Monday Sports 12/3/18 McCarthy Fired
3 December 2018 Sports
Sports from Wayne Mausser
A few hours after the Packers suffered a disappointing 20-17 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Mike McCarthy was fired as head coach. President Mark Murphy named offensive coordinator Joe Philbin as interim coach and said he’s beginning the search for a new successor. McCarthy was in his 13th year in Green Bay and his team won Super Bowl 45. However last season the team stumbled to a 7-9, missing the playoffs after losing quarterback Aaron Rodgers for 10 weeks. This season Green Bay is 0-6 on the road with Sunday’s loss are 4-7-1 on the season and virtually out of any playoff considerations. The Packers were 14 point favorites against the 2-9 Cardinals coming in and handed quarterback Aaron Rodgers his first defeat at Lambeau Field since the 2016 season.
Zane Gonzalez kicked a 44-yard field goal for Arizona with 1:41 left, Green Bay’s Mason Crosby missed a 49-yard attempt as time expired and the Cardinals braved wintry conditions to hold on for a 20-17 win on Sunday.
Crosby pushed his kick wide right, with the flags atop Lambeau Field blowing in toward the field at the time of the kick.
Cardinals rookie Josh Rosen struggled for much of the afternoon, but hit veteran wideout Larry Fitzgerald for a sliding 32-yard completion on third-and-23 to help set up Gonzalez’s winning kick.
Aaron Rodgers was 31 of 50 for 233 yards and a touchdown. A couple throws looked off, especially in the first half, and receivers had a few drops as well. Davante Adams caught 8 passes for 93 yards including a 13-yard touchdown catch that gave the Packers are 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Aaron Jones rushed 11 times for 36 yards and tied the game up with an eight-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Green Bay hosts Atlanta on Sunday.
Elsewhere in the NFC North, the Rams won at Detroit 30-16, the Vikings lost at New England 24-10 and the Bears loss in overtime on the road to the Giants, 30-27. The Bears drop to 8-4 but still lead the NFC North while Minnesota drops to 6-5-1 with four games left.
Last night the Chargers stunned the Steelers at home, 33-30 and tonight Washington plays at Philadelphia.
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