The Green Bay Packers take on the struggling Atlanta Falcons this weekend. They are out of the Mike McCarthy era, and it’s time to open up the future.

The Green Bay Packers season has officially bottomed out. A season that began with Super Bowl dreams has come to a 4-7-1 record with a matchup against the equally disappointing 4-8 Atlanta Falcons. The team made the decision to fire longstanding head coach Mike McCarthy in the middle of his 13th season, and they are now in the Joe Philbin era. This week is how they start moving forward towards the future of rebuilding them to the title contender they once were.

After an embarrassing loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the team needs to come out with some passion and fire that they have lacked all season. In other situations, see Cleveland Browns, a coaching change can be all the difference necessary to make things get back on the right path. Will that be the situation for this team? We won’t know until Sunday’s game ends, but the rest of the season should be focused on the development of the team’s younger players.

These are two of the most injury-bitten teams in the NFL. We will see our fair share of backup players, but, for the Packers, that is ok considering the future youth movement that they are heading towards. This is their audition for their future head coach, whether that is Philbin or any other number of candidates. They have to make their statement right now, and it starts with these matchups.