Where's their Heart?

After losing to the Panthers on Sunday, the Packers are in third place in the NFC North at 5-7. It doesn't look like they are going to successfully defend their division title and go to the playoffs in January.

What went wrong against the Panthers? Well, the easy thing to say is they had breakdowns on defense and special teams. But, those aren't the only things that went wrong.

Let's start with Mike McCarthy's play calling in the fourth quarter. Specifically, the series of plays starting with that second and goal at the Carolina one. Two straight runs? Brandon Jackson for no gain and John Kuhn up the gut for no gain. That led to a Mason Crosby field goal that snapped the 28-28 tie but also obviously left way too much time on the clock with just under two minutes to go.

The two runs didn't fool the fans in the seats or the fans watching at home, let alone the Carolina Panthers. The bottom line is that Mike McCarthy did what he has done in big spots throughout his tenure as Packers head coach. He went into a shell and got too conservative. Is there a rule that says you have to run the ball from the one? Why not throw it, like they did earlier in the game to Donald Lee on a five yard touchdown pass?

McCarthy has done the same thing in other games this year. He did it in big spots last year as well, specifically against the Giants in the NFC Championship game and against the Bears on that October Sunday night at Lambeau. McCarthy has regarded around the league as having one of the most creative offensive minds in the game, but in big spots the creativity seems to disappear.

Combine the lack of creativity with special teams breakdowns and a defense that gave up its share of big plays, and you get a 35-31 loss that leaves the Packers with absolutely no margin for error in the last month of the season if they want to make the playoffs.

Again, those three things would be the easy way to explain not only what happened on Sunday, but what has happened with this team all season long. The better explanation is this. The Packers do not have the same heart they did a year ago.

The Panthers loss certainly was not the only heart breaker the Packers have had this season. They went to Tennessee and gave the Titans everything they could handle but lost in overtime. They went to Minnesota and lost late to the Vikings. Those were games that the Packers of a year ago would not have lost. The 2007 Packers had their share of luck, to be sure, but they also had heart. A lot more heart than the 2008 team has.

The difference between the 2007 and 2008 teams, of course, is a certain Hall of Fame quarterback that is now playing in New York. Brett Favre is the living definition of heart, fire, and desire. While he was with the Packers, he had enough of those traits to cover for the rest of the team. With him gone, it is a different story.

This is not to say that the lack of heart is Aaron Rodgers' fault. It just isn't fair to ask a first year starter in the NFL, who hasn't played regularly since his last year in college in 2004, to take over for a legend and match the legend's success.

Statistically, Rodgers has been fantastic, throwing for 20 touchdowns and just ten interceptions. It's the intangibles that Rodgers has struggled with, the intangibles that, in part, made Favre who he is. That being said, Rodgers shouldn't be held accountable for the lack of heart this team has displayed.

Is Rodgers a leader? He looks like he is. But, if you go back to the 1996 season, it was Reggie White, not Favre, who was the emotional leader in that locker room. White was the guy who had those Packers fired up before every single game.

There is no one on this Packer team who has shown the ability to do what White did. And that is really a shame, because there are enough respected veterans in that locker room that someone should step up and fill the emotional void. Where is Donald Driver in all of this? What about Aaron Kampman, who was a lightly regarded lineman when he came out of Iowa, and through hard work and determination, became one of the NFL's better pass rushers.

There are others that could be helping in terms of being that emotional leader. Al Harris, for one. Charles Woodson. Mark Tauscher, Chad Clifton. These are just a few of the veterans that the young guys look up to. These are the guys that should be the emotional leaders of this team.

When Reggie White retired (the first time), the Packers leaned, not on a young player in his first year as a starter, but Favre, for emotional leadership. That was part of the reason the Packers had a run of fifteen straight non-losing seasons.

Now that Favre is gone, someone else has to step up. Would it be great if it was Rodgers? Sure, but you cannot expect that of him in his first year as a starter. You should expect that from some of the other veterans in the locker room.

Right now, it doesn't look like this team has an emotional leader. It looks like this team is too business-like in its personality. Until someone, whether it's a player or coach, becomes the emotional leader, the heartbeat of the team, we are going to see what we have seen lately. A team good enough to win, but a team that lacks the heart, desire, and killer instinct to complete the job.