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Packers-Panthers Post-Game Notes & Quotes
posted 11/30/2008
-Today's loss drops Green Bay to 5-7, two games behind the NFC North division leader. Chicago and Minnesota, both 6-5, play tonight.
-Carolina's victory moves them to 9-3 and in a tie for first place with Tampa Bay in the NFC South.
-Today's four-point loss was Green Bay's fourth loss of the season by four points or less.
-The Packers advantage in the teams' all-time rivalry is now 3-2 at Lambeau Field and 6-4 overall regular season.
-Today's paid attendance was 70,297, the 275th consecutive sellout (259 regular season, 16 playoffs) at Lambeau Field.
-With nine catches for 91 yards, Greg Jennings surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. He now has 64 catches for 1,057 yards on the season. His TD catch was his seventh of the season.
-Donald Driver's second-quarter TD catch was the 42nd of his career, his 16th at Lambeau Field.
-Driver also surpassed the 50-reception mark, marking his seventh season of 50-plus receptions. He now joins Lofton and Sharpe (both seven) on top of the team's all time list.
-Brandon Jackson's 80 rushing yards were a season high.
-Donald Lee's third-quarter touchdown reception was his fourth career TD against the Panthers. Lee had two TD receptions against the Panthers last season and one in 2005, his first career catch in a Green Bay uniform.
-With his 11 points today, Mason Crosby notched his second consecutive season scoring 100 plus points. He has 102 points this season.
-The Navy Parachute Team, scheduled to perform at halftime, was forced to cancel due to wind conditions.
-The Packers hosted the team championship of the annual NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition Sunday prior to the Packers-Panthers game. The winning girls and boys in each age group follow: (8 and 9 year olds) Ashley Juza, Hudson; Austin Kahlow, Fond du Lac; (10 and 11 year olds) Chloe Wanink, Cameron; Brett Joers, Middleton; (12 and 13 year olds) Mikayla Hilton, Saukville; Brad Freeborn, River Falls; (14 and 15 year olds) Katherine Hagar, Muskego; and Luke Weiss, River Falls.
**
HEAD COACH MIKE McCARTHY:
(on not winning close games) "Well, it's a combination of not making enough plays and (not) doing some of the basic things we've been able to do in the past. I thought the biggest negative today was field position. It's two weeks in a row we're playing on a football field that's 200 yards longer than our opponent. It's tough to overcome that. I thought that was a huge factor. And we've got to keep them out of the end zone. They made big plays down the stretch. Offensively, I felt we were able to control the clock, manage the football game, we were backed up a number of times where we had to get long drives and we were able to accomplish that. The negative to the offense is we have to punch the ball in the end zone every time, especially in a game like this. But the biggest thing is the field position, just look at the statistics."
(on deciding to kick the field goal instead of going for the touchdown near the end of game) "I thought about it. It was an option. But to go up two points with two minutes left at home, I was confident in that position, that's why I kicked it."
(on if he thinks the offense has to score a touchdown every possession) "I didn't feel that way today. I can see why you asked the question based on last week's game also. I thought the biggest thing we did to our defense, we put them in negative field position time and time again. It's a different game when you're on the 50-yard line as opposed to the minus thirty. And Steve Smith made two huge plays in the fourth quarter. We had coverage there and that happens. He's a big time player and he made big plays."
(on starting Charles Woodson at safety) "Just getting your best players on the field. We had some injuries to the safety position. It was a short week coming off the Monday night game and we just felt that it was in the best interest of the defense to get your best players on the field."
(on Aaron Rodgers' performance) "I thought he played very well. I thought he did a very good job of managing at the line of scrimmage the play selection that we had in the game. He kept us in favorable play selection; he did a good job of spreading the ball around. He didn't take chances. I thought he played very well."
QUARTERBACK AARON RODGERS:
(on the Packers coming up short in close games) "We didn't make plays in crunch time. We have had a number of games that have come down to the wire and we haven't been able to pull them out and lose by a close margin. We haven't executed in crunch time like we should. We had almost 450 yards today and to lose like that is pretty disappointing."
(on his last drive interception) "They dropped eight. I was looking to the left and thinking about hitting the boundary guy. I got flushed to my right and saw Ruvell (Martin) in front of me and I kind of motioned him to get out of there thinking that I might run. Donald (Driver) flashed his hand up. It felt like I threw a good ball, but I needed to put more on it into the wind like that trying to make a play."
(on if he can use this game as a learning experience) "To be honest I'm getting kind of tired learning from experiences like this. It is pretty frustrating when you lose games like that. You have to be critical of yourself. I felt like I competed today, but I didn't throw the ball as well as I wanted to at times. As a quarterback you want the ball in your hands under two minutes with a chance to lead your team to victory. We had two good plays called. The first one I missed Greg (Jennings) and the second one I just under threw Donald a little bit."
(on if the Packers are running out of time to make the playoffs) "We are disappointed to come up short so many times this year. We aren't going to make excuses, we had the opportunity. We have four games left. It is one at a time, but we have to get this next one for sure and we will probably need some help down the road."
(on bouncing back) "We are just going to do the things we have been doing. Unfortunately we have had great weeks of practice the last four or five weeks, but we just haven't been able to transfer the good things we have done in practice to the field on Sunday. We have been way too inconsistent, definitely underachieving at times. The inconsistency is the biggest disappointment."
LINEBACKER A.J. HAWK
(on if this loss is particularly tough to swallow) "Anytime you lose, it's tough. The way it happened today, with all the opportunities we had, it's hard. It's obviously a tough loss to take. I don't know, the offense is doing a great job of keeping us in games. It's our fault for giving up too many points as a defense."
(on if being two games back in the division is on his mind) "Where we are right now, we can't worry about what's going on around us in the division. We just have to worry about us winning games, or nothing good can happen. You know, we needed this one, but we'll move on next week, and we can't really worry about anyone else right now."
(on if losing in the final minutes makes it even harder) "It's hard. I think we had a lot of opportunities to keep the momentum, to keep the crowd with us, and we didn't. The game went back and forth. We didn't do a good job of holding onto momentum, we didn't do a good job of keeping them out of the end zone. They came out with some good plays, you have to give them credit, they made some plays, especially at the end."
RUNNING BACK BRANDON JACKSON
(on what was working for him as the main ball carrier) "Well, everything was kind of working, offensive line blocking, fullback blocking, me just going through my progressions. Just being patient and just bouncing it or hitting it up the gut."
(on the running game getting a boost when he started carrying the ball) "Like EB (running backs coach Edgar Bennett), we talk about when I get in there just trying to give a spark, and just take advantage of opportunities."
(on if the loss stings a little bit more because of where they stand in the division) "Well, I mean, it stings regardless because it's an 'L', and we have to find ways to win ball games."
CORNERBACK CHARLES WOODSON
(on Steve Smith's catch setting up the go-ahead touchdown) "I thought he made a great catch. They needed it at that point, but it should have never happened."
(on the big plays Carolina made) "They made some big plays, but it wasn't nothing we couldn't handle. You know, in my mind, we should have won the game, but we let one get away from us. They started out fast, put some points on the board, so, you know, we were kind of clawing our way back, and we just didn't have enough at the end."
(on how disappointing it is for him to give up the big catch that lead to the game winning touchdown) "Like I said, it shouldn't have been a catch. I take full responsibility. Like I said, I would take myself 100% of the time, especially with the ball in the air, being able to go get the ball, and I didn't make it happen."
SAFETY NICK COLLINS
(on how tough it is taking the lead with less than two minutes left and losing) "Tough. The guy made two plays for his team, got them in position to win the game, it's tough. You know, guys were in the right spots, they made a play. It's nothing we could have done better, different. That's how it boils down, at the end they made more plays than we did."
(on the team's record) "Like I said, we haven't been winning the close games. It shows tonight. We let another close one get away. We just got to move forward and keep it rolling."
(on if the secondary is being drained mentally after two straight rough games) "Nah, not at all. You know, guys are out there in the right positions, out there doing what they have to do to win this game, and like I said, the guy made a heck of a play. There's nothing we can do but keep fighting."
GUARD DARYN COLLEDGE
(on the job Brandon Jackson did coming in for Ryan Grant) "Great job. You know, everybody knows Brandon's a good back. I think we got an opportunity to have a real two-headed monster, when we can get everything going at the same time. But he did a great job filling in. He's always a shot of energy when he comes in and plays. I know he's excited, and it's sad that it's going to be overshadowed by a loss."
(on how bad this game hurt) "I think they all hurt, it doesn't matter. But we know what this does to us. We're going to need some help. So we've got to worry about one game at a time, and we got the Houston Texans coming in here and we have to win, we know that."
(on if Smith's catch at the end is an example of their best player making a great play) "Yeah, it's a great player making a good play at the end of the game, and we just didn't do that. We had an opportunity to punch it in and get seven ourselves, and we didn't do that. They capitalized on our mistakes and we didn't capitalize on theirs. That's pretty much how it shakes down."
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PANTHERS HEAD COACH JOHN FOX:
(on their character in coming back) "I think it showed a lot about our football team. We stressed all week about starting fast. I thought we started fast, and I think we were able to finish fast too, which I think is critical. It was a hard-fought game. We knew it would be. This isn't the easiest place in the National Football League to play. That's a good football team, and we were able to get out of here with a tight win."
(on the defensive stand forcing the Packers to kick a field goal) "I wasn't really sure what they were going to do there at the end. I kind of thought they'd kick the field goal, and we were able to get a good stop there and eliminate the touchdown to put us in position to be able to win the game instead of trying to go down the field and tie the game."
(on Steve Smith's two long catches) "Every good football team has great players, and he's one of ours. He's an extremely competitive guy and he's been making plays like that around here since I've been here. He's a tremendous competitor, and I thought he came up big today."
PANTHERS RUNING BACK DEANGELO WILLIAMS:
(on how special this game was) "It's Lambeau Field. You can't get a better field than that and then the offensive line blocked their butts off, and Steve Smith made a great catch. Our special teams played big for us all night. I think in all three phases we played good enough to win this game tonight and it showed out there on the field."
QUARTERBACK JAKE DELHOMME:
(on Steve Smith's catch in double coverage to set up the winning TD) "It was a fantastic play, and he wants to be in those situations."
(on the importance of getting a road win like this) "We've done well at home. We've been extremely average on the road, or below-average, I should say. But we came into a tough place and we scored some points. (We had) 28 last week, 35 this week. We're scoring a little bit of points."
PANTHERS LINEBACKER JON BEASON:
(on the interception at the end of the game) "Basically (we were in) 2-Tampa where I'm the deep middle runner. I knew they had Driver in the slot, that's there go-to guy and basically I looked Aaron Rodgers in the eyes, and he threw it and I was able to get up and get my hands on it." |
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