GREEN BAY Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhn!
The chant, which had been reserved for those rare times when fullback-turned-halfback-turned-fullback again John Kuhn would actually be given the football, now rises from the Lambeau Field stands almost every time No. 30 runs onto the field. And, remarkably, he delivers almost every time for the Green Bay Packers.
Let me tell you: The thing about John Kuhn is when he runs in the game, all the fans know hes getting the ball, the defense knows hes getting the ball, but he never disappoints, Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings said after watching Kuhn score three touchdowns on an 8-yard run, a 5-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers and a 1-yard plunge in the Packers 45-17 rout of the New York Giants Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Thats the beauty of John Kuhn. I love him. I tell him, hes going to be here for a long time. He better be.
A year ago, Kuhn was getting limited touches as a lead blocker and occasional short-yardage option. After carrying six times for 22 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, hes now rushed 80 times for 281 yards and four TDs after coming into the season with only 18 career carries for 46 yards and two TDs.
When we have a red-zone meeting, we dont sit there and talk about John Kuhn, but I think our fans think we do. Im a little nervous about that, Packers coach Mike McCarthy joked, well aware of Kuhns growing status as a cult hero. Hes put together two outstanding football games. John is one of the veteran leaders on our team. Hes a tough guy, hes a detailed guy, hes a smart guy. He knows what to do when you put him in position to be successful.
And the vocal fans are so enamored with Kuhn that theyve taken to chanting his name before he gets the ball instead of afterward, as they had been doing before Sunday.
I think Mike got a little flustered there, maybe thinking they were booing him instead of it was actually the Kuhn chant, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. John's a guy who you love having on your team. His personality, he's a blue-collar guy, a guy who plays special teams. He catches the ball well, he runs the ball well, he's very smart. He's like a security blanket in the third-down (offense) when he's back there because he knows the scheme and the checks as good or maybe better than I do at times.
He's a great player for us, a great contributor, and a guy who the last couple of weeks every time you hand him the ball something good happens."
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Kuhn had eight touches on Sunday, with six going for first downs and three going for touchdowns. In his last two games, Kuhn now has 11 first downs on 17 touches and four touchdowns.
Last week against New England, Kuhn caught three passes for 27 yards and a touchdown while also rushing six times for 21 more yards, a performance that presumably led to Sundays preemptive chanting.
Its pretty funny. Its nice. I dont want to let them down, Kuhn said. They call for you ahead of time, so Ive got to try and come through.
Giants stuck: Coach Tom Coughlin and his team couldnt return to the Big Apple, spending the night instead in Appleton.
With a snowstorm battering the East Coast forcing Sunday nights Philadelphia Eagles-Minnesota Vikings game to be pushed back to Tuesday the Giants had to stay in Wisconsin an extra night, crashing at the team hotel in downtown Appleton with hopes of flying out Monday, when the New York-area airports are expected to reopen.
We're not going to go home. We can't. We're going to have to stay, Coughlin said immediately after the game. We're going right back to the Radisson, we'll have dinner back there and try to get out first thing in the morning.
As if being blown out wasnt bad enough, the players then had to stay an extra night to think about their poor showing. The Giants New York counterparts, the Jets, spent an extra night in Chicago after their loss to the Bears there, too.
Oh man, I don't care where we're at, it's going to be a long night regardless, safety Deon Grant said. If we'd go back to New York, it'd probably be a worse night. I know they're not going to be happy (back there). I looked up, the Jets lost, we lost, it's not a good look. It doesn't matter where we at. I don't care where we at, I wanted to win.
Line delivers: Facing a team that came into the game leading the NFL in sacks with 42, the much-maligned offensive line dominated. After allowing 13 sacks in the past three games, the Packers gave up only one legitimate sack Sunday.
While technically allowing two sacks one by Justin Tuck against right tackle Bryan Bulaga, the other a team sack when the ball slipped out of Rodgers hand as he was about to throw the Packers line was phenomenal, shutting down Tuck and fellow defensive end Osi Umenyiora. In fact, while he censored himself as he began to tell the story in post-game interviews, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin suggested that he joked with veteran left tackle Chad Clifton that he wasnt sure if Umenyiora even played Sunday.
I kidded (Clifton) around in th-e locker room and said, Geez, I didnt even know Im not going to say that, Philbin said, cutting himself off. I dont think the quarterback got knocked down a whole lot. Weve talked about as a staff, I think we had (allowed) 17 sacks in our first nine games and weve had 17 in the last five. Thats a concern when youre giving up three-and-a-half sacks a game. We certainly had some concerns going into the game against a real quality defensive team. These guys stepped up and did a good job.
McCarthy was overjoyed by the way both lines controlled the game, but he was especially pleased with the offensive line, which was led by veteran center Scott Wells. According to McCarthy, Wells called the team up in the locker room in pregame, and all the talk about the Giants formidable front four lit a fire under the group.
Those guys were ready to play, McCarthy said. They were sick and tired of hearing about how tough the Giants were all week, and they took it personally. Make sure you (reporters) do that again this week, because it worked. But they came out and played big.
Extra points: McCarthy had only two new injuries on his list fullback Korey Hall suffered a knee sprain, and safety Atari Bigby suffered a groin strain. It was unclear how serious each injury was, although neither player returned to the game. Bigby was sharing time with Charlie Peprah at safety before the injury. The Packers benefitted when Coughlin erred and challenged Brandon Jacobs sideline fumble. The Giants lost the challenge, then didnt have one when cornerback Sam Shields intercepted an Eli Manning pass but replays clearly showed his second foot being out of bounds. I wasnt worrying about it. I was just happy, Shields said of the pick. The Packers also got lucky when Coughlin didnt challenge Kuhns 8-yard run, since his knee was clearly down before he broke the plane of the end zone. Kuhn said he had a feeling he was down, which is why he was telling the sideline to hurriedly kick the extra point before the call could be reversed. B.J. Raji continued his dominant play with his third sack in two games, giving him 6.5 on the season. With Frank Zombo (knee) inactive for the second straight week, Erik Walden and Robert Francois shared time at right outside linebacker. Its what weve been doing all year, defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. Thats just kind of been the nature of our defense. It becomes a little bit of the culture. And I like that culture.