GREEN BAY, Wis. — As the defending Super Bowl champions and the team with the NFL's best record entering the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers are in a much different position than they were a year ago.
Last season, the Packers needed back-to-back wins in their final two regular-season games just to qualify as the NFC's sixth seed. Now, the path to the Super Bowl goes through Lambeau Field.
But coach Mike McCarthy has his team viewing this year's trip into the postseason with a unique attitude.
"We refuse to be hunted," McCarthy said Thursday. "We were always going to be the hunter. We've talked about it since Day 1, and it's important to create the mindset, develop it, and, more important, carry it into the playoffs. That's the way we look at it.
"We're still hunting, just so you know."
As soon as NFL training camps began in late July following the lockout, McCarthy addressed with his players how this season would be different. He knew that other teams would be circling the Packers on their schedules with the goal of being the first to beat the champs.
However, it ended up taking until Week 15 of the season for the Packers to lose their first — and only — game, against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I think we were kind of aided by the lockout this year," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said, "because in a non-lockout season there might have been a little bit more attention on our team, more people talking about our run that we had last year. But because of the long lay-off, the focus was more on getting a deal done.
"The main coverage was the negotiations, not talking about what happened the previous year. So I think that kind of helped us out because the excitement was about getting back to football, and there wasn't as much attention on the fact that we had won the Super Bowl the previous year."
With eight playoff teams preparing for wild-card weekend, Green Bay — as the NFC's No. 1 seed — used its bye week to hold two practices and study its three possible opponents in the divisional round. If Detroit beats the Saints in New Orleans on Saturday night, the Lions will be back at Lambeau Field for the second time in three weeks. If the Saints win, the Packers will play the winner of Sunday's game between the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons.
"I'll watch (all of the games) very closely," McCarthy said. "It's important to see the game live. I've always felt if you had the opportunity, that there's some things you can get off TV that you can probably apply to your film study. I'll sit and watch the Saints and Lions Saturday night. We'll be working Sunday as a staff, so we're going to come in here and watch Sunday's game, if need be."
Green Bay beat all three of its potential opponents earlier this season, including picking up two wins against the division-rival Lions. The Packers won in Atlanta in Week 5 (25-14) and in New York in Week 13 (38-35).
"We've had preliminary game-planning that's been done on Atlanta, Detroit and the Giants," McCarthy said. "Once the opponent is determined, we'll take that and then start doing the preliminary game plans Sunday and Monday and then we'll clean them up on Monday night and just go through a final game-plan session that we always do on Tuesdays."
However, McCarthy does not believe that it's an advantage having played those teams already this season.
"I think maybe some people like playing a team for the second or third time," he said. "I've always felt, based on our coaching staff, I feel we do a very good job against opponents when we play them for the first time. I feel like we've given our players an edge; that's just a feeling just because of the way that we operate offensively and defensively.
"I think it'd be a challenge if you're going to play us for the first time on a seven-day week."
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