2010 Opener: The Official Packers -v- Eagles Game Thread

[MichiganPackerFan]

As far as game-day thread technique goes, I tried it a couple times last season and I found that I missed to much of the game by trying to keep up on comments. What are some methods used to incorporate both and add brats to create the ultimate game day experience?

[Fritz]

I run back to the computer on commercials. A laptop would solve this issue, I think.

[Airin' Rodgers]

After a win, I read the whole thing after. Usually provides a good read. After a loss, I steer clear because my emotions are running high

[Joemailman]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/102639109.html

Mike Neal did not participate and is questionable
Brandon Underwood did nor participate and is out.
Desmond Bishop is questionable.

[mraynrand]

Desmond Bishop is questionable.

so true.

[Tony Oday]

Desmond Bishop is questionable.

so true.

lol or just plain bad

[falco]

Thanks for the updates Joe.

[Patler]

Mike Neal did not participate and is questionable

That hurts.

[bobblehead]

I like Aikman (as an announcer). What's wrong with his play by play?

I just think he's not any good. I like the guys doing tonight's game a lot.

The one thing I like about aikman is that he comments on the officiating. He isn't afraid to say "I didn't see any holding there" or "Man, how did the officials miss that?"

Last night one of the viking tackles totally grabbed and pulled the facemask of one of the Saints DE's and guess what....no flag. How does a ref miss a guys head being ripped off?

I've always said the refs hold a grudge against MM for his griping in his first season. We get a lot of "phantom holds" late in games that kill momentum and such. Back in the Holmgren day, after the '95 game with dallas, we got nearly every call in the book.

[Tarlam!]

I remember that play quite vividly! Sitting here in Germany at nigh 4 AM, I thought it was just me!

I still don't like Aikman. Maybe it's his voice. I dunno, I just can't stand him.

[swede]

Mike Neal did not participate and is questionable

That hurts.

That's what he said.

[RashanGary]

Well, Harrell is healthy for one week. Maybe we can get one weeks use out of him.

[Fritz]

JH, don't you see how it works? The Pack will be forced to overuse Harrell, he'll get hurt, and that will be the death blow to the season.

[Joemailman]

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100910/PKR01/100910119/McCarthy-casts-expectations-aside-focuses-on-Super-Bowl

Pretty decent interview with McCarthy, particularly some comments about the Arizona playoff loss:

Q: Let’s not beat around the bush, so many so-called experts are picking you guys to get to the Super Bowl that there’s no way your players and coaches aren’t aware of the expectations. How do you think they will handle that?

McCarthy: “Frankly, I might be naïve, but I feel we’re past that. Those conversations are really, in my view, for the beginning of training camp. We have a goal to win the Super Bowl. We appreciate that people think we’re worthy or capable of winning the Super Bowl. That’s a positive, when people say nice things about you. But by no means do we sit here, I don’t want to offend you, but we don’t sit here and hang your articles on the wall and say, ‘Look what they’re saying about us.’ I felt like during the first week of camp, we talked about it. There was a lot of buzz, and maybe it’s trying to be re-created again in Week 1 of the season, but I really think we’re past that as a football team.”

Q: Is this your best shot to win it all since you’ve been here?

McCarthy: “Well, you’ve got to say your best shot was in ’07, when you’re standing right there on the doorstep (in the NFC championship game). I feel very good about where we are today as a team. But you’ve done this for a lot of years, it’s a long season. There’s a lot of things that happen. But our starting point, I feel we’re very strong. But we’ve got to handle the challenges and demands that an NFL season puts on every team.”

Q: Last year, after you lost at Tampa to fall to 4-4, team President Mark Murphy spoke publicly about how disappointed he was and that he wanted to see changes. How exactly did you turn the season around and go 7-1 in the second half?

McCarthy: “Stuck to my guns. Didn’t change as far as the approach. I think everybody, to a man, the urgency was heightened. Unfortunately, it took an embarrassing loss as it was in Tampa Bay. And I learned a lesson or two. It’s something that you hope to apply in the future. I’m not making any excuses, and people thought I did. I felt it was important for us to bounce back after that Minnesota (loss). We got after them in practice, and they responded. And I can remember standing there just before halftime thinking, ‘God dang, we’re dead today.’ It wasn’t a lack of effort or anything. They had a little bit of a perfect storm. They had a few plays, when one of your trusted, key veterans blows a punt assignment and you get a punt blocked, we did some things that were uncharacteristic of us. But I felt some responsibility for that because we did not play well in that game. I think being honest about it, and to a man there was a heightened sense of urgency, and we were able to get the next one at home against Dallas, which I felt was big playing at home that week. Our fans were behind us, which I can’t say enough about because I’ve been in other places where if that first quarter didn’t go right, they could have gone against you. The Dallas game was phenomenal. It was an outstanding opponent, a great environment. Lambeau was phenomenal that night, and that’s a big credit to the fans.”

Q: In Sports Illustrated’s NFL preview issue that recently came out, you were quoted as saying you had the players “too high” for the first Minnesota game. What did you do that got them too high?

McCarthy: “I was extremely confident going into that game and thought we were ready to take a step and probably didn’t handle a couple of the injuries that we had prior to that game appropriately. The left tackle position, Chad wasn’t available. Right tackle position wasn’t stable. Probably pushed the envelope too much from a play-calling standpoint. The safety position, the change we made in that game resulted in some big plays. I don’t know, anytime something goes wrong, it’s just in my nature, I look in the mirror first. I thought the night before the game and just the way we went up there, they were so dialed in for that game, and we were probably a little bit too rambunctious in the beginning of that game. We had seven penalties in the first half; they had zero. I thought that was a huge factor. Then coming back home to Lambeau, we almost repeated exactly the same type of game. We had six penalties in the first half; they had zero. I felt the first game we were probably a little bit too high.”

Q: Was that because you were playing against Brett Favre?

McCarthy: “Well it’s playing that team. I’m not going to deny that Brett didn’t add a whole other element to it. We had way too many big plays go against us. The penalties, I thought the big plays and the penalties were huge factors. Look at the first series of the game both times, we had a personal foul on our defense that resulted in seven points. One time we (would have gotten) off the field. The other time it’s maybe a field goal. When you play in close games, which all division games usually are, it can affect the outcome.”

Q: At any time last year, before, after or during those games against Minnesota, did you and Brett say anything to each other?

McCarthy: “I have not, no.”

Q: Do you think you and Brett will ever sit down and make peace, even if it’s after his or your career is over?

McCarthy: “Time will answer that question.”

Q: You’re still relatively young in this business …

McCarthy: “I feel young.”

Q: … but coaching at this level takes its toll on a person. Do you see yourself as a lifer or a guy who retires while he’s still young?

McCarthy: “And I have a young family. I plan to have the discipline to, God willing, walk away on my own terms at the right time, but I could do this for the rest of my life. I love coming to work every day. I love working here. I couldn’t imagine having an opportunity better than the Green Bay Packers. It’s hard to even talk about it. It’s just such a unique place. Everyone wants to talk about tradition and facilities, but it’s really about the people. It’s such a great place to work, and there’s so many good people. It’s the way it should be. We’re given the resources to win. It’s as clean as that. There’s no sidebars. There’s no around-the-corner agendas, and that’s so important. I’ve got a great family. I married a beautiful local gal, and it’d be great to be here for a long time.”

Q: You said you feel young and you look like you’re in better shape than you’ve been in, but at a few of the training camp practices, you’d limp off the field after the workout. How’s your health?

McCarthy: “Yeah, a little better shape this year, but yeah that’s an old football injury, and I’ve let it go. I need knee surgery, and I’ve just been putting it off.”

Q: John Schneider was a close friend and confidant of yours before he left in January to become GM of the Seattle Seahawks. Who are you closest to in the organization now and who has filled that role?

McCarthy: “John still is. Ted Thompson is so stable and just so consistent, and that’s someone I’m blessed to be able to have the working relationship with and the ability to lean on. He’s a great listener and very important to my personal success here. Russ Ball has always been there. Really, Russ, John and I, going back to our Kansas City days, were always good friends. I trust Russ Ball with my children, and that’s a huge statement that you can say about somebody. I’ve got an excellent coaching staff, a lot of guys I enjoy being around and hopefully people that after football, we’ll all be friends. So I feel like I have an outstanding network of people. Mark Murphy is a great listener and a guy you can bounce things off. Jason Wied is someone that I’ve gotten to be close with. Even Doug Collins, our security director, is another confidant. Matt Klein and Lisa (Waeghe), I can’t say enough about them. They run the office and do a great job of keeping me coaching, and not getting bogged down from an administrative standpoint, and that’s something that I think happens to a lot people in this position, and I feel like it gets to me sometimes, but they’re great at taking the ball and running with it.”

Q: I would think you’d agree that your pass defense probably prevented you from going further in the playoffs last season. Why will you be better in that area this year?

McCarthy: “Well that one particular game, you hate to put your whole season on one game, but we didn’t perform very well in that football game, and those are always tough lessons that you can learn from, but also we didn’t take care of the football that day, either. That’s the part that I think you’ve really got to stay on top of as a team. I talk to our team all the time about playing to your identity — smart, tough, fundamentally sound. They hear about it every day. It’s on every overlay that goes up in front of them, and I felt like we built that and had it going during the second half of the year, and to go into that game and turn the ball over like we did after you just got done playing 16 games, and you’re plus-24. I just feel like we create our identity, because you don’t ever get to carry it forward from the year before, and play to that and an improvement in pass defense will definitely be one of our focuses. We went into the season saying we were going to stop the run because that was an issue the year before, and we were the best in the league at it. We’ve taken the same approach with the negative aspects of the 2009 season as we prepare for 2010, and we’re confident we will improve in those areas.”

Q: But you have an undrafted free agent, Sam Shields, as your likely third cornerback and unproven guys like Brandon Underwood and Pat Lee back there. What’s your level of concern there?

McCarthy: “Well, it’s no different than when you play the quarterback for the first time. You don’t know until they play. You have confidence in their ability. You have confidence in the way they’re trained. You have confidence in the way they work, and more importantly you have confidence in them as the type of people they are. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t put them out there.”

Q: You changed special teams coaches two years ago, changed punters this year and changed the way you practice special teams in training camp. Does that mean it’s reasonable to expect a dramatic improvement in that area?

McCarthy: “I expect it and demand it. More importantly, I think the players want it, too. The players are the first to know. Coaching is very important, no doubt about it, but they have to carry the ultimate message and the focus into the live action. They’re all well aware of what we’re trying to do. We’ve made a number of changes, not only in the way we practice but in the way we do punt protection, our approach is a little different in kickoff returns and Shawn Slocum’s done some good things on the kickoff coverage, so we feel like we have better weapons, more bullets in our gun, but at the end of the day we have to go out and perform. But I feel the improvements, the adjustments that Shawn and (special teams assistant coach) Chad (Morton) have made throughout the offseason and the training camp work was very good. I thought it was the best of our time here, but we have to go out and do it now.”

Q: Don’t you think it’s a risk to put Tramon Williams or Greg Jennings on punt returns given how important those guys are on defense and offense?

McCarthy: “Depends on how you want to look at it. You’re also putting the ball in the hands of an exciting player. If I have one issue on offense, it’s going to be opportunities. I could say now I’m putting the ball in Greg’s hands one more time, two more times a game, and also Tramon’s. I mean Tramon has been very good back there. People fail to realize he’s never really had a full season at that. He’s got a unique set of skills on punt return. We’ve always had that in our back pocket. It’s hard to say we’re going to pick the best 53 players. Whether you agree with it or not, we let these guys compete, and there were times when I thought it was going to be different from 50, 51, 52 and 53. But at the end of the day, when all the information came in, we felt like we built the best 53 football players, and sometimes you may cross lines because, yeah, you may like to have nine linebackers, but if you’re going to keep the best players and have the ability to improve depth over years to come, you have to believe in the coaching to make the difference for our different personnel groups. That’s been our approach, and it’s worked. Like I told the team in our meeting on Monday, our two biggest challenges are going to be not enough opportunities for everybody and handling success, and I’m not going to apologize for having too many good football players in this room. It’s taken us five years to get to this point, but we’re here, we feel good about it, but we need to make sure it’s always going to be about the team first.”

Q: Speaking of all those weapons you have on offense, when you first got here, you said you wanted to be a run-first team …

McCarthy: “Well, we had a coach that gave some powerful speeches …”

Q: But you’re a pass-first team, aren’t you?

McCarthy: “Not really. The thing is, football has changed a little bit. It’s still about blocking and tackling and handling the football. That will never change. When you do things at the line of scrimmage and play against aggressive defensive schemes, it’s common sense that the path of least resistance is usually the best path on any particular play. So when I get statistics that the pass and the run are not as balanced as you’d want, my balance comes on what I called. So the result to me is secondary. Some of the things that we do, there’s run and pass options. We may not be running the ball, but we’re still coming off the line and getting after the D-line because at the end of the day it’s putting the ball in the individual’s hands with him having the opportunity to progress forward. That’s why I don’t get as caught up on the final numbers. I can tell you this, every meeting we have first, we start with the run. You may not like the way our house looks on the outside, but our foundation stays intact with the way we approach the game.”

Q: When you cut guys like Spencer Havner and Kregg Lumpkin, guys that have helped you win games before, do you ever worry the players who are still here might question why you’re getting rid of players that have helped you win over the years?

McCarthy: “I would hope they do. I think that’s the way they should think. That’s part of the conversations we have, too. Spencer Havner, just the way he was able to build up and get on the team, but Spencer didn’t perform to the level that he did last year. That’s the facts, and that’s why he’s not here. But I’m a huge Spencer Havner fan and frankly he made my job a lot easier going from 53 to 45 because he gave us an extra linebacker and a good special teams player and was very productive for us as a tight end. Those were all hard decisions. But you line people up and let them compete and if one guy outperforms the other, I think he earns the right for the job.”

Q: What does it say that five of those guys you waived were claimed by other teams and a sixth, punter Chris Bryan, signed with Tampa Bay?

McCarthy: “I think that’s a credit to our personnel staff and our coaching staff. We have young players that we brought in here that the media probably criticized us for picking at one point, I’m just kidding you, but they were developed, and they’re good football players. I think it says a lot about our program and our football team.”

Q: Is there any chance it says maybe you made mistakes and cut the wrong guys?

McCarthy: “I don’t think so. I think we have the best seat to make those decisions, and I’m confident we made the right decisions.”

Q: You’ve had a rotation of punters here. What are the chances Tim Masthay is a long-term answer?

McCarthy: “I hope so. There’s a lot of information that would point to that. He’s young, he’s an athlete and he’s going to improve. His skill set is vast in terms of the kickoffs, the holding. As far as his straight-line mechanics, there’s a lot there to work with. I’m hoping him and Mason are here for a long time.”

Q: You promoted Mark Lovat to the head strength coach. What differences have you seen?

McCarthy: “Mark does such a great job of the functional training. Also, Mark’s an extremely educated individual as far as the science behind the strength and conditioning and the bridge you have to have with the training room. To me, that’s really one department. We’re not structured like that, but frankly if I was in charge of that facility, I’d make that all one area because I think there could be a tendency in our industry that there’s walls between those two departments, and they function better when they’re one. We have a very good relationship there between both the medical staff and the strength and conditioning staff. I think Mark Lovat and (assistant trainer) Bryan Engel, in particular, as far as their rehab and prehap ability with our players is significant.”

Q: Going back to that playoff loss at Arizona, the refs told cornerback Charles Woodson before the game not to hold because they’re going to call him for it. Do you think that impacted the way he played?

McCarthy: “That shouldn’t go on, and they know that. You talk about communication, and now you talk about predetermining something before the game. Now if you want to give a guy a warning, but if the communication went down the way it did, we’re not looking for that because they’re supposed to call what they see. There’s nothing good that comes out of complaining about officiating. I think it’s an excuse. Do I like some of the things that go on? No, but it serves me no purpose. To me, it’s all about the end result. How am I going to prepare my team or handle situations that’s going to give us the chance to move forward and win games.”

Q: You aren’t a guy who complains a lot about officiating, yet in that game Woodson got thrown around a lot and maybe there should have been offensive pass interference called …

McCarthy: “Twice.”

Q: … and maybe there should have been illegal hands to the face on that last play. My question is, did you guys get screwed in that game?

McCarthy: “I would have liked if they would have called it. I would like to think that when I’m done with this business, I can look back and say it all kind of worked itself out. Sometimes you’re on the short side of that. Sometimes you get the calls. You have to live with it.”

Q: Lastly, driving into the stadium today, you could see one of those fences along Lombardi Avenue was recently painted with the slogan ‘In McCarthy We Trust.” What does that mean to you?

McCarthy: “You can see it from here (inside his office). Ted was giving me a hard time about it. Personally, I think things like that should be about the players. I’m so blessed to hold one of the most prominent positions in coaching, and I’m very grateful for that. But I think recognition, I think it’s a players’ game. But I’m flattered that they would think that of me that they would paint that on their fence. There’s a lot of neat traditions around here. I’m flattered, embarrassed.”

[MichiganPackerFan]

That interview was lengthy but a really good read. I really like M2 and that just reinforced it.