Shermbutt Alive?
In order of importance:1. The Motor City Pussycats looked, played, and smelled more like a rotted Ox corpse than like ferocious Lions. They just aren’t very good, mainly because they are undermanned. Their D-line looks powerfull, but they tire quickly and couldn’t hold-up as the Packers dominated the time of possession. Also, their best players are out. Harrington did not look great, but he looked like Harrington. “Harrington today, gone tomorrow” seems to be his motto, playing good on some weeks, bad on others.
2. Having Shermbutt otherwise occupied and distracted certainly helped the team. The fact that he was consumed with the offensive play calling, not even watching the defense, seemed to really loosen up the team. Maybe next game they can send him out for doughnuts, then forget to let him back into the stadium, …the Packers would probably win by 50!
Not really, …but I think his lack of involvement with the majority of the team was a plus.
3. Sherbutt did a lot better than Rossley. That was obvious. The main thing I noticed in the first drive and throughout the game was that they used their personnel much better. They spelled Ahman often, they used more than a handful of plays, and they utilized players whose names we had scarcely heard all year. Nice job of mixing it up and keeping the defense guessing.
Rossley, who Favre hates, is obviously tone deaf to this. If I was him, I would retire out of decency.
4. The offensive players all talked about how happy they were that Ray Sherman, Doug Peterson, Favre, and Darrel Bevel were often sought out for opinions, thoughts, and philosophy. Together, those guys know a lot more about moving the ball than Rossley. Shermbutt smartly used that knowledge.
5. With no receiving or running threat to worry about, the Packers were able to play tough, tight defense. This yielded the play of the game when Sharper grabbed an INT and took it in for 6.
6. And lastly, the speech. The players talked about a speech Shermbutt gave Saturday night that helped inspire them on to victory.
This last point leads to one my main criticisms of Shermbutt, that he has failed to motivate these players, to give them a sense of purpose, and to properly prep them for battle. While he did do these things this week, what about weeks 2-5? What about the collapses last year? Why did he wait so long?
Because he didn’t realize it was a problem until his head was on the block. He is so out of touch and so removed from the players that he did not realize that their intensity, attitude, and focus had depleted.
He knows now, and has finally done something about it, but it is too late to save this season. In order to make 8-8, they have to beat all the mediocre and bad teams on their schedule, plus also split with Minnesota.
I’m thinking they will lose in Minnesota, in Philly, and at home against St. Louis and Jacksonville. This means that if they lose to Dallas, Houston, or Minnesota at home, they will have a losing season.
To have a remote chance at the playoffs, they need to win all the winnable games, plus two games against this bunch: Philly, Minnesota, St. Louis, or Jacksonville.
Seriously tall order, …and that would give them a 10-6 season, and a remote chance at the playoffs. It would also mean that they win 8 of their last 10 games.
And even with that record, the playoffs are probably out of reach.
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