Kiwon
10-24-2007, 06:51 PM
Has this already been posted?
Whoa.....a huge puff piece on the Packers. This writer definitely sounds like a cheesehead. Manna from Heaven for Packers fans. Enjoy!
.................................................. .............................
Heat-packing defense rallying Favre, Green Bay
By Jim Corbett, USA TODAY
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Much of the credit for the Green Bay Packers' surprising 5-1 start understandably begins with the resurgence of Brett Favre, who at 38 still has plenty of magic left in his right arm.
But a young, unheralded but quickly improving Packers defense bailed out Favre and a sputtering, pass-heavy offense, keying a 17-14 victory vs. the Washington Redskins on Oct. 14. Only the Dallas Cowboys, who stand at 6-1 as they embark on their bye week, have a better record in the NFC than the Packers.
For all the attention focused on Green Bay's iconic quarterback, shutdown cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson are the cornerstones of one of the league's rising units. They eased pressure on Favre, who is burdened by the NFL's worst rushing attack, by clamping down on opposing receivers and helping turn up the heat on enemy quarterbacks.
In a copycat league dominated by Cover-2 type defenses, which are designed to prevent explosive passing plays, Harris and Woodson are defiant throwbacks.
They form arguably the best tandem practitioners of the increasingly lost art of bump-and-run, press-man coverage.
Harris and Woodson spend so much time abandoned on an island, they should grow beards.
"Gilligan and the Skipper got off their island at some point, but we're not getting off our island," Woodson laughs. "With us, there's no disguising. We're going to line up and play you press man the whole game.
"Receivers don't like it when you get in their face. We both want to be the best at what we do every Sunday."
Harris, 32, and Woodson, 31, say they are playing some of the best football of their lives. "The Brat Packers" are known for the in-your-face way they incessantly harass receivers.
"Al is 'Operation Shutdown,' " says Woodson, who had an interception and a 57-yard fumble return for the game-winning touchdown against Washington, an effort that earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. "Just call me 'Game time.' "
By any name, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth says, Harris and Woodson form the toughest corner tandem anywhere.
They buy time for a talented, swarming front seven to pressure quarterbacks, who are completing just 56.7% of their passes against Green Bay.
More impressive, the Packers are limiting opponents to a 34.5% third-down conversion rate, fifth best in the league.
"The essence of that defense is the fact they can play bump-and-run on the outside and take away the good receivers," Collinsworth says. "Because you're taking out the best receivers in one-on-one bump-and-run, now you're only forced to play against nine guys.
"It was believed you couldn't do that anymore in this league. But those two guys are getting it done."
Harris has played in 160 consecutive games, a streak that began in 1998 as a nickel back in the Philadelphia Eagles secondary, where he was mentored by Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor. Collinsworth calls Harris one of the most underappreciated players in the league.
Harris has 17 career interceptions, including a memorable pickoff of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, which he returned 52 yards for a 33-27 overtime win in a 2003 NFC wild-card game.
Woodson, who won the 1997 Heisman Trophy at Michigan, the only pure defensive player to do so, is a four-time Pro Bowler who was thought to be on the downside of his career after eight seasons and several injuries with the Oakland Raiders.
But Packers general manager Ted Thompson showed keen vision when he signed him in May 2006 after a broken leg caused Woodson to miss 10 games for the Raiders in 2005.
Woodson fought through knee and shoulder injuries last season to start all 16 games and recorded a career-high eight interceptions while defending 26 passes.
Green Bay's shadow men thrive on getting their hands on receivers and throwing off their timing with their quarterbacks.
"All these guys who sit back in zone defense and have interceptions fall into their laps go to the Pro Bowl," Collinsworth says. "But nobody is asked to do more than Al Harris and Charles Woodson.
"People know about Champ Bailey and Dre' Bly in Denver. But Harris and Woodson are the best cornerback pair doing the toughest job."
Green Bay's young receivers—Greg Jennings, Ruvell Martin and rookie James Jones— are also reaping the benefits of having to square off against Harris and Woodson in training camp and practice.
"For our young receivers, if you can beat Al Harris and Charles Woodson in practice, that's saying something," Favre says.
Two-time Pro Bowl receiver Donald Driver agrees. "To go against those two guys every day, they bring the best out in me," Driver says. "Al Harris and Charles Woodson are probably the two most aggressive corners I've played in my career.
"Those guys battle and will be in your face, talking all day long.
"I think our defense is one of the best in the NFL. They don't get the credit, but they've shut a lot of good teams down.
"They're a very cocky defense. That's what I love about them. They go out on the field, and they know they can stop you."
Consider this compliment that offensive coordinators and quarterbacks have paid Harris and Woodson: Of the 119 receptions against the Packers this season, 38 — nearly one third — have gone to tight ends, including 11 for 113 yards by San Diego's Antonio Gates and nine catches for 105 yards by Washington's Chris Cooley.
Of the No. 1 receivers the Packers have faced this season, only one, San Diego's Vincent Jackson, has caught a touchdown against the Packers corners. Giants receiver Plaxico Burress beat safety coverage for his touchdown. Washington's Santana Moss was shut out before taking himself out of the game shortly after Woodson returned his pivotal fumble for the winning touchdown.
Harris limited Chicago's Muhsin Muhammad to just one catch for 17 yards in a 27-20 Week 5 loss and tag-teamed with Woodson to blanket and frustrate Moss, who got behind Harris once only to drop quarterback Jason Campbell's deep pass.
"Receivers don't want to be pressed," Harris says. "You take away their comfort zone."
"Wood and I have a high level of confidence that comes from all the hard work we put in.
"I was surprised when Wood first got here how hard he worked, because you hear things about guys. But you don't know a guy's ethic until you work with them."
Coach Mike McCarthy, in his second year as Packers head man, can't say enough about the aggressive mind-set of his corner men that has raised the confidence level of his defense.
"There's definitely a mutual respect between Al and Charles," McCarthy says. "Al's so damned strong. If he gets his hands on a receiver, it's over. You better have good releases playing against him.
"And Charles Woodson is probably the most instinctive football player I've ever been around. He's very smart and has a good understanding of offensive schemes, how teams are trying to attack him.
"I find him remarkable on punt returns. He always makes good decisions. He doesn't fair catch. He always advances the ball 6, 8, 10 to 12 yards. At the end of the day, he's responsible for another 60 to 70 yards of field positions."
The Packers are allowing 17.8 points a game, 11th in the league. They have allowed 16 points or less in four of their five wins and have won nine of their last 10 games dating to their four-game win streak at last season's end. During that 10-game span, Green Bay's defense is allowing 14.9 points a game.
Pressure in the secondary and on the edges leads to quarterback confusion, incompletions, turnovers and sacks. The Packers have scored 47 points off 10 turnovers.
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders learned the value of press-man coverage as a Miami Dolphins linebackers coach from 2001-2004 under former Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt and former Dolphins defensive coordinator Jim Bates, now in Denver. Both men learned from former Cowboys and Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson.
"The concept of what we do is make it hard on the quarterback," Sanders says. "Al and Charles do an outstanding job, because they enjoy and accept that challenge of playing man-to-man because of the confident guys they are.
"We're actually a match-type team. It looks like we're just pure man-to-man. But depending on the receiver routes, we could be in different concepts. (Weak-side linebacker) A.J. Hawk may have a guy from the weak or from the front side. It's a man-within-a-zone concept. As soon as you change the route, the concept may change. It all fits together, and it gives the quarterback the look that we're in one thing when we're actually in another."
The style is working even if it sometimes comes with a heavy price tag.
"In being as physical as they are, their corners are going to have some penalties, too," NBC analyst John Madden said during a conference call.
"The Packers are willing to live with that and not take away their physical play. … You get the combination of the pass rush the Packers can bring and then those two corners; to me, that's the face and the strength of their defense."
Backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers has worked hard to improve each of his three seasons and credits repetitions he gets running the scout team, mimicking an opponent's offense against the first-team defense, for making him better.
"The thing about our defense is we have a bunch of guys who work together," Rodgers says. "We have some big-name guys like Charles Woodson, Al Harris, Nick Barnett, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Aaron Kampman— guys who have had individual success. But they put the team first.
"They're an underrated, chip-on-their-shoulder defense, and that goes for this whole team. Everybody's looked down on us.
"We're starting to realize we've got something going here with guys who have been rejected other places or that nobody knows about."
Consider middle linebacker Nick Barnett, who leads the Packers with 64 tackles and is playing as well as anyone at his position not named Brian Urlacher.
Barnett had a career-best 12 tackles against the Redskins, playing with all-out abandon.
"Nick Barnett is one of the better middle linebackers I've gone against," San Diego Chargers Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick says. "Those linebackers help make that defense go."
As do the guys up front.
"Nick has grown in the scheme over three years," Sanders says. "But you can't mention Nick without (defensive tackles) Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly and Corey Williams and Colin Cole."
The Packers play a two-gap defense, bolstered by one of the league's deepest defensive line rotations, which keeps guys fresh enough to tie up two blockers and keep the linebackers clean.
"The guys up front allow our linebackers to run free and hit," McCarthy says.
That symbiotic relationship permeates an eclectic group from front to back.
"Our defense is hand in glove," Kampman says. "I don't know who the hand is and who the glove is.
"But that's the philosophy: The pass rush helps the coverage, and the coverage helps the rush.
"They disrupt the receivers enough; they're giving us more time to get the quarterback. That's the whole philosophy — to constrict, disrupt and choke off the offense."
Kampman, the 6-4, 270-pound sixth-year pro, was second in the league with 15½ sacks in 2006 when he had his Pro Bowl breakthrough.
"Maybe the most underrated defensive lineman in all of football is Aaron Kampman," Madden says. "I mean he brings heat from that (left) side."
Kampman epitomizes the high effort Sanders stresses.
"We're still not there, and that's the good thing that's motivating us," Kampman says.
"I'd just as soon fly under the radar. That's our fight. We want to continue to have success, yet keep that tunnel vision. We're a younger team, and we need to keep doing the things we've been doing to have success."
Collinsworth notes the caliber of the Packers defense improved dramatically once 6-2, 295-pound defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins moved to right defensive end last December. Jenkins, whose brother Kris plays for the Carolina Panthers, keeps Gbaja-Biamila fresh as a third-down pass-rush specialist.
"When Cullen Jenkins got moved from tackle to end, it just seemed to be the answer," Collinsworth says. "They really solidified their run defense instead of having teams run at KGB."
The linebackers are the characters of a defense teeming with character.
Barnett is a tackling machine.
"We still have a lot of room for improvement," Barnett says. "But that second half (against Washington) was on our shoulders. That's why we're 5-1. Nine out of 10 times, we're going to come through as a defense."
The Fontana, Calif., native goes by the nickname, "Nick Beats," stemming from his hobby of mixing music and moonlighting as a DJ.
It's an apropos moniker for the defensive signal caller who must blend the different personalities: Barnett is flashy, Hawk is old school and strong-side man Brady Poppinga is ultra-intense.
"We are three totally different characters," Barnett says. "They call (Ravens tight end) Todd Heap the 'Stormin' Mormon.' I call Brady the 'Swarmin' Mormon.'
"A.J. Hawk looks like (Packers linebacking legend) Ray Nitschke to me.
"We play all out. Brady is one of those guys with a lot of intensity who runs through blocks. A lot of plays I make I attribute to Brady, because he runs in there and cleans things up and vise versa with A.J. A lot of plays he makes are forced by me or Brady.
"We all play a part."
Some Poppinga insight: He has a 1-year-old boy, named Julius Maximus after Russell Crowe's character in the film Gladiator.
"Nick's the new-age, flash-his-moves type of guy, and A.J. is a true throwback," Poppinga says. "That's the great thing about us.
"We're not so alike where we clash."
Hawk, the former Ohio State star and fifth overall pick in the 2006 draft, agrees the Packers backers feed off each other.
"We were talking about that today during practice," Hawk says. "We're three different people. But we come together with the same goal and the same intensity.
"We all love to compete, and we want to win, and that's all we care about."
Much of that intensity emanates from the first-ballot future Hall of Fame quarterback who practices like he plays — with a contagious, boyish passion. In that sense, Favre is the bonding agent for McCarthy's Packers.
"All out," Barnett says. "It's a way of life around here. When our quarterback is playing all-out ball, why wouldn't all of us play like that? I don't know if it's tough-guy football. But it's all-out-not-intimidated-by-anybody defense."
McCarthy began his NFL ascent in Kansas City, working with quarterbacks Joe Montana, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac and Steve Bono under then-Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer.
He considers himself fortunate to have landed in Green Bay, where the past is ever-present and football is embraced the same way it is back in his native Pittsburgh.
Inside McCarthy's third-floor Lambeau Field office is the original doorway to Vince Lombardi's sanctum.
McCarthy is a passionate coach, firm in what he's teaching and proud of an up-and-coming defense that has helped offset the team's inability to run the ball.
"It's a team-oriented group, and they say you can't win a championship without a good defense, and I truly believe it," McCarthy says. "Especially when you're an offensive-minded coach, when you have a good defense, you're getting the ball back. But you can also play aggressively to try and win the game.
"We play to win. We don't play it close to the vest. Just the attitude — playing to win — you want it to reflect in your scheme and style and our defense exemplifies that.
"If you play conservative football, you can probably go 8-8. But I'm trying to win it all."
McCarthy talks about building a January defense, but cites too many explosive plays surrendered — pass plays of 16 or more yards and runs of 12 or more yards.
"Our defense has played outstanding in spurts and has played very good for the most part," he says. "But we're having those explosive gains come up.
"As a football team, I'm still waiting for us to play our best game. … I still feel like our defense hasn't even had our best days yet."
That's a compelling reason for optimism.
"We have the confidence to make a Super Bowl run," Barnett says.
"There's no guarantees. But we definitely have the confidence as a team that we're going there."
Whoa.....a huge puff piece on the Packers. This writer definitely sounds like a cheesehead. Manna from Heaven for Packers fans. Enjoy!
.................................................. .............................
Heat-packing defense rallying Favre, Green Bay
By Jim Corbett, USA TODAY
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Much of the credit for the Green Bay Packers' surprising 5-1 start understandably begins with the resurgence of Brett Favre, who at 38 still has plenty of magic left in his right arm.
But a young, unheralded but quickly improving Packers defense bailed out Favre and a sputtering, pass-heavy offense, keying a 17-14 victory vs. the Washington Redskins on Oct. 14. Only the Dallas Cowboys, who stand at 6-1 as they embark on their bye week, have a better record in the NFC than the Packers.
For all the attention focused on Green Bay's iconic quarterback, shutdown cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson are the cornerstones of one of the league's rising units. They eased pressure on Favre, who is burdened by the NFL's worst rushing attack, by clamping down on opposing receivers and helping turn up the heat on enemy quarterbacks.
In a copycat league dominated by Cover-2 type defenses, which are designed to prevent explosive passing plays, Harris and Woodson are defiant throwbacks.
They form arguably the best tandem practitioners of the increasingly lost art of bump-and-run, press-man coverage.
Harris and Woodson spend so much time abandoned on an island, they should grow beards.
"Gilligan and the Skipper got off their island at some point, but we're not getting off our island," Woodson laughs. "With us, there's no disguising. We're going to line up and play you press man the whole game.
"Receivers don't like it when you get in their face. We both want to be the best at what we do every Sunday."
Harris, 32, and Woodson, 31, say they are playing some of the best football of their lives. "The Brat Packers" are known for the in-your-face way they incessantly harass receivers.
"Al is 'Operation Shutdown,' " says Woodson, who had an interception and a 57-yard fumble return for the game-winning touchdown against Washington, an effort that earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. "Just call me 'Game time.' "
By any name, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth says, Harris and Woodson form the toughest corner tandem anywhere.
They buy time for a talented, swarming front seven to pressure quarterbacks, who are completing just 56.7% of their passes against Green Bay.
More impressive, the Packers are limiting opponents to a 34.5% third-down conversion rate, fifth best in the league.
"The essence of that defense is the fact they can play bump-and-run on the outside and take away the good receivers," Collinsworth says. "Because you're taking out the best receivers in one-on-one bump-and-run, now you're only forced to play against nine guys.
"It was believed you couldn't do that anymore in this league. But those two guys are getting it done."
Harris has played in 160 consecutive games, a streak that began in 1998 as a nickel back in the Philadelphia Eagles secondary, where he was mentored by Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor. Collinsworth calls Harris one of the most underappreciated players in the league.
Harris has 17 career interceptions, including a memorable pickoff of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, which he returned 52 yards for a 33-27 overtime win in a 2003 NFC wild-card game.
Woodson, who won the 1997 Heisman Trophy at Michigan, the only pure defensive player to do so, is a four-time Pro Bowler who was thought to be on the downside of his career after eight seasons and several injuries with the Oakland Raiders.
But Packers general manager Ted Thompson showed keen vision when he signed him in May 2006 after a broken leg caused Woodson to miss 10 games for the Raiders in 2005.
Woodson fought through knee and shoulder injuries last season to start all 16 games and recorded a career-high eight interceptions while defending 26 passes.
Green Bay's shadow men thrive on getting their hands on receivers and throwing off their timing with their quarterbacks.
"All these guys who sit back in zone defense and have interceptions fall into their laps go to the Pro Bowl," Collinsworth says. "But nobody is asked to do more than Al Harris and Charles Woodson.
"People know about Champ Bailey and Dre' Bly in Denver. But Harris and Woodson are the best cornerback pair doing the toughest job."
Green Bay's young receivers—Greg Jennings, Ruvell Martin and rookie James Jones— are also reaping the benefits of having to square off against Harris and Woodson in training camp and practice.
"For our young receivers, if you can beat Al Harris and Charles Woodson in practice, that's saying something," Favre says.
Two-time Pro Bowl receiver Donald Driver agrees. "To go against those two guys every day, they bring the best out in me," Driver says. "Al Harris and Charles Woodson are probably the two most aggressive corners I've played in my career.
"Those guys battle and will be in your face, talking all day long.
"I think our defense is one of the best in the NFL. They don't get the credit, but they've shut a lot of good teams down.
"They're a very cocky defense. That's what I love about them. They go out on the field, and they know they can stop you."
Consider this compliment that offensive coordinators and quarterbacks have paid Harris and Woodson: Of the 119 receptions against the Packers this season, 38 — nearly one third — have gone to tight ends, including 11 for 113 yards by San Diego's Antonio Gates and nine catches for 105 yards by Washington's Chris Cooley.
Of the No. 1 receivers the Packers have faced this season, only one, San Diego's Vincent Jackson, has caught a touchdown against the Packers corners. Giants receiver Plaxico Burress beat safety coverage for his touchdown. Washington's Santana Moss was shut out before taking himself out of the game shortly after Woodson returned his pivotal fumble for the winning touchdown.
Harris limited Chicago's Muhsin Muhammad to just one catch for 17 yards in a 27-20 Week 5 loss and tag-teamed with Woodson to blanket and frustrate Moss, who got behind Harris once only to drop quarterback Jason Campbell's deep pass.
"Receivers don't want to be pressed," Harris says. "You take away their comfort zone."
"Wood and I have a high level of confidence that comes from all the hard work we put in.
"I was surprised when Wood first got here how hard he worked, because you hear things about guys. But you don't know a guy's ethic until you work with them."
Coach Mike McCarthy, in his second year as Packers head man, can't say enough about the aggressive mind-set of his corner men that has raised the confidence level of his defense.
"There's definitely a mutual respect between Al and Charles," McCarthy says. "Al's so damned strong. If he gets his hands on a receiver, it's over. You better have good releases playing against him.
"And Charles Woodson is probably the most instinctive football player I've ever been around. He's very smart and has a good understanding of offensive schemes, how teams are trying to attack him.
"I find him remarkable on punt returns. He always makes good decisions. He doesn't fair catch. He always advances the ball 6, 8, 10 to 12 yards. At the end of the day, he's responsible for another 60 to 70 yards of field positions."
The Packers are allowing 17.8 points a game, 11th in the league. They have allowed 16 points or less in four of their five wins and have won nine of their last 10 games dating to their four-game win streak at last season's end. During that 10-game span, Green Bay's defense is allowing 14.9 points a game.
Pressure in the secondary and on the edges leads to quarterback confusion, incompletions, turnovers and sacks. The Packers have scored 47 points off 10 turnovers.
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders learned the value of press-man coverage as a Miami Dolphins linebackers coach from 2001-2004 under former Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt and former Dolphins defensive coordinator Jim Bates, now in Denver. Both men learned from former Cowboys and Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson.
"The concept of what we do is make it hard on the quarterback," Sanders says. "Al and Charles do an outstanding job, because they enjoy and accept that challenge of playing man-to-man because of the confident guys they are.
"We're actually a match-type team. It looks like we're just pure man-to-man. But depending on the receiver routes, we could be in different concepts. (Weak-side linebacker) A.J. Hawk may have a guy from the weak or from the front side. It's a man-within-a-zone concept. As soon as you change the route, the concept may change. It all fits together, and it gives the quarterback the look that we're in one thing when we're actually in another."
The style is working even if it sometimes comes with a heavy price tag.
"In being as physical as they are, their corners are going to have some penalties, too," NBC analyst John Madden said during a conference call.
"The Packers are willing to live with that and not take away their physical play. … You get the combination of the pass rush the Packers can bring and then those two corners; to me, that's the face and the strength of their defense."
Backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers has worked hard to improve each of his three seasons and credits repetitions he gets running the scout team, mimicking an opponent's offense against the first-team defense, for making him better.
"The thing about our defense is we have a bunch of guys who work together," Rodgers says. "We have some big-name guys like Charles Woodson, Al Harris, Nick Barnett, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Aaron Kampman— guys who have had individual success. But they put the team first.
"They're an underrated, chip-on-their-shoulder defense, and that goes for this whole team. Everybody's looked down on us.
"We're starting to realize we've got something going here with guys who have been rejected other places or that nobody knows about."
Consider middle linebacker Nick Barnett, who leads the Packers with 64 tackles and is playing as well as anyone at his position not named Brian Urlacher.
Barnett had a career-best 12 tackles against the Redskins, playing with all-out abandon.
"Nick Barnett is one of the better middle linebackers I've gone against," San Diego Chargers Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick says. "Those linebackers help make that defense go."
As do the guys up front.
"Nick has grown in the scheme over three years," Sanders says. "But you can't mention Nick without (defensive tackles) Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly and Corey Williams and Colin Cole."
The Packers play a two-gap defense, bolstered by one of the league's deepest defensive line rotations, which keeps guys fresh enough to tie up two blockers and keep the linebackers clean.
"The guys up front allow our linebackers to run free and hit," McCarthy says.
That symbiotic relationship permeates an eclectic group from front to back.
"Our defense is hand in glove," Kampman says. "I don't know who the hand is and who the glove is.
"But that's the philosophy: The pass rush helps the coverage, and the coverage helps the rush.
"They disrupt the receivers enough; they're giving us more time to get the quarterback. That's the whole philosophy — to constrict, disrupt and choke off the offense."
Kampman, the 6-4, 270-pound sixth-year pro, was second in the league with 15½ sacks in 2006 when he had his Pro Bowl breakthrough.
"Maybe the most underrated defensive lineman in all of football is Aaron Kampman," Madden says. "I mean he brings heat from that (left) side."
Kampman epitomizes the high effort Sanders stresses.
"We're still not there, and that's the good thing that's motivating us," Kampman says.
"I'd just as soon fly under the radar. That's our fight. We want to continue to have success, yet keep that tunnel vision. We're a younger team, and we need to keep doing the things we've been doing to have success."
Collinsworth notes the caliber of the Packers defense improved dramatically once 6-2, 295-pound defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins moved to right defensive end last December. Jenkins, whose brother Kris plays for the Carolina Panthers, keeps Gbaja-Biamila fresh as a third-down pass-rush specialist.
"When Cullen Jenkins got moved from tackle to end, it just seemed to be the answer," Collinsworth says. "They really solidified their run defense instead of having teams run at KGB."
The linebackers are the characters of a defense teeming with character.
Barnett is a tackling machine.
"We still have a lot of room for improvement," Barnett says. "But that second half (against Washington) was on our shoulders. That's why we're 5-1. Nine out of 10 times, we're going to come through as a defense."
The Fontana, Calif., native goes by the nickname, "Nick Beats," stemming from his hobby of mixing music and moonlighting as a DJ.
It's an apropos moniker for the defensive signal caller who must blend the different personalities: Barnett is flashy, Hawk is old school and strong-side man Brady Poppinga is ultra-intense.
"We are three totally different characters," Barnett says. "They call (Ravens tight end) Todd Heap the 'Stormin' Mormon.' I call Brady the 'Swarmin' Mormon.'
"A.J. Hawk looks like (Packers linebacking legend) Ray Nitschke to me.
"We play all out. Brady is one of those guys with a lot of intensity who runs through blocks. A lot of plays I make I attribute to Brady, because he runs in there and cleans things up and vise versa with A.J. A lot of plays he makes are forced by me or Brady.
"We all play a part."
Some Poppinga insight: He has a 1-year-old boy, named Julius Maximus after Russell Crowe's character in the film Gladiator.
"Nick's the new-age, flash-his-moves type of guy, and A.J. is a true throwback," Poppinga says. "That's the great thing about us.
"We're not so alike where we clash."
Hawk, the former Ohio State star and fifth overall pick in the 2006 draft, agrees the Packers backers feed off each other.
"We were talking about that today during practice," Hawk says. "We're three different people. But we come together with the same goal and the same intensity.
"We all love to compete, and we want to win, and that's all we care about."
Much of that intensity emanates from the first-ballot future Hall of Fame quarterback who practices like he plays — with a contagious, boyish passion. In that sense, Favre is the bonding agent for McCarthy's Packers.
"All out," Barnett says. "It's a way of life around here. When our quarterback is playing all-out ball, why wouldn't all of us play like that? I don't know if it's tough-guy football. But it's all-out-not-intimidated-by-anybody defense."
McCarthy began his NFL ascent in Kansas City, working with quarterbacks Joe Montana, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac and Steve Bono under then-Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer.
He considers himself fortunate to have landed in Green Bay, where the past is ever-present and football is embraced the same way it is back in his native Pittsburgh.
Inside McCarthy's third-floor Lambeau Field office is the original doorway to Vince Lombardi's sanctum.
McCarthy is a passionate coach, firm in what he's teaching and proud of an up-and-coming defense that has helped offset the team's inability to run the ball.
"It's a team-oriented group, and they say you can't win a championship without a good defense, and I truly believe it," McCarthy says. "Especially when you're an offensive-minded coach, when you have a good defense, you're getting the ball back. But you can also play aggressively to try and win the game.
"We play to win. We don't play it close to the vest. Just the attitude — playing to win — you want it to reflect in your scheme and style and our defense exemplifies that.
"If you play conservative football, you can probably go 8-8. But I'm trying to win it all."
McCarthy talks about building a January defense, but cites too many explosive plays surrendered — pass plays of 16 or more yards and runs of 12 or more yards.
"Our defense has played outstanding in spurts and has played very good for the most part," he says. "But we're having those explosive gains come up.
"As a football team, I'm still waiting for us to play our best game. … I still feel like our defense hasn't even had our best days yet."
That's a compelling reason for optimism.
"We have the confidence to make a Super Bowl run," Barnett says.
"There's no guarantees. But we definitely have the confidence as a team that we're going there."