12/27/2007
Team Must Clean Up, Move On To Detroit
Much was made of the horrendous weather conditions in Chicago on Sunday, but what Head Coach Mike McCarthy saw result from those conditions were several fundamental breakdowns that will be the focus of the team's preparation for the regular-season finale against Detroit. "Fundamentally, I thought our pad level was poor," McCarthy said. "We had a number of breakdowns just in technique, and we did a number of things that just were not characteristic of our football team." McCarthy is a firm believer that football games are won and lost over the fundamentals - blocking, tackling, and the like. What the whipping winds and cold weather did Sunday, in his opinion, was distract the players to an extent they lost focus on the fundamentals. That, more than anything in terms of Green Bay's play, led to Chicago's 139 rushing yards and two blocked punts, and the Packers' fumbled snaps and dropped passes. "I'd say the biggest lesson that we will learn from, because it's the first time we've gone through it with this team, is how to handle the weather conditions better," McCarthy said. [More]
Packers face familiar talk from McCarthy
Associated Press
When the Green Bay Packers reconvene for practice Wednesday, they're likely to hear another lecture from coach Mike McCarthy on a familiar topic: how to handle success. Since taking over as the Packers' coach nearly two years ago, McCarthy has emphasized to his players that handling success is one of the most difficult -- if enviable -- problems a team can run into. Now, after an embarrassing 35-7 loss in abominable weather conditions at Chicago on Sunday, McCarthy plans to go over the lesson again. "I think you need to take a step back like we have the past couple weeks, and revisit talking about handling success," McCarthy said Monday. "You're a 12-2 football team and you go down and play a football team that's out of the playoffs, they're a rival game, and to perform the way we did -- that's something else we'll talk about." With the loss, the Packers allowed Dallas to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. They're still assured of a first-round playoff bye and one home playoff game. But if the Packers face the Cowboys in the NFC title game, it will be in Dallas. "Sure, we'd much rather play them in Green Bay, but judging by the way we played today, we may be better off playing somewhere else," Brett Favre said after Sunday's loss. "I have no idea. I do know this: It can be a distraction. Now we know what's at stake. Let this be our wake-up call." [More]
Published by PackerPundit On Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 4:53 AM.
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