woodbuck27
09-09-2006, 09:54 PM
Packers want to start regaining 'Lambeau Advantage'
AP
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The last time the Green Bay Packers lost their home opener four straight years, from 1986-89, several of their current players were learning how to count numbers in elementary school.
To avoid duplicating a dubious streak, the Packers have to find a way to beat archrival Chicago at Lambeau Field on Sunday. The reigning NFC North champion has emerged from the venerable stadium with victories each of the last two years. Those setbacks are a microcosm of a team that has lost its home-field dominance in recent years.
Restoring what he calls the "Lambeau Advantage" has been a point of emphasis for first-year coach Mike McCarthy, beginning with the season opener against the Bears.
"I wasn't here, but you'd hear about it and you'd watch it on TV how dominant they were. We want to get back to that," third-year fullback Vonta Leach said Friday.
Quarterback Brett Favre, fullback William Henderson and long snapper Rob Davis are the only players who remain from the Packers' championship era in the mid to late 1990s when visiting teams almost felt defeated before kickoff at Lambeau.
The Packers reeled off a club-record 25 straight regular-season home wins spanning the 1995 to 1998 seasons and won 44 of 47 home games, including the playoffs, in a six-year stretch from 1993 to 1998.
After going a perfect 8-0 during the regular season in 2002, however, the Packers have been far from invincible on the Lambeau turf. They were a meager 13-14 the last three-plus seasons and just 7-10 in 2004 and 2005.
The downturn started with a 27-7 loss to Atlanta in the first round of the NFC playoffs in the 2002 season, which was Green Bay's first postseason home defeat. The Packers also lost 31-17 to Minnesota in a wild-card playoff game at Lambeau two years later.
Wide receiver Donald Driver bristled at the suggestion that the Packers' home-field mystique has worn off and opponents no longer dread playing in Green Bay. Driver has been with the team since 1999, the same year McCarthy was its quarterbacks coach.
"We know what we have to do," Driver said. "When we lose games, we lose them on our own. No one beats us. We went out there (in the past), we made mistakes and we had turnovers. That's why we lose games.
"The mystique is not gone. A lot of people think it is, but we'll get it back."
The challenge falls on a youth-laden roster. The Packers start the season with 27 players who have no more than a year of pro experience, including a league-high 14 rookies.
McCarthy said Friday he hasn't had to do much of a selling job in trying to get his young charges to embrace the importance of winning games at home.
"I don't think I need to convince anybody to buy into the Lambeau Advantage," he said. "The Lambeau Advantage for the new individuals involved, I think they got a little taste of it just when they ran out there (for the) Family Night (scrimmage in early August).
"I can recall walking on the field and had schedules and things going through my mind and seeing (rookie receiver) Greg Jennings and (second-year running back) Noah Herron out there just bouncing off the wall thanking me for the opportunity to be at Lambeau Field. I'm sure that's a first impression for all of our young people. I think throughout the preseason they have an understanding of what it's going to be like on game day."
In a stark change from predecessor Mike Sherman, McCarthy has taken measures to try to ensure that the players will be both physically and mentally refreshed for home games.
The team no longer has a walk-through session on the field the day before the game. Instead, in preparation for a Sunday game, the players will be in meetings at the stadium Saturday morning, then be excused for the afternoon.
"I don't believe in going out and practice on Saturday. I believe in a 48-hour rule," McCarthy said. "When they walked off the field today, they have 48 hours to get their bodies ready for this game. That will be the common thing we'll do every Friday."
The players and staff will be allowed to eat dinner on their own Saturday and not have to report to the team hotel in Green Bay until the early evening. Also in a departure from previous years, there won't be position meetings at the hotel, simply a team meeting led by McCarthy.
"I think you can really drag out the week, and it becomes cumbersome," McCarthy said. "I know as an assistant coach, I used to sit there in Saturday night meetings Saturday night is not the time to be going over your first 15 (plays). We'll know what we're going to do long before Saturday night and what's expected for Sunday afternoon.
"When we leave here (Saturday) at noon, our football team - from an organization, meeting, structure standpoint - will be ready to play."
McCarthy, however, frowned on allowing the players to sleep in their own beds at home before a game. He was an assistant coach at Kansas City in the 1990s when the Chiefs didn't stay at a local hotel during a home-game weekend.
"In those days, we were more of a veteran football team," McCarthy said. "My view on why you stay in a hotel, I think it has to do with the makeup of your football team. We're a young football team. So, we're going to stay at the hotel because I think it's important for us to be together the night before the game and get on a routine.
"This is a long season. Most of these guys have not played more than 12 games in a season. It's more of structuring their week, shutting it down, taking them away from potential distractions that could occur."
PACKERS ! FAN FAITH !!
AP
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The last time the Green Bay Packers lost their home opener four straight years, from 1986-89, several of their current players were learning how to count numbers in elementary school.
To avoid duplicating a dubious streak, the Packers have to find a way to beat archrival Chicago at Lambeau Field on Sunday. The reigning NFC North champion has emerged from the venerable stadium with victories each of the last two years. Those setbacks are a microcosm of a team that has lost its home-field dominance in recent years.
Restoring what he calls the "Lambeau Advantage" has been a point of emphasis for first-year coach Mike McCarthy, beginning with the season opener against the Bears.
"I wasn't here, but you'd hear about it and you'd watch it on TV how dominant they were. We want to get back to that," third-year fullback Vonta Leach said Friday.
Quarterback Brett Favre, fullback William Henderson and long snapper Rob Davis are the only players who remain from the Packers' championship era in the mid to late 1990s when visiting teams almost felt defeated before kickoff at Lambeau.
The Packers reeled off a club-record 25 straight regular-season home wins spanning the 1995 to 1998 seasons and won 44 of 47 home games, including the playoffs, in a six-year stretch from 1993 to 1998.
After going a perfect 8-0 during the regular season in 2002, however, the Packers have been far from invincible on the Lambeau turf. They were a meager 13-14 the last three-plus seasons and just 7-10 in 2004 and 2005.
The downturn started with a 27-7 loss to Atlanta in the first round of the NFC playoffs in the 2002 season, which was Green Bay's first postseason home defeat. The Packers also lost 31-17 to Minnesota in a wild-card playoff game at Lambeau two years later.
Wide receiver Donald Driver bristled at the suggestion that the Packers' home-field mystique has worn off and opponents no longer dread playing in Green Bay. Driver has been with the team since 1999, the same year McCarthy was its quarterbacks coach.
"We know what we have to do," Driver said. "When we lose games, we lose them on our own. No one beats us. We went out there (in the past), we made mistakes and we had turnovers. That's why we lose games.
"The mystique is not gone. A lot of people think it is, but we'll get it back."
The challenge falls on a youth-laden roster. The Packers start the season with 27 players who have no more than a year of pro experience, including a league-high 14 rookies.
McCarthy said Friday he hasn't had to do much of a selling job in trying to get his young charges to embrace the importance of winning games at home.
"I don't think I need to convince anybody to buy into the Lambeau Advantage," he said. "The Lambeau Advantage for the new individuals involved, I think they got a little taste of it just when they ran out there (for the) Family Night (scrimmage in early August).
"I can recall walking on the field and had schedules and things going through my mind and seeing (rookie receiver) Greg Jennings and (second-year running back) Noah Herron out there just bouncing off the wall thanking me for the opportunity to be at Lambeau Field. I'm sure that's a first impression for all of our young people. I think throughout the preseason they have an understanding of what it's going to be like on game day."
In a stark change from predecessor Mike Sherman, McCarthy has taken measures to try to ensure that the players will be both physically and mentally refreshed for home games.
The team no longer has a walk-through session on the field the day before the game. Instead, in preparation for a Sunday game, the players will be in meetings at the stadium Saturday morning, then be excused for the afternoon.
"I don't believe in going out and practice on Saturday. I believe in a 48-hour rule," McCarthy said. "When they walked off the field today, they have 48 hours to get their bodies ready for this game. That will be the common thing we'll do every Friday."
The players and staff will be allowed to eat dinner on their own Saturday and not have to report to the team hotel in Green Bay until the early evening. Also in a departure from previous years, there won't be position meetings at the hotel, simply a team meeting led by McCarthy.
"I think you can really drag out the week, and it becomes cumbersome," McCarthy said. "I know as an assistant coach, I used to sit there in Saturday night meetings Saturday night is not the time to be going over your first 15 (plays). We'll know what we're going to do long before Saturday night and what's expected for Sunday afternoon.
"When we leave here (Saturday) at noon, our football team - from an organization, meeting, structure standpoint - will be ready to play."
McCarthy, however, frowned on allowing the players to sleep in their own beds at home before a game. He was an assistant coach at Kansas City in the 1990s when the Chiefs didn't stay at a local hotel during a home-game weekend.
"In those days, we were more of a veteran football team," McCarthy said. "My view on why you stay in a hotel, I think it has to do with the makeup of your football team. We're a young football team. So, we're going to stay at the hotel because I think it's important for us to be together the night before the game and get on a routine.
"This is a long season. Most of these guys have not played more than 12 games in a season. It's more of structuring their week, shutting it down, taking them away from potential distractions that could occur."
PACKERS ! FAN FAITH !!