TheEngineer
15 years ago

Staying in the Groove 

There was a very good, very clear, very obvious reason that led coach Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay Packers to push the pedal to the floor in the 16th game of the season at Arizona on Sunday:

To keep the momentum.

After the Packers began the year 4-4, they have won seven of their last eight games, with the only loss coming in a one-point shootout at Pittsburgh. They did not hold back in the season finale at Arizona, playing most of the starters and competing as if their very playoff lives depended on it.

Riding that wave is important to Green Bay for reasons beyond establishing a winning atmosphere and a justified confidence among the players. A day after the Packers dismissed Arizona with a 33-7 victory in Arizona, McCarthy explained that the momentum could help in the one area he cannot control, and thats lack of experience.

The Packers are still young. Several of them, like Mason Crosby, Ryan Grant, Greg Jennings, James Jones and Daryn Colledge, to name a few, can only draw upon their experience on the 2007 playoff team.

Twenty Packers, including the contributing rookies like Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji, and key individuals such as Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finely, Jordy Nelson, Josh Sitton and Jeremy Kapinos, have no playoff experience at all.

In contrast, the Arizona Cardinals are loaded with veteran players with postseason experience.

"Theyve won their division two years in a row," said McCarthy. "They have experience. Theyre coming off of a Super Bowl run. They have playoff experience, pretty much their whole football team. Those are the things that play to their strengths.

". . . . Well be totally in tune with the fact that playoff football is different. We have a group of men that experienced this two years ago. We have a group of men that have not experienced it."

After the game Sunday, one Packers veteran after another tried to hammer that point home.

"How they play next week, playoffs will be a whole other animal," cautioned tackle Mark Tauscher. "Its going to be a battle. I think theres no question there will be a more amped-up atmosphere than it was today."

If the Packers were overconfident, they hid it well, as if to say Tauschers message was well-received.

"We do think that momentum is hard to turn it on and off, so when you have it you want to keep it as long as possible," said Grant. He said that playing well at Arizona wasnt about a psychological advantage. "Its not about that. It never was. Of course, we expect them to come back and give us a serious fight because its the playoffs."

McCarthys next challenge will be to get the Packers ready for NFL playoff football.

"Playoff football is different than regular-season football. Anybody thats been through it will tell you that. It goes to a different level," he said.

Two years ago, the Packers had no momentum heading into the playoffs and had to hit the restart button in January after a bye. They lost at Chicago, 35-7, in the 15th game, and with the playoffs locked up, rested many starters for a good portion of the finale in a 34-13 victory over Detroit.

These Packers felt they needed the work and the experience and had to keep pushing at Arizona even when so many people considered the last game meaningless.

"We just felt like were not at the stage where we can kind of kick our feet up and take a nap for a while," said offensive coordinator Joe Philbin. "Lets just keep playing our style of football and see where that takes us. Hopefully, thats a good decision. How that plays out this week, were going to find out."

Everyone knows the Cardinals will play a different game this Sunday. Quarterback Kurt Warner will have a full 60 minutes to challenge Green Bays secondary, and the Cardinals didnt seem to put any pressure on the Packers, who pass protected long enough for Rodgers to daydream out there.

"Everybody kind of kept it vanilla," said Colledge. "They didnt do anything too super difficult on defense and they did that for a reason."

"We didnt roll out everything we had, either," said McCarthy. "Our principles are still the same, our base concepts are still the same. Weve established who we are, the way we want to play, that will not change. Now, what you do, change the face of it, those types of things, thats all part of the game planning."

Two months ago, the franchise was at a low point. Swept by Minnesota, beaten by Tampa Bay there were no hints pointing to the 7-1 run the Packers would go on to finish the year. But with that run, the Packers hope to extend it for three more games this season.

"Im in charge of their pulse and make sure when they need to get kicked in the ass, that happens, and when they need to be picked up, that happens too," said McCarthy. "We had some tough lessons that we encountered in the first eight weeks. We learned from them and we were able to put together eight weeks of good, quality football. I think the greatest strength of this football team is overcoming adversity."

"Lori Nickel" wrote:



It's interesting because, to be frank, the coaches really don't know whether playing aggressive is the correct course of action to take. I hope it is, but I hope that we do not underestimate the Cardinals.
blank
bozz_2006
15 years ago

But with that run, the Packers hope to extend it for three more games this season.

"Lori Nickel" wrote:



I'm actually hoping the Packers can keep it going for four more games. I dunno, maybe it's just me.
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jdlax (6h) : I can't believe one of my teams went out and wablammo just up and acquired one of the best players in the world overnight
dfosterf (11h) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
dfosterf (11h) : I accept Beast's admonishment regarding my failure to link stuff I reference. I simply never learned to link from my cell phone.
beast (11h) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
Mucky Tundra (14h) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
Mucky Tundra (14h) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
Zero2Cool (16h) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
Zero2Cool (16h) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
Mucky Tundra (16h) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
Zero2Cool (16h) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
Zero2Cool (17h) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
Zero2Cool (18h) : That is fair by me.
buckeyepackfan (18h) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
Zero2Cool (18h) : umm... what?
wpr (18h) : I am stunned
Mucky Tundra (18h) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
Mucky Tundra (18h) : ITS HAPPENING
buckeyepackfan (18h) : DEAL IS DONE
buckeyepackfan (18h) : MICAH IS COMING TO GREEN BAY!!!!!!!!!
wpr (28-Aug) : Me do-ed it gooderly,
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Bahah, I was like WTF why isn't anyone posting on PP.com ... oops no one has permissions
dfosterf (27-Aug) : tell her I reckon
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Micah Robinson cut. Probable PS player tomorrow. Has to call mom back and t
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : New site so much better. Might make switch and deal with it.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Mecole Hardman to our practice squad
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Nick Nieman from Texans our 5th linebacker. Special teams signing
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Looks like we signed Clayton Tune as QB3
wpr (27-Aug) : TKT people lose their minds over QB3. Point is almost none of them are ready that's why they are on the PS and other teams don't take them.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Unfortunately he doesn't seem ready to be an emergency QB.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : As a Canadian and a follower of Canadian University football. I am rooting for him
dfosterf (27-Aug) : I bet a lot of us will follow the Taylor Elgersma journey with interest. Personally, got a Kurt Warner vibe goin' on. I like him
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Not sure if either will be claimed though.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Tune or Hooker would make sense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Clayton Tune cut by the Cards? Don't know if that's the guy, we shall see
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Per Bill Huber, the Packers will not be bringing back Taylor Elgersma or Sean Clifford on the practice squad, so a new third quarterback
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Schefter must have deleted his tweet
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Hopefully Jerry reaches under the seat cushions and ashtrays of his jet and scrapes up the 45 million apr and spares us further nonsense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Have to admit the PO'd Cowboy fan videos would be fun to watch. Problem with draft picks is half their fanbase barely knows what that is
beast (27-Aug) : I think Cowboys fans are ready to get their pitch forks and burning sticks if Jerry were to trade Micah
dfosterf (27-Aug) : If Jerry traded Micah to GB, here in northern Va. they would have to quick build yet another data center to handle the internet hate traffic
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : its signing and trades that you don't hear about, other then announced
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : If you hear rumors about Packers sign or trade, won't happen. Not how they work
dfosterf (27-Aug) : 19 players in a contract year. Jones called loss to us worst loss in Cowboy history. Forget Parsons trade. Not happenin' Cap'n
packerfanoutwest (27-Aug) : The Packers, meanwhile, are the youngest team in the league for the third consecutive year.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : That it was darkest before the dawn in Bengals and Commanders before they got deals done
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : what is Schefter saying?
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He was getting Dorito infusion therapy
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He's outta shape. Why, just the other day I saw him splayed out on the trainers table
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