Day-After Notes: Packers Turn to Keep Rolling
When you’ve built the level of momentum the Packers have by posting three consecutive win-or-go-home triumphs, one less day to arrange for your forthcoming game isn’t actually a concern.
Actually, Head Coach Mike McCarthy feels the abbreviated week before Saturday night’s NFC Divisional playoff game in Atlanta will only profit the team focus on one goal and hopefully take care of the roll it really is on.
“We really feel good, the truth that we’ve played three weeks back to back really competitive playoff atmosphere,” McCarthy said on Monday. “So that is what we’re taking to the game. We’re feeling the short week allows us to. We’re in sync, we’re all set to go. We’ll be smart with this practice reps soon because I wish to make sure our players are as fresh as possible because of this game.”
Physical considerations is going to be taken while using players’ bodies through the three-day practice week, that will begin on Tuesday as opposed to the normal Wednesday.
But mentally this team is of the same quality a shape because it might be, adding a down-to-the-wire road playoff victory towards the two home wins over double-digit victory teams that got the Packers in the playoffs. The Week 17 victory over Chicago and Sunday’s Wild Card win at Philadelphia both required a defensive stop deep in Green Bay territory in the final minute, and also the defense developed the clinching interception.
Since the No. 6 playoff seed inside the NFC, the Packers knew they’d need to adopt a “road warrior” mentality to produce a playoff run. Gonna Philadelphia, the location where the Packers could actually repeat their victory from Week 1, and today maneuvering to Atlanta, the location where the Packers took the NFC’s top seed towards the final seconds before losing by the field goal, are road trips the team has a lot to draw from.
“When won by you a playoff game traveling, that’s definitely a big dose of confidence that is put into your football team,” McCarthy said. “We were really confident entering the Philadelphia game. We felt it had been a contest we likely to win, and from that have it will provide us with more confidence, and we are going to Atlanta, and that we fully anticipate to win.
“We’ve been a fantastic football team all year long. We’ve to be able to achieve greatness, which will focus on the next part of Atlanta.”
Clearing up
If there’s one issue the Packers must cleanup, it’s what McCarthy
identifies as “ball-handling.”
Over their latter games, the Packers are actually arrested for six fumbles, losing three, and they’ve turned the ball over 4x total. Also, several dropped passes have hurt the offense’s cause, including two potential long touchdowns by Greg Jennings from the Bears and James Jones against the Eagles.
“That’s a fortnight now, Chicago and Philadelphia,” McCarthy said. “We will surely make a bigger emphasis if we are able to on caring for the football. You can’t turn the ball over. These games within the playoffs, they are presented into one play very often, so we have to maximize our opportunities.”
McCarthy remarked that poor ball-handling can definitely prove costly against a team like Atlanta, as the Falcons employ a good ball-control offense that keeps the ball far from their opponents. Inside Packers’ Week 12 day at Atlanta, that they had just seven possessions on offense, not counting ones at the end of each one half that both began with below Ten seconds on the clock.
He’s the man
When rookie running back James Starks burst in this area in Week
13 with 18 carries for 73 yards against San fran, he didn’t
receive feature back status like many expected.
McCarthy stopped lacking conferring that upon him on Monday, but it is obviously no secret that Starks could be the step to the Packers’ ground game going forward after his 23-carry, 123-yard day from the Eagles.
“He’s likely to carry the ball in Atlanta,” McCarthy said. “He’s earned that. The child was extremely productive and works impossible.
“It’s nice to find out someone like James put just as much in it, stay patient, stay confident, then when his number is known as, to make.”
Starks’ 123 yards not merely broke the franchise rookie record for any postseason game, though the effort ranks third in franchise postseason annals for just about any player behind only Ryan Grant’s 201 yards (vs. Seattle, 2007 Divisional) and Ahman Green’s 156 yards (at Philadelphia, 2003 Divisional).
The Packers did a few rather unconventional things with the running game on Sunday. They employed a two-fullback, inverted wishbone formation with Starks running behind fullbacks Quinn Johnson and John Kuhn on the amount of plays, and McCarthy confirmed that using one snap, left tackle Chad Clifton and right tackle Bryan Bulaga switched sides in the line.
Injury update
McCarthy declared receiver Donald Driver’s bruised knee must not
keep him from practicing immediately or playing in Atlanta.
Also, defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who played for the first time after missing the final four games from the regular season with a calf injury, left the sport OK also.
“It is going to be good to see Cullen go through another week of practice, and he’ll prepare yourself to go in Atlanta,” McCarthy said.
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