NFL: Beat of the drum! Packers sack McCarthy

Green Bay! The Packers pulled the rip cord shortly after the surprising defeat against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 – and sacked head coach Mike McCarthy.

This was announced by the Packers in a statement about two hours after the end of the game. Team President Mark Murphy’s statement reads: “The 2018 season did not meet our expectations and the standards of the Green Bay Packers. As a consequence, I made the difficult decision to dismiss Mike McCarthy as Head Coach with immediate effect.”

McCarthy is “a great head coach and leader of the Packers for the last 13 years, during which we had a lot of success on and off the field. We want to thank Mike, his wife Jessica and the whole McCarthy family for everything they have done for the Packers, Green Bay and Wisconsin communities. We’ll start looking for a new head coach for the Green Bay Packers immediately.”

McCarthy had reportedly known nothing of the imminent dismissal and was surprised by the decision after the surprise bankruptcy of Arizona. Green Bay has now lost three games in a row and five of the last six games. There were repeated reports of significant tensions between McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers; a separation after the season had increasingly been announced.

With the recent bankruptcy, the last playoff dreams in Green Bay are probably over. Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin now takes over as Interim Head Coach.