I am not a fan of the Green Bay Packers. I do not root for them and I never have. I high-fived my dad after the 2011 Super Bowl victory, but that was about as far as it went.

My allegiance for a quarter century resided on South Beach, but that relationship was rugged and became more and more depressing each season. In 2015 I live-streamed a raffle out of a hat and the Atlanta Falcons became my new favorite team. And I have gone all in since.

That said, because I am not a Packers fan doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to their organization — especially since just about everyone else I know has a deep rooting interest and I live in Wisconsin. Instead, I observe from the outside. It helps that my day job is to be an objective sports writer, and with that a chance to analyze teams, coaches and players from all across the athletic universe.

So when the Packers fired Mike McCarthy after their stunning home loss to lowly Arizona, it came as no surprise to me. In fact, it should have happened a week ago. Actually, a year ago. And if I’m being entirely honest, four seasons ago.

Yes, McCarthy won a Super Bowl and had a perennial championship team for the past decade. And while he made the NFC championship a number of times, a lot of that could be contributed to an X-factor he inherited: A coming-of-age all-time QB in Aaron Rodgers (and, in 2007, Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre). 

To have just one championship in that timeframe is similar to the Atlanta Braves winning just one World Series after winning their division year after year for more than a decade with three Hall of Fame pitchers and a Hall of Fame third baseman. While the consistent level of playoff contention is nice to a fan base, multiple championships should be the outcome. Anything less is a failure.

McCarthy’s offense in recent years had stagnated. It went from a 45/55 run/pass split to almost 30/70. Teams knew what was going to happen — Aaron was going to pass. And if teams could get past the oft-injured offensive line and put pressure on Rodgers, he’d have to rush routes and would be exposed to injury. 

While Rodgers is a magician out of the pocket, his health is not that of Favre, who avoided many of the leg injuries and concussions that most quarterbacks end up dealing with sometime in their career.

With Rodgers sidelined, the Packers were continuously a subpar team. Beyond subpar, actually. Much far beyond.

If you want to say “good QBs getting hurt will ruin anyone,” I beg to differ. A great quarterback is hard to find, no doubt. But losing any player, even the QB, means the coaching staff has to adjust. Bill Belichick won 11 games one season while Tom Brady blew out his knee, and went 3-1 with Brady suspended for Deflate-gate a few years ago. The Eagles just won the Super Bowl with their journeyman backup QB, and Green Bay’s former preseason backup QB, Taysom Hill, is playing wildcat QB, FB, TE and is a special teams sensation for playoff-bound New Orleans.

Both LA teams and Chicago have young coaches with innovative offensive minds. They lead the league in offensive yards and points. New Orleans has found ways to be productive, as has New England. Kansas City, with ageless wonder and Santa Claus impersonator Andy Reid at the helm, is blowing teams out of the water even after losing one of the best four running backs in the league.

These other teams are evolving their offenses to suit their roster, as well as to find ways to poke holes in the defense and make big plays. Mike McCarthy used to do that. But either he got stubborn in his ways (and having the magician Rodgers bail him out all the time), or his playbook was stolen like Coach Klein in “The Waterboy.” To hell with the blown timeouts, fourth-down decisions and failed onside kick coverage — Green Bay’s offense went stale and the Packers roster (namely Rodgers) lost faith in their coach.

Now the search for a new leader begins. In the meantime, two-time assistant Joe Philbin takes over. Don’t get too excited, Cheeseheads. Philbin was hired and fired by Miami before I divorced the Dolphins. The offense wasn’t very innovative and the players never believed in him. So let’s just go ahead and say that the interim tag will stay interim for the rest of the season, then he will be out when the new coaching staff takes over.

And you better hope the new staff gets the immediate approval of Rodgers. Next year he’s 36, and your window of contention is now down to about 3-5 seasons at most. Meanwhile McCarthy will end up in Cleveland, have a few good seasons before things go sour and he’s out in five. Because it’s Cleveland, and everything sours quickly on the south shore of Lake Erie.

— Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and would like to remind you that there are now just 67 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.