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NFC North Notebook: McCarthy, Lacy taking back control
The Green Bay Packers reclaimed sole possession of first place in the NFC North in Week 14, as head coach Mike McCarthy and running back Eddie Lacy both decided that it was time to take back control of the division.
After a 6-0 start to the season, the Packers' revamped coaching dynamic appeared to be working. Associate head coach Tom Clements was doing a decent job calling the offensive plays, while McCarthy adjusted to his new oversight role.
Things didn't start falling apart until after the Week 7 bye.
The next six games yielded four losses, and the offensive struggles along the way began to wear on McCarthy. Before Green Bay's matchup with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon, he confronted Clements and told him he would be taking back the offensive play-calling duties -- a role he owned for his first nine seasons as head coach.
"The personal part of it was brutal," McCarthy said, per ESPN. "Professionally, I felt like I had to do it. I was worried about making sure I was going to do my job good."
The impact of the change was immediate.
The Packers accumulated over 400 yards of offense in a 28-7 dismantling of the Cowboys. The 21-point margin of victory was Green Bay's largest of the season, making Sunday's outing the team's most dominant performance of the year.
Assisting in McCarthy's offensive takeover was running back Eddie Lacy, who had hit a low point the previous week. A missed curfew before the Detroit Lions game led to a paltry five carries for Lacy. He finished that outing with just four yards on the ground.
This quasi-benching must have had a lasting effect on Lacy, since he came alive against the Cowboys. The third-year back ran with determination en route to a season-high 124-yard performance.
"I was just making sure everything that I was doing was the right thing to do," Lacy said of his preparation and performance, via the Associated Press.
Eddie. Lacy. ? ? pic.twitter.com/S08wSYddmA
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 14, 2015
A focused version of Lacy is a very dangerous weapon for the Packers to wield down the stretch. They travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders this weekend, then they close out the regular season with home games against the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings.
Although a tough road lies ahead, but the Packers have to like their chances with McCarthy calling the plays and Lacy running well once again.
"It's definitely a springboard for us," Lacy said of the win in Week 14. "We have three games left, we've got to finish these games out."
A tale of two Thursdays
The NFC North has been featured on Thursday Night Football each of the past two weeks. The Green Bay Packers played the Detroit Lions in Week 13, and the Minnesota Vikings took on the NFC West's Arizona Cardinals in Week 14. Both of these games came down to the wire, but their endings could not have been more different.
In Week 13, the Packers were about to lose to the Lions when quarterback Aaron Rodgers bailed his team out with a 61-yard Hail Mary to tight end Richard Rodgers on an untimed down to end the game. Had the Packers lost that game, the Vikings would have been afforded some breathing room at the top of the division.
Then, in Week 14, Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater blew his shot to show up Rodgers. While driving down the field for a field-goal attempt that could have tied the game, Bridgewater was stripped by Arizona's Dwight Freeney and Calais Campbell recovered the loose ball. The Cardinals took a knee on the next play to run out the final five seconds.
After two thrilling Thursdays in a row, the Vikings (8-5) now trail the Packers (9-4) by one game in a heated NFC North race.
Another year, another top-10 pick?
The Detroit Lions (4-9) would hold the seventh-overall pick in next year's draft if the season were to end today, according to NFL Media draft analyst Lance Zierlein. If the Lions keep losing, they could end up with a seventh top-10 draft picks in ten years.
The Chicago Bears (5-8) aren't far behind the Lions, as they're currently projected to claim the 10th-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
