Tag Archives: San Francisco 49er’s

Which Is More Important?

March 4, 2014 – 3:01 pm

After last week’s “Fiasco by the Bay”, in which what was thought to be a rather competent franchise tried to “trade” their highly successful head coach to Cleveland Browns, I thought I’d weigh in. Now, whether this is a reflection of Jim Harbaugh’s inability to get along with management, a reputation that’s been earned since his earliest days in the college ranks, or not, he has still taken the 49er’s to three straight NFC Championship games and a berth in the Superbowl. This in turn sparked a debate on local sports radio of which is more important; the GM or the head coach. And who would you rather trade, Ted Thompson or Mike McCarthy?

I’d like to begin by starting with my recollections of the arrival of these two men to the Green Bay Packer’s franchise. When Ted Thompson was hired, the divide between those who were in favor and those who were not was sharp and very deep. Even though he had helped put together a Superbowl worthy team in Seattle, and was a Ron Wolf protégé, many were still unhappy with his hire. Many were backers of the man that he replaced as GM, Mike Sherman, and in retrospect, it would seem some of the anger could even be traced back to his perceived sexual orientation.

When Mike McCarthy was hired, not only did he receive the additional wrath of the Mike Sherman fans, but he was coming from San Francisco as the Offensive Coordinator of the worst offense in the league. All of this also combined to give more ammo to the Ted Thompson haters. Of course, the only thing the two of them have done since then is deliver a 15-1 season, several Division titles and a fourth Lombardi Trophy to Green Bay. Now, neither man has been perfect. From Ted’s numerous first round strike outs to Mike’s home playoff losses, there is still some room for criticism. But then again, we are not the aforementioned Cleveland Browns.

So, who would I rather trade away, or conversely, keep? Ted Thompson. I have always been in the school of thought that successful franchises are run from the top down. The GM hires the Head Coach that he wants, and then provides him with the best players possible. It is much easier for a mediocre coach to be successful with top end talent than it is for a great coach to succeed with middle of the road players. And one needs look no further than Ted Thompson’s former employer, the reigning Superbowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Even with all of the recent praise being heaped on Pete Carroll, you can not deny that his NFL career up to this point has been at best mediocre. You can even argue that his success at the college level only came with a significant bending of the rules.

What Seahawks General Manager John Schneider did was supply Carroll with some of the best players at their position in the league. Through the draft and savvy use of the free agent market, he put together a championship caliber team. In particular a defense that even in the hands of a less than stellar coach, went out and dominated one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history in the biggest game of the season.

By andylwellman | Posted in Andy Wellman | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Packers Post Game: 2013 Wildcard Playoff Edition

January 6, 2014 – 6:14 pm

Well, the 2013 season finished a lot later than I had expected. After it was revealed that Aaron Rodgers had broken his collar bone in October, I held little hope that they would even win one game without him. The fact that they still had a shot at a division title going into Week 17 was nothing short of miraculous. So many things had to come together for it to happen that this group started to have that “team of destiny” feeling to it. Of course the 2003 Packers had that same feeling until “4th and 26”.

And so the Green Bay Packer’s season came to an end yesterday on the “frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field. A place that used to be a guaranteed W but has hosted the end of the Packers post season in 5 of the last 9 playoffs. And for the second year in a row, it came at the hands of the San Francisco 49er’s, a team that is fast becoming for Aaron Rodgers what the Dallas Cowboys had become to Brett Favre. But instead of being thoroughly run over, as was the case last year in the City By The Bay, the Pack held their own. After being beat up and bruised all year long, and limping into the playoffs against an arguably superior opponent, the team managed to acquit themselves quit well in a close 23-20 loss.

The day after, I find this game leaving me with an unusual feeling. They were playing with house money, and while I always want them to win, the loss doesn’t leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, like what which would have been had they lost to the Bears the week before. A game that they would have been just as likely, if not more so, to lose. It was a game of dichotomies. While the defense rose up to twice deny the Niners a touchdown inside their own 10 yard line, and came away with a momentum generating turnover, they also could not get the timely third down stop and allowed San Francisco to bleed the clock while getting into position to kick the game winning field goal with no time remaining.

The offense started out miserably, found it’s rhythm and was able to keep up score for score, but then couldn’t find the end zone from 1st and goal at the 9. A score that would have given the Packers a four point lead and forced San Fran to score a TD to win the game. Aaron Rodgers had another miraculous escape to complete a 4th down conversion, but in the end the miracles ran out, and now we’ll have to suffer the arctic cold wondering what might have been, what needs to happen in the off season and dreaming of the warm summer days of mini camp.

By andylwellman | Posted in Andy Wellman | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)