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By Brett Borden, Panthers.com
Wahle going back to Lambeau
Mike Wahle spent seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He knows the state of Wisconsin. He knows the town of Green Bay. He knows Lambeau Field. About the only thing he doesn’t knowis the visitors’ locker room.
“I’ve never been there,” he said with a laugh Wednesday. “Not in the old one and not since they redid it.”
That’s a good thing, because Wahle wants to block out as many memories as possible this Sunday when his Carolina Panthers travel to Green Bay for the first time since he switched uniforms three years ago.
“The reality is we need to get a win, so I’m not going to focus too much on it,” said Wahle. “I’m sure there will be a moment there where things will start flashing through my head really fast, but we have to get a victory. We’re in dire need of a victory this week, so I’m trying not to focus on that too much.”
It won’t be easy. As teammate Justin Hartwig said two weeks ago, when he returned to Nashville for the first time since leaving the Tennessee Titans, coming back to the place where you started your career is a mixed bag of emotions. Players don’t like that, necessarily. So they try to take that nervous energy and apply it in ways that will help their team win, like telling teammates what to watch out for on Sunday.
“Playing in Lambeau Field is like playing in Yankee Stadium to most guys,” said Wahle, who played 56 games (and three playoff contests) there wearing the green and gold. “The thing about it is that it’s not as loud as you think it’s going to be, but the field is a little different than you expect and the weather can be a factor if you make it a factor.”
The forecast for Sunday is in the 40’s, with snow showers possible before the game.
“Personally, I like playing in that weather and I think most linemen do,” said Wahle. “But the field is a little softer and it’s cold outside, and as the visiting team you look around and see that everyone is loving it except for you.”
Of course, none of that would matter if Green Bay didn’t have a team capable of using that built in advantage. This year, they certainly do. The 8-1 Packers, who also won their last four regular season games a year ago, have become one of the top teams in the NFC, if not the entire NFL.
“They’re doing a lot of things right,” Wahle said. “They’re playing well on defense. They’re stopping the run. They’re getting after the quarterback. They’re kind of covered on the front and the back end. They have a good front seven but they also have great corners. They’ve done a good job. Offensively, Brett (Favre) is having a hell of a year. He’s got some good receivers with him and they’re doing good things
“It’s going to come down to making plays. We have to make plays when opportunities are presented to us, and that’s something we haven’t been doing.”
What they have been doing is watching film. What they have seen is a team that doesn’t try to trick you. It just tries to beat you.
“On defense, they’re not doing too much, but they’re doing it really well,” said Wahle. “They run one or two defenses, and a couple of blitzes and coverages, but they’re just outplaying people. So we just have to prepare all week and when we get out there, we have to make plays.”
If the Panthers don’t make plays early, they will face a Packers defensive line that features ends Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who have nine and eight-and-a-half sacks, respectively.
“Their offense has been forcing people into passing situations (by staking the defense to early leads),” explained Wahle. “Those guys can get after you. The ends might have 17.5 sacks, but if you look at their team, everybody can rush the passer. Those two guys on the end who can really come after you. So we have to keep ourselves out of third-and-long and keep ourselves in the ball game.”
Notice the change in equipment a belly??
Wahle going back to Lambeau
Mike Wahle spent seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He knows the state of Wisconsin. He knows the town of Green Bay. He knows Lambeau Field. About the only thing he doesn’t knowis the visitors’ locker room.
“I’ve never been there,” he said with a laugh Wednesday. “Not in the old one and not since they redid it.”
That’s a good thing, because Wahle wants to block out as many memories as possible this Sunday when his Carolina Panthers travel to Green Bay for the first time since he switched uniforms three years ago.
“The reality is we need to get a win, so I’m not going to focus too much on it,” said Wahle. “I’m sure there will be a moment there where things will start flashing through my head really fast, but we have to get a victory. We’re in dire need of a victory this week, so I’m trying not to focus on that too much.”
It won’t be easy. As teammate Justin Hartwig said two weeks ago, when he returned to Nashville for the first time since leaving the Tennessee Titans, coming back to the place where you started your career is a mixed bag of emotions. Players don’t like that, necessarily. So they try to take that nervous energy and apply it in ways that will help their team win, like telling teammates what to watch out for on Sunday.
“Playing in Lambeau Field is like playing in Yankee Stadium to most guys,” said Wahle, who played 56 games (and three playoff contests) there wearing the green and gold. “The thing about it is that it’s not as loud as you think it’s going to be, but the field is a little different than you expect and the weather can be a factor if you make it a factor.”
The forecast for Sunday is in the 40’s, with snow showers possible before the game.
“Personally, I like playing in that weather and I think most linemen do,” said Wahle. “But the field is a little softer and it’s cold outside, and as the visiting team you look around and see that everyone is loving it except for you.”
Of course, none of that would matter if Green Bay didn’t have a team capable of using that built in advantage. This year, they certainly do. The 8-1 Packers, who also won their last four regular season games a year ago, have become one of the top teams in the NFC, if not the entire NFL.
“They’re doing a lot of things right,” Wahle said. “They’re playing well on defense. They’re stopping the run. They’re getting after the quarterback. They’re kind of covered on the front and the back end. They have a good front seven but they also have great corners. They’ve done a good job. Offensively, Brett (Favre) is having a hell of a year. He’s got some good receivers with him and they’re doing good things
“It’s going to come down to making plays. We have to make plays when opportunities are presented to us, and that’s something we haven’t been doing.”
What they have been doing is watching film. What they have seen is a team that doesn’t try to trick you. It just tries to beat you.
“On defense, they’re not doing too much, but they’re doing it really well,” said Wahle. “They run one or two defenses, and a couple of blitzes and coverages, but they’re just outplaying people. So we just have to prepare all week and when we get out there, we have to make plays.”
If the Panthers don’t make plays early, they will face a Packers defensive line that features ends Aaron Kampman and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who have nine and eight-and-a-half sacks, respectively.
“Their offense has been forcing people into passing situations (by staking the defense to early leads),” explained Wahle. “Those guys can get after you. The ends might have 17.5 sacks, but if you look at their team, everybody can rush the passer. Those two guys on the end who can really come after you. So we have to keep ourselves out of third-and-long and keep ourselves in the ball game.”
Notice the change in equipment a belly??
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