11 months ago, I penned an article calling for the Green Bay Packers to fire their general manager, Ted Thompson, following a disastrous 44-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game.

Today, following a similarly disastrous loss to an NFC South opponent, downed 31-24 by the Carolina Panthers and following their playoff elimination due to the Atlanta Falcons victory Monday night, I am reiterating my call to the decision-makers in Green Bay.

Fire Ted Thompson.

To be fair, football is a team sport. Every man of the 53 on the roster has a responsibility in the outcome that surfaces on Sunday. Not to mention every coach, assistant, and member of the front office. But, when a pattern has emerged as it has with the Packers, it is clear that if competitivity is the true goal, change must start at the top.

As I outlined in my previous article, Ted Thompson’s approach to the draft is one that has inevitably hemmed in Green Bay. He drafts players and then refuses to sign free agent talent when his draft picks don’t produce at the level expected of them. Knowledge of that strategy is nothing new, and altogether it isn’t all awful.

To be fair, a draft and develop strategy does provide a strong central nucleus to the team that can be missing in other organizations (looking at you Cleveland). By having most, if not virtually all, of their players come up the same way, there is one less factor for players to butt heads about. Can you imagine if Aaron Rodgers had to work consistently with a guy like Terrell Owens or Richard Sherman? Keeping players like the aforementioned away ensures that the Packers do not become succumb to some of the baser, reality TV-esque aspects of the NFL and instead can focus solely on what really matters: winning football games.

That being said, as strict an adherence to this strategy as Thompson has employed over the years means that the Packers also pass up on talent that could help them win games like the one on Sunday in Carolina. For every Terrell Owens the Packers avoid the headache of dealing with, they also pass up on an Alshon Jeffrey or A.J. Bouye and miss out on massive talent.

In fact, the few big name free agents that Ted Thompson did sign, tight ends Martellus Bennett and Lance Kendricks, have not had any real impact on the Packers season, which makes sense considering the bevy of pass-catchers already at Aaron Rodgers’ disposal. In fact, as many know, Bennett is not even with the team any longer, departing in a spat with the Packers’ leading physician Dr. Pat McKenzie in November.

As I also stated in my previous article, defensive coordinator Dom Capers is at fault here too. His defenses are stale. He allowed the Panthers to post 31 points, including 242 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and no picks, from Cam Newton, good for a 128.0 passer rating. And that’s not to mention 58 yards rushing, which could have been even worse given Cam Newton’s penchant for being a dual threat. Capers’ defense also allowed almost 400 yards offense from the Panthers, while also producing absolutely zero turnovers. The Packers, meanwhile, gave the ball up four times, including an uncharacteristic three interceptions by Aaron Rodgers, clearly caused by the impairment of his throwing ability by the collarbone injury for which he missed the last two months of play.

I could quote a litany of statistics or opinions from talking heads like the ones I’ve already given above, but they’d only be more of the same. Dom Capers’ defenses are bad. At best, they scrape the edge of mediocrity. And in conjunction Ted Thompson has given both Capers and head coach Mike McCarthy depleted rosters year in and year out, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Aaron Rodgers is beyond fabulous, likely the best player in the game now and possibly the best of all time. And as such, he can’t continue to be the only, game-winning factor game after game. One man cannot play substitute for all 53 plus.

Fire Ted Thompson. Fire Dom Capers. It’s that simple.