three-game losing streak.

Starting last Nov. 1, when the Packers were blown out at the Denver Broncos, their offense has been exposed. There’s not much creativity to it. There aren’t many play calls designed to get receivers open. They rely on receivers to win individual routes and/or Rodgers to make a phenomenal play. Rodgers’ body language on Sunday said a lot. He didn’t try to hide his displeasure after every dropped catch or failed route. Whether the Packers are wasting Rodgers’ prime is a complicated issue. But it does not seem like the Packers are fully taking advantage of one of the best quarterbacks ever, either.

There has to be some accountability for how mediocre the Packers have been this season (and really, how mediocre they have been for more than a calendar year) and how awful they were on Sunday. The Packers looked overwhelmed. According to ESPN it was the first time they trailed by 21 points in the first quarter since 1986, when Brett Favre was a senior at Hancock North Central High School. The tackling and coverage were awful. No matter how good Rodgers is, it didn’t matter. The Packers were finished before the first quarter was over. It would be OK if this was just an isolated bad day. But it came a week after getting blown out at home by the Indianapolis Colts. Going back to last Nov. 1, the Packers are 8-11 in the regular season, and one win came on a miracle Hail Mary at Detroit.

It’s also fair to wonder if the Packers need to move on from general manager Ted Thompson, too. Instead of being aggressive in building a roster around an all-time great quarterback – think John Elway building a title team around Peyton Manning with the Denver Broncos – Thompson has been the least aggressive general manager in football. He ignores free agency. His extreme approach to building through the draft has been good, but it also seems like he has created a degree of difficulty that doesn’t need to exist. Maybe the Packers need a fresh approach in the front office as well.

What the Packers are doing now isn’t good enough. They’re 4-5, with a minus-11 point differential. They’ve been dominated by the Colts and Dallas Cowboys at home, and are 1-3 on the road. Even if the Packers bounce back and win the NFC North, they aren’t a championship contender. There’s nothing about the Packers, outside of Rodgers’ individual brilliance (and even that isn’t as consistent as it once was), that should impress anybody.

McCarthy has had a great run. He’s 108-60-1 as Packers head coach. He’ll be remembered forever in Green Bay for leading a win in Super Bowl XLV. But nothing lasts forever in the NFL. The Packers look like they need to make a change. The offense, and maybe his message, has gotten stale. McCarthy has seven games to turn things around. The chances of that happening don’t look good right now.

Mike McCarthy’s Packers are just 4-5 this season (AP) More

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