Loss to Cardinals 'sealed' Packers' decision to fire McCarthy
The Green Bay Packers' 20-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday turned out to be the final nail in the coffin of Mike McCarthy's tenure as head coach.
"Up until yesterday, we were hopeful to get a big win (and) turn the season around. The performance yesterday really sealed it for me," team president and CEO Mark Murphy said at Monday's press conference.
"We did not play well. To lose to a 2-9 team at home, a team from Arizona at home, that was not a good performance."
Murphy wouldn't comment on whether the decision would have changed or been delayed if kicker Mason Crosby had succeeded on his 49-yard field-goal attempt as time expired. He missed and the Packers dropped to 4-7-1, good for third place in the NFC North.
Murphy said the Packers had been in this situation with McCarthy before and a key win here or there may have changed things. But when asked if the front office would have preferred to make the move at the end of the season, he said no.
"To me, it just felt that it had run its course," Murphy said. "It wasn't anything that he particularly did wrong."
General manager Brian Gutekunst, who took over the role in January after previously acting as director of player personnel and college scouting, said the team's underwhelming 2018 season called for a change.
"We've had certain expectations and standards here for a long time. To come out at home against a team we felt we should beat, it wasn't up to our standard. I don't think we played well most of the season. Things weren't changing as they needed to change," Gutekunst said, according to ESPN's Rob Demovsky.
McCarthy had been Packers head coach since 2006. He led the team to nine playoff appearances, including a franchise-record eight straight and a victory in Super Bowl XLV.
Gutekunst doesn't think the Packers will have any trouble finding quality candidates to replace McCarthy.
"This is going to be an attractive job," he said. "This is the Green Bay Packers, this is one of the cornerstones of the National Football League, and there's a Hall of Fame quarterback."