The Packer Pundit

McCarthy key to Green Bay's success
The Green Bay Packers are flawed. They are also 5-1. The main reason for the success is head coach Mike McCarthy. Green Bay's second-year head man has done wonders with this outfit. McCarthy's firm, be accountable approach has worked brilliantly with the Packers. He is universally respected in the locker room. When you talk to the Packers players, they praise his consistency, work ethic and daily message. Take last week for example. McCarthy was beside himself that Green Bay was so lackadaisical with taking care of football in the team's only loss, to the Bears. James Jones fumbled twice and it killed the Pack. McCarthy spent Wednesday and Thursday at practice drilling the Packers on ball security. It wasn't a problem against the Skins. The defense has been really good this season. The 17-14 win against the Redskins was a microcosm of how the defense played. Nick Barnett, A.J. Hawk and company shut down the running attack. Corey Williams stripped Santana Moss of the ball and Charles Woodson took it to the house to change the game. All-Pro Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila made key, late sacks that the coach later praised. McCarthy and his staff had a plan and stuck with it. [More]



PACKERS 5-1 HEADING INTO BYE WEEK
-Green Bay heads into its bye week at 5-1, its best mark since 2002.

-Green Bay achieved a 4-0 start for the ninth time in team history. Seven of those Packers teams went on to win an NFL championship (1929, '30, '31, '44, '62, '65, and 1966). [More]


NFL stays mum on Robinson
The Green Bay Packers haven't received any word from the NFL office on the status of Koren Robinson. Coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday the team had not been notified of any change in Robinson's status. The receiver is nearing the end of a one-year suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. He began serving the suspension on Oct. 17, 2006, and was eligible to apply for reinstatement up to 60 days before the suspension's end. The league confirmed last week Robinson's case was under review. Commissioner Roger Goodell has the final say on Robinson's reinstatement. Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of public relations, wouldn't say when a decision will be reached. "When a decision is made, we will let you know," Aiello said on Monday evening in an e-mail to the Press-Gazette. "That's as much as I can tell you now." [More]


Coaches aren't kicking themselves
over Crosby
GREEN BAY — Despite kicker Mason Crosby's two misses in Sunday's 17-14 win over the Washington Redskins, the Green Bay Packers' coaching staff doesn't rue its decision to go with the rookie sixth-round pick over incumbent Dave Rayner in the training camp-long kicking competition. "We kept him because we trust him," special teams coordinator Mike Stock said. "I think he's going to be fine." Added coach Mike McCarthy: "I wouldn't over-evaluate it. He's a talented kicker. I think he's fundamentally sound. More importantly, he's young. He's going to improve. But he needs to make those kicks." [More]


Packers under gun to repair the run
No doubt the Green Bay Packers will get healthier at some key positions over this weekend's bye. Whether the bye offers a realistic chance to have a similar effect on their ailing run game is another matter. Coach Mike McCarthy is giving his players the week off from practice after they improved to 5-1 with their 17-14 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The players have workouts and meetings today, then don't have to be back in Green Bay until Sunday, with the next practice Monday and the next game the Monday after that, Oct. 29 at Denver. McCarthy's coaching staff will work later into the week self-scouting the season, and the greatest emphasis no doubt will be on a running game that ranks last (32nd) in the NFL in rushing yards and 29th in yards per rush. [More]


Out of deep cover
Packers' success has Woodson
back in the spotlight
Green Bay - Charles Woodson is alive and well and thriving in the National Football League. Before this season, he practically needed to send out postcards to family, friends and rivals to let them know that he hadn't turned in his retirement papers. That the mailings would have had a Green Bay postmark probably would have surprised everyone. After his teams went a combined 17-43 from the start of the 2003 season to Week 13 of last season, Woodson all but lost his rock star status and was playing to few national audiences. When Oakland chose not to make him its franchise player after the 2005 season, only one team in the NFL made a strong play for his services.

"If you would have asked me before I left Oakland, 'Where are you thinking about playing? Would you go to Green Bay?' I would have told you, 'No, I'm not going to Green Bay. Why would I go to Green Bay?' " Woodson said. "But like I told everybody when I became a free agent, there was really one team knocking on the door and that was Green Bay. So it was almost like God was telling me, 'Hey, you don't tell me where you're going to go, I tell you where to go.' That's kind of how it worked out." [More]


Team keeps key to D-line in place
Green Bay - Of the players Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson might have thought about dealing before the trading deadline passed Tuesday, defensive lineman Corey Williams probably would have fetched him the most in return. But Williams, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, is still a member of the Packers today. [More]