​Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy Must Answer the Wake-Up Call

The Green Bay Packers have hit the snooze button every week since the middle of last season, but right now they have to wake up and face reality: Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy aren't doing their jobs, and this team isn't going to win until they get back to work.

Last month, Rodgers told reporters that the media, "You guys don't know what plays we're running, you don't know where the execution is, you don't know where the flaws in the execution lie." That's technically true, but when Rodgers has excellent protection and a deep crew of well-paid pass-catchers can't get open, something's wrong. When Rodgers has excellent protection and misses wide-open receivers, something's very wrong. When Rodgers, the undisputed king of the quarterback rating, puts up Brian Hoyer numbers, it's catastrophic.

Rodgers' career completion rate (64.9 percent), touchdown rate (6.3 percent), interception rate (1.6 percent), and passer efficiency rating (103.5 percent) are as good as you'll find. This season, if you exclude the ritual flogging of the Detroit Lions' cheesecloth secondary, Rodgers' numbers are appalling: 59.9 percent completion rate, 3.8 percent touchdown rate, 2.6 percent interception rate, and an average 80.4 passer rating. With the Lions game included, things look marginally better—60.2/5.5/2.2/88.4—but still near the worst, if not the worst of his career.

Mike McCarthy has been on the receiving end of criticism many times since he and Rodgers conquered the NFL in 2010, like when the Packers went 15-1 and choked in their first playoff game, or after getting owned by Colin Kaepernick (twice), or when they handed the 2014 NFC title game to the Seattle Seahawks with the most craven, gutless series of coaching decisions anyone had seen.

Throughout it all, though, McCarthy could still rely on the best quarterback of his (or maybe any) generation. Regardless of whether the running game was great or terrible, or whether the defense was great or terrible, the Packers were never more than a discount double-check away from beating anyone, anywhere, any time, thanks to Rodgers.

That magic ran out more than a year ago.

Not only have Rodgers and McCarthy not made any noticeable attempts to adjust their game plan, fold in some offensive wrinkles, or showcase young players; they've flatly and repeatedly doubled down on what hasn't been working. Moreover, they still insist that all they need to do is flip the switch.

"Obviously, we've got to flip this thing around quickly," McCarthy told Bob McGinn, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was a disappointing performance for us. We have a standard that we hold ourselves to. We did not accomplish that."

"The one to Randall would have been nice," said Rodgers, referring to sailing a pass far over the head of his wide-open $10 million-per-year receiver. "Obviously the fumble down there kills us. I missed Richard. Other than that I felt better. I felt my movement was good tonight." So Rodgers is calling a 30-16 home loss to the rookie quarterback-led Cowboys an improvement, save for three preventable mistakes.

Tell that to the Packers fans who booed and walked out en masse in the second half, after cheering Brett Favre's halftime induction to the Packers' ring of honor.

This level of play is unacceptable from a team this talented, whether or not Rodgers "knows" something the media doesn't. He and McCarthy are out of time, and out of excuses. They have to take it upon themselves to get better, or the league's only fan-owned franchise is going to have to take action.