Isn’t that a common thought right now?

After a downright embarrassing 38-10 loss to the giants in prime time Sunday, a lot of people are searching for a scapegoat to take their anger out on.

If it was the offense that played poorly, it might be Tom Clements receiving the wrath of Packer fans. If the defense didn’t show up, it’s Dom Capers’ fault. If Special Teams were anything less than special, Shawn Slocum might be the recipient of the anger.  Someone has to be responsible, right?

When the team plays as poorly as it did, it has to be the Head Coach’s responsibility to answer the question “What the hell happened?”

Sunday was perhaps the nadir of McCarthy’s tenure in Green Bay. Thoroughly outplayed in all aspects of the game, he failed to adapt to what the Giants were doing, admitting as much with his comments after the game

He didn’t dodge any questions, and put the full weight of the teams performance on his shoulders:

“I’ll start with just the facts, we were totally beaten this evening. Congratulations to the New York Giants. We were beaten in every facet, really starting with myself.

“I feel when your team performs that way, it starts with the head coach. We had mental errors. The penalties. It was out of character for our football team. Very disappointing loss on ‘Sunday Night Football’ and a big NFC battle.”

“I haven’t felt like this probably since the first game I coached…Beaten very thoroughly tonight. It doesn’t taste good; it doesn’t feel good…”

Like I said, Mike McCarthy sucks.

Now while many of you are nodding your heads in agreement, I encourage you to stop nodding, take a deep breath, and think for a second about what you’re agreeing to. Do you really believe that McCarthy is a bad coach? Or is the emotion of one loss-ONE LOSS- letting you dictate what you believe today?

Keep in mind this is the same coach who led a team nobody expected to do anything to a NFC Championship Game in 2007.

Remember this is the same coach who led the 2010 team to Super Bowl glory.

This is also the same coach who kept his team focused in 2011 after expectations were set sky high and led them to a 15-1 record, before ultimately losing focus in the playoffs.

Even more recently, this is the same coach who just led the Packers to a five game winning streak.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but good teams will occasionally play bad games. That is exactly what Sunday was-a very, very bad game.

If you take a look at McCarthy’s tenure in Green Bay, every season has included at least one blowout loss (more than 10 points) except for one-2010.

In so many ways, the 2010 season was the worst thing that could have ever happened to Packer fans. On their way to winning the Super Bowl, the 2010 Packers set the expectation for what every season should now be like. Being able to overcome crippling injuries that season is now expected every season.  By never losing by more than 4 points set a standard for what a loss should be. Winning a Super Bowl is now expected every season. And the worst part is there is little to no margin for error.

As fans, many of us have become spoiled rotten because of 2010. We forget what a struggle a 16 game regular season is. We forget about the ups and downs that most teams experience. One thing that many people do is when things go wrong, we are quick to point fingers at the person responsible for leading the team, and say “Get that guy out of here!”

The same guy who led this team to glory not more than two years ago and set the bar for what is expected, and it’s time for a change after one bad game. Because that makes sense.

I’ll admit, there are times that McCarthy makes decisions that leave me scratching my head, wondering “What are you doing?” Case in point: marching a struggling Mason Crosby out to kick a 28 yard field goal which cut the score to 28-10 in the second quarter. The score doesn’t indicate how badly the Packers were being beaten, and I would have gone for the 4^th and 1 to try and continue the drive. But I trusted McCarthy’s decision, the same as I trust all of his decisions as being the right one for the team. And I certainly wouldn’t say he sucked for making this call, or any of the other SMH moments he’s caused.

It could be a lot worse in Green Bay right now than a Mike McCarthy led team. Anyone willing to give Mike Martz a shot?

Mike McCarthy doesn’t suck. But there is something that sucks if you honestly think this: your attitude.

I thought I would end my 2010 football season in much the same fashion I ended 2009. It seems like forever since we’ve talked. You were more than happy to grab my ear earlier this season, but I have certainly saddened by your silence over the last couple of months.

What’s nice is that we can finally reminisce in what a fine season was had by all this year. There are so many memories I don’t even know where to begin!

I mean remember when you guys almost made it to the Superbowl in 2009? Wow, that was close. It had to be great to carry that hope into the 2010 season. Then, when you guys got Favre back I thought it was all over. I mean no one really expected Favre to waffle at all, and then when he did it must have really been a tense time. I don’t know what you guys would have done without an 11 TD 19 INT superstar this season, but let’s just assume it wouldn’t have been pretty.

If that wasn’t enough for you, I don’t know how you handled the excitement of your star wideout deciding he was too hurt to play most of the season. I love that the guys on your team get to decide when to play and not to play. It really shows how progressive your team really is.

Seriously though, how about having Randy Moss for like one game? How exciting is that? I too would give up the house to get a guy of that caliber into my locker room. I admit, every one of those 200 yards or so were amazing to watch. I missed your insight on all the depth he brought to your squad.

EDIT:

After realizing just how many extraordinary things happened to the Vikings this season, I just have to stop. It’s so easy, it’s not even fun. From the dong slinger, to Chilly, and back again there is no doubt that the Minnesota Vikings are the worst organization in football.

No quarterback, no locker room, hell no stadium.

So Vikings fans I am sorry for cutting this letter short, it just isn’t any fun anymore. It’s like picking a fight with the smallest kid on the playground.

If your team is ever good again, drop me a line.

In the meantime, there is a multitude of products I need to comb through after our Superbowl victory. I’m sure you’ll understand.

Never mind, I guess you wouldn’t.

Love,

Alex

Dear Vikings fans,

Hi guys, what a great run you had. It was a great game, and I am elated that you can now feel the pain of coming so close only to have the game thrown away by your leader and Pro-Bowl superstars.

This was your year. You got Brett Favre, the guy who was so amazing that the Super Bowl tickets should just have been mailed to you in April. I imagine it was hard to watch your invincible leader get screwed over so badly. Nine times out of ten you win.

I mean it’s obvious you guys barely got a call all game. I saw at least three times where a Saint looked at Favre wrong and didn’t get a personal foul. I will admit it was tough to watch the Silver Fox limp off the field, but at least everyone forgot about the interception.

I am so pissed we didn’t get to draft Peterson right now. That guy is frickin’ amazing. He can make the ball roll forward farther than any player I have seen in history. I mean I couldn’t believe it at first, but then he did it a couple more times just for good measure. Then, everyone started doing it. It was awesome.

It’s okay, there is always next year. I mean Favre will announce he is coming back tonight right? So, by tomorrow you should be fine knowing that you should once again have an easy road to the Super Bowl in 2010.

While you are wondering who is going to command your team next year, how many suspensions will your players actually have to serve, and how many empty seats are left… I’ll be dreaming of our twenty-something Pro-Bowl quarterback, one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and the new impact players that Ted Thompson is going to bring in to take us over the top.

Don’t worry, as a Packer fan I can tell you that most likely Favre will be back; and if you are really, really lucky, you’ll get another chance to watch an NFC Championship game get thrown down the tubes. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.

The Vikings suck.

Have a great day,

Alex

P.S. I started writing this before Favre threw it away in the fourth instead of running. Nice one Bert.