PACKERS DEFEAT COLTS 34-14, IMPROVE TO 4-3
-With tonight's win, the Packers now stand tied with Chicago atop the NFC North.
-The Packers snapped the Colts October win-streak at 13, handing Indianapolis its first defeat in the month since 2004 when it lost to Kansas City. Green Bay now has won five straight against the AFC.
-Green Bay snapped a two-game losing streak at Lambeau Field. The team has won 11 of its last 14 regular season games at the stadium.
-Today's paid attendance was 71,010, the 273rd consecutive sellout (257 regular season, 16 playoffs) at Lambeau Field.
-Aaron Rouse's 99-yard interception return for a touchdown ties the Packers record for longest interception return, set by Tim Lewis against the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 18, 1984. It was Rouse's first interception of the season.
-Nick Collins recorded his fourth interception of the season and his second TD return of the season.
-The Packers entered play Sunday tied for the NFL lead with Tampa Bay with four returns for TDs. They now have six returns for scores (five interceptions, one punt return) on the season.
-According to Elias Sports Bureau, tonight was the second game of Peyton Manning's career that the signal caller had two interceptions returned for touchdowns. The previous game was on Sept. 30, 2001, against the Patriots when Ty Law and Otis Smith each returned an interception for a touchdown.
-It is the second time this season the Packers have returned two interceptions for scores. Collins and Charles Woodson achieved the feat at Detroit in Week 2.
-Donald Lee's 12-yard touchdown catch in the 2nd quarter was his second of the season.
-Donald Driver surpassed two milestones in the second quarter. First, he passed Antonio Freeman (3,477 yards) to become Lambeau Field's all-time leader in receiving yards. Driver now has 3,494 career receiving yards at the stadium. Later on the drive, he surpassed James Lofton (530) on the franchise's all-time receptions list. Driver now has 532 carrer receptions.
-Ryan Grant's second quarter TD run was his first of the season. He ended the night with 105 rushing yards - his first 100-yard performance of the season - on 31 carries.
-Green Bay's 19 first downs in the first half marked a season high for one half. Its previous high was 16, set in the second half against Atlanta (10/5). Green Bay recorded 24 first downs in all, a season high.
-Johnny Jolly blocked a field goal in the third quarter. It was the first blocked field goal for the Packers since Nov. 6, 2005, by DE Cullen Jenkins.
**
HEAD COACH MIKE MCCARTHY
*(Could you have asked for a better performance out of the defense?) *
I thought our defense was excellent today, along with the crowd. When you play great defense and having the crowd at Lambeau Field, that's what it looks like right there. And that's what we'll continue to talk about as a football team. The importance of winning home games, but the importance of utilizing Lambeau Field as a homefield advantage. I thought it was a great victory into the bye and I thought our defense was huge today.
*(Can you talk about how aggressive you were early in the game, the onside kick and then going for it in your own territory?) *
Those are things during the course of the week, why you game plan, things you see on film, the approach you take into the game. I wanted to be aggressive from an offensive standpoint. Ball control was at a premium. We were able to accomplish that in the first half. It didn't go as well in the second half. But the ability to steal a series from their offense, we were very impressed with the way they played against Baltimore. We have a lot of respect for that group, and we were trust trying to be aggressive with those guys.
*(The onside kick, did that play into the aggressiveness?) *
Yes, absolutely. I was trying to steal a series from their offense. It was something we saw during the week, we thought we had a chance. The ball kind of skipped on Mason out of bounds. But as far as the block and the timing of it with Charlie Peprah and Will Blackmon, I thought we had a chance over there.
*(Did you reconsider after Dungy called a timeout on fourth down?) *
No. No I didn't. I was confident. I actually stayed with the original call that we had before he called the timeout. It was more of an approach going into the game. I wanted to be aggressive and control the clock. The red zone, as far as scoring touchdowns down there, kicking the field goals...But that's how we wanted the first half to go. I think we had three series from their offense. And you just have to take those chances sometimes.
*(Is Aaron really settling into that job? It looked like he was in such control out there.) *
He's played very well. I thought he did an excellent job today taking what the defense gave him. The checkdowns were there, (Brandon) Jackson had a bunch of catches. Just the patience of going through reads. I thought he really trusted his footwork today. He didn't hold the ball. He stepped up very well. And that's what you're looking for. No turnovers against that defense, that's an accomplishment and that's something you look to do going forward.
*(Is there a tendency for a young guy to match Peyton Manning throw-for-throw in a game like this for a first-year starter?) *
Yeah, that's an interesting question. I didn't see Aaron attempting to do that. I think just the way we played on offense opposed to the way they played, too. I thought Aaron did a very good job of operating the game plan and staying within himself. Peyton Manning is a great player, they put a lot of stress on your defense with the no-huddle operation and so forth. I thought our defense did a great job of handling that today.
SAFETY AARON ROUSE
(on if he knew he had a touchdown upon intercepting Peyton Manning near the goal line) "Most definitely, all I saw was green in front of me. Once I saw that real estate, I'm going to go and get it, nobody was going to catch me."
(on the read he had on the play when he intercepted the pass) "I got a good read on Peyton (Manning), just from watching film all week long. Once I saw that he was going to try to go outside to the corner, I made a break on it and pick-6 from there."
(on the defense keeping the Colts at bay all game) "We're playing with attitude now. I think that's something we need to be doing, playing with more attitude. We're playing with a sense of urgency out there. We're just trying to take over. When you come to Green Bay, Lambeau Field, it's our house, and we're just trying to take it over.
(on if going into the bye week is a confidence booster) "Most definitely, we're going into the bye week with our heads up and can get some rest, get healthy, get back and still strive to pick it up."
SAFETY NICK COLLINS
(on if he thought he was going to take his interception all the way back for a touchdown) "Of course, every time I touch it, all I want to do is get into the end zone. I used to play running back in my high school years, and every time I get the ball, I just want to get into the end zone."
(on almost being brought down by a pile-up of Colts near the 7-yard-line) "I wasn't going to let an O-lineman catch me and throw me to the ground. So once I saw the cut back lane, I knew I had them then. They can't stop on a dime like we can. So once I did (cut back), then I knew I was going to get into the end zone."
(on the defense not letting the Colts find their rhythm and getting them off the field quickly) "That's the type of defense we are. We're trying to give up no points. It doesn't matter who we're playing, we just want to go out there and play four quarters. And you saw it tonight. We just went out there and played four quarters."
(on the importance of getting a victory at home going into the bye week) "That was big to get that victory. Now we have a chance to get everybody healthy. Hopefully when we come off this bye week, we can still keep it going. That's all we have to do, is keep rolling and go from there."
WIDE RECEIVER GREG JENNINGS
(on the Packers offense dominating the time of possession throughout the entire game) "Well that's what we knew we had to do. Last week we were able to control the ball and the time of possession, we kept our defense fresh and they played phenomenal. They did the same thing today. Again, just control the time of possession, and the defense played their hearts out. The offense, we were able to run the ball and sustain drives."
(on the offense wearing out the opposing defenses by the end of the game by controlling the ball) "It's huge. It's huge. Anytime you can just wear a defense out and keep your defense fresh, number one, against an offense like that, you take their ability of what they do best away. You kind of eliminate that factor. That was the game plan going in, as far as the offensive side of the ball. And again, we gave our defense momentum because of what we were able to do as far as keeping the ball and keeping those guys fresh."
(on Aaron Rodgers spreading the ball around to all of the receivers and running backs) "It's exciting because you go out there and you study your game plan and you know he's going to get the ball around. He's not stuck on one guy, he's been spreading the ball around and that's the beauty of it. Everybody's going to get that opportunity and they know it, and we try to make the plays when we have the opportunity present itself."
RUNNING BACK RYAN GRANT
(on if he's satisfied with his yard per carry) "That needs to get higher. That needs to be more consistent, I think I need to not give up any negative yard runs. The negative runs are not good in this offense, because that's not good. You know, it sets back everything, second and whatever, second and 14, second and 15, that's not what you want. You want to be consistent, you always want to get those positive yards. You want to keep the average up, so yeah, we've got to get better there."
(on going into the bye week with a win) "Well I think it's good when you want to get that break, of course it always makes the bye week a little bit better when you come off a win. Every week makes it [shorter] when you come off a win. But it's big for us, to be able to get above that mark and get back on track and be 4-3. It's big for us. In the break, the guys can get healthy now, get back on track, get ready to finish the season up strong."
(on the gut check these last two games have provided by winning two straight after losing three in a row) "You know, we put ourselves in that position, so we had to pick ourselves up. I think a lot of guys on this team are definitely stepping up across the board. From Aaron (Rodgers) if you look, playing hard, of course defensively, we were a little banged up as a team. The guys are coming in and stepping up, no matter what, whatever they ask them to do. That's the type of team that we have, and that's what we expect out of the guys."
COLTS HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY:
(on the loss) "A very disappointing game obviously. This is kind of the way we have been all year. We have been up and down, and not consistent. We showed more of that today. Green Bay played smarter and sharper than we did, and consequently won the game by a big score."
{sportsad300}(on the high number of penalties) "Way too many, we had the same thing last week. We have to get that straightened out. We have to play fundamentally sound and not have those mistakes. You aren't going to win that way."
(on running back Dominic Rhodes) "I thought Dom ran well. We just didn't have the ball enough on offense, and didn't get him a chance to run enough. That was really our fault for allowing some long drives."
(on if Green Bay controlled the line of scrimmage) "I don't know about that. I thought we had good pass protection. I thought when we had a chance to run, we had some holes. They ran pretty well, but nothing that we didn't expect. When we got them to third and longs we had penalties that kept drives going. In the first half we extended every drive for them, so I don't know if it was a matter of them dominating the line of scrimmage as much as it was them playing smarter and sharper than us."
COLTS QUARTERBACK PEYTON MANNING:
(on the inconsistency of the offense) "We just need to play better. I need to play better and we need to try and find a way to get into the end zone. We need to try and find a way to keep the score even. Our offense needs to try and get the lead to help our defense out a little bit, and we didn't do our job offensively today."
(on the difference in time of possession) "Our job offensively is to do our job when we are on the field no matter when that is or how many times that is. It is our job to score points. We need to do that better. It is as simple as I can say it."
(on how Green Bay's secondary contained Wayne and Harrison) "With a lot of double coverage. When a team plays double coverage on first, second, and third down it makes them susceptible to run which we did in the first series. In the second half we got behind and were playing uphill. That plays to their strength. It is hard to run the ball in that situation. We have to find a way to beat the double coverage. I think Marvin and Reggie had two catches, and that is not what we want. We need to do a better job of getting the ball in their hands and giving them a chance to make plays. That is probably my fault."
**COLTS DEFENSIVE TACKLE RAHEEM BROCK:
(on the loss) "We just basically beat ourselves today with penalties. We never gave ourselves a chance. We try to get the ball to our offense as much as possible and not being able to get off the field just hurt us."
(on Green Bay's offense) "They kept us off balance and we kept ourselves off balance with penalties. Their whole team did a great job. We tip our hats to them. There isn't much else you can say." **
