PACKERS TRAVEL TO KANSAS CITY FOR PRESEASON FINALE
- Green Bay (2-1) heads to Kansas City (0-3) to close out the preseason slate with a game against the Chiefs tonight. It is the third time in the past four years that the Packers have wrapped up their preseason schedule away from Lambeau Field.
- For Head Coach Mike McCarthy, the trip to Kansas City is a return to where his NFL coaching career started. McCarthy spent six seasons on the Chiefs' staff (1993-98), the first two as an offensive assistant/quality control coach and the final four as the quarterbacks coach. Tonight will be just the second time McCarthy has coached in Kansas City since taking over as head coach of Green Bay in 2006, with the other game coming on Nov. 4, 2007, a 33-22 Packers win over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
- Ironically, McCarthy's very first game as an NFL coach was a preseason contest between the Chiefs and the Packers on Aug. 7, 1993, at Milwaukee County Stadium. Kansas City won, 29-21.
- The teams have squared off 11 times before in the preseason, with the series deadlocked at 5-5-1. The last preseason meeting between the teams came on Aug. 4, 2003, in Canton, Ohio, in the annual Hall of Fame game. The Chiefs won, 9-0, in a contest that was called with 5:49 left in the third quarter due to severe rain and lightning.
- The Packers beat the defending AFC champion Indianapolis Colts, 59-24, last Thursday night at Lambeau Field in a nationally televised contest. QB Aaron Rodgers led the No. 1 offense on three touchdown drives in just a half of work, completing 21-of-29 passes for 195 yards and three TDs. TE Jermichael Finley paced the offense with six receptions for 85 yards, including a 15-yard TD grab, and Rodgers added TD passes to WRs Donald Driver and James Jones. FB Korey Hall recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a TD in the second quarter, and WR Jason Chery added a 75-yard punt return for a score in the fourth quarter.
- The 59 points scored were the most by a Green Bay team in the preseason since the Packers posted a 75-0 shutout over the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Crush on Sept. 5, 1938, in Ironwood, Mich. It was also the most points scored by Green Bay against an NFL opponent in any game (preseason, regular season or postseason), topping the mark set on Oct. 7, 1945, in a 57-21 win over Detroit.
- Green Bay's 59-point total was the most by any team in a preseason game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
- Of the Packers' three highest point totals in the preseason since 1979, all of them have come during McCarthy's head-coaching tenure. In 2009, Green Bay won at Arizona, 44-37, and in 2007, the Packers topped Seattle, 48-13.
- The Packers open up the regular season at Philadelphia at 3:15 p.m. (CDT) on Sunday, Sept. 12, while the Chiefs host the San Diego Chargers in their season opener on Monday Night Football on Sept. 13, at 9:15 p.m. (CDT).
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy began his NFL coaching career in Kansas City, first as quality control/offensive assistant (1993-94) and later as QB coach (1995-98)...Packers VP of football administration/player finance Russ Ball began his NFL career with the Chiefs and went on to work 10 seasons there (1989-98), the first eight as an asst. strength and conditioning coach and the final two in football operations...Ball played center at Central Missouri St. when Chiefs DB coach Emmitt Thomas was on the coaching staff there...Thomas was the Packers' defensive coordinator in 1999, when McCarthy was Green Bay's QB coach...Packers VP of sales and marketing Tim Connolly spent seven seasons with the Chiefs (1989-95) as executive VP and chief operating officer...Packers asst. strength and conditioning coach Dave Redding was the Chiefs' strength and conditioning coach for nine seasons (1989-97)...Packers asst. director of pro personnel Tim Terry (1999) and director of player development Rob Davis (1996) went to training camp with the Chiefs...Chiefs assistant head coach Maurice Carthon interviewed for the Packers head coaching job in 2006 when McCarthy was hired...Packers QB coach Tom Clements previously held the same post in Kansas City (2000) and also played quarterback for the Chiefs in 1980...Packers T/G Allen Barbre grew up in Granby, Mo., less than three hours from Arrowhead Stadium...Chiefs WR Chris Chambers played collegiately at Wisconsin...Chiefs LS Thomas Gafford spent the 2006 training camp and the 2008 offseason with Green Bay...Chiefs LB John Russell spent the 2010 offseason with the Packers...Packers TE Tom Crabtree spent 2009 training camp with the Chiefs and was a college teammate of Chiefs TE Jake O'Connell at Miami (Ohio)...The two teams feature several former LSU standouts whose college careers crossed paths at different times. Those LSU alums are Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe, DE Glenn Dorsey, DE Tyson Jackson, CB Travis Daniels, C Rudy Niswanger, and Packers QB Matt Flynn and FB Quinn Johnson (LSU); Jackson and Johnson have been friends and teammates since junior high in Edgard, La. ...Other former college teammates include Chiefs T Ryan O'Callaghan and Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (California), Chiefs TE Tony Moeaki and Packers T/G Bryan Bulaga, both 2010 draft choices out of Iowa; Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles, DT Derek Lokey and Packers TE Jermichael Finley (Texas), Chiefs P Dustin Colquitt, TE Brad Cottam and Packers DE Justin Harrell (Tennessee), Chiefs FB Mike Cox and Packers S Morgan Burnett (Georgia Tech), Chiefs QB Brodie Croyle, RB Tim Castille, DE Wallace Gilberry and Packers S Charlie Peprah (Alabama), Chiefs DE Alex Magee and Packers DE Mike Neal (Purdue), Chiefs LB Corey Mays, CB Mike Richardson, G Dan Santucci and Packers RB Ryan Grant (Notre Dame), and Chiefs S Jarrad Page and Packers LB Brandon Chillar (UCLA).
SAVE THE DATE
Important dates to remember (all times CDT):
- Saturday, Sept. 4 – NFL-mandated roster reduction, to 53 players, by 5 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 5 – Clubs may establish eight-player practice squad, 11 a.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 12 – Regular-season opener at Philadelphia Eagles, 3:15 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field
- Sunday, Sept. 19 – Home opener vs. Buffalo Bills, noon, Lambeau Field
TONIGHT'S CAPTAINS
As per team tradition, the Packers select game captains each week.
Tonight's captains will be C Scott Wells (offense), LB Nick Barnett (defense) and TE Donald Lee (special teams).
WEARING THE STRIPES
Tonight's officiating crew includes referee Ed Hochuli (85), umpire Chad Brown (31), head linesman Mark Hittner (28), line judge Tom Symonette (100), field judge Craig Wrolstad (4), side judge Ron Torbert (62) and back judge Don Carey (126).
