By Mark Concannon
FOXSportsWisconsin.com
January 12, 2010
To get to the Super Bowl, a #6 seed has to win three playoff games. But that formidable task is even tougher for the Green Bay Packers who this year, will need to win five. They've already won three.
"We went into the Giants game feeling like our playoffs started then," said linebacker Erik Walden. "Because we knew we had to win each ballgame to get to this point."
The Packers trailed New York by a game in the race for the final wildcard spot and dispatched the Giants by four touchdowns on the day after Christmas in what was essentially a winner-take-all affair. In the final game of the season, Green Bay prevailed in another must win scenario. It was a throwback defensive duel with Chicago, a team that had clinched the division title and locked up the conference's #2 seed but still played its starters from the opening kickoff to the final gun in an effort to become the first squad to go 6-0 in the NFC North and to knock its arch rival out of the playoffs.
"Winning breeds confidence, no doubt about it," said Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. "We're very confident in the way we're built as a football team, how we've been shaped throughout the season, especially during the stretch run here the last three games."
Now the Packers face another win or go home situation when they play top-seed Atlanta Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons have admired Green Bay's run under pressure.
"They are playing very good football," said Falcons head coach Mike Smith. "Mike (McCarthy) has them ready to go. These last three games have been very impressive."
"It's a confident football team," said Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. "And a team that's won a number of games that it's needed to win. We have a lot of respect for Green Bay."
With the momentum they established by winning their last two games of the regular season, the Packers might have actually benefitted from not having a bye week, carrying that impetus into the playoffs.
"We feel like we're in a rhythm now," said defensive end Cullen Jenkins. "I feel like it benefits us to keep playing. It all depends. If you have a team that's beat up, the advantage goes to the team getting the week off. But for us, we've won the last three games, which have been basically like playoff situations for us. It just keeps us in the same mode, the same mentality that we've been in."
The Falcons did have last week off, and unlike the Packers who had to battle into the final minute of the final game to clinch a spot in the Super Bowl tournament, Atlanta locked up a playoff spot before taking the field for its contest at Seattle on December 19th. The Falcons did need to beat cadaverous Carolina at the Georgia Dome in their last game to clinch the NFC South title and the #1 seed, but the Packers have clearly been the more battle-tested team over the past three weeks.
"I don't think it puts us at a disadvantage at all," Ryan said. "We've had the advantage of being able to rest and with that said, we were still playing for a lot going into the last week of the season. We wanted to lock up home field advantage throughout the playoffs and ensure that we would be NFC division champs so we felt like we had to play in those types of games as well."
The Packers have not played great football in all phases during this winning streak but managed to get the job done.
"We played two good teams in the Bears and the Giants," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers. "Played excellent on offense against the Giants and excellent on defense against the Bears. Against Philly, it was a combination of both. Our defense played well and we cashed in our opportunities in the red zone and special teams played well. So it's gonna be a three phase effort (against Atlanta) that we'll need to come out on top."
The Packers were competitive in every game they played this season. Their six losses came by a total of 20 points. This is not a team that feels lucky to be in the conference semifinals. They outplayed the Eagles in Philadelphia last Sunday and proved they belonged on the field.
"We don't look at seeding," said Jenkins. "I hear a lot of talk about the seeding and what seed we are. We really don't pay attention to that. We feel like we're in the playoffs just like everybody else. It's just the Packers against the Falcons. We feel like we're a good team and we like our chances."
As absurd as it sounds when talking about a #6 going up against a #1, there is a risk that Green Bay could even be slightly overconfident going into the game at Atlanta. Since their victory last weekend, the Packers have become the darlings of many pundits in the media, some of whom call the team "the most dangerous #6 seed in NFL history."
"Don't believe the hype," McCarthy said when asked what he's been telling his players about the pregame buildup. "Trust me, when I walk away from this microphone, I'll never even think about that. It's irrelevant. It doesn't help me get a first down. It doesn't help us in anyway. That's what I mean when I refer to 'pollution.' We have a lot of work to do."
"You get a lot of attention when you win this time of year. It's important for us to stay focused on our brand of football and the approach to this particular game. We're in the final four in the NFC. They're the number one seed. They've earned the number one seed throughout the regular season. So we have to go down there and play our best football."
Whether or not the Packers believe the hype, it is out there. That happens with every NFL team that is still playing in mid-January. But when it comes to dealing with all of the trappings of a critical game, it's just another week at the office for this bunch.
"I think everyone's in a good state of mind," said wide receiver Jordy Nelson. "I think it might drop the pressure because we've been under pressure the last three weeks and we've been at it for awhile so it might lessen the pressure which will be a benefit."
"I think everybody feels good," said guard Daryn Colledge. "But I think everybody feels good because we feel like we still haven't played our best football. So we feel like we're headed in the right direction at the right time."
"Whenever you can win three games like the ones we did," said linebacker Desmond Bishop. "I think it helps our confidence tremendously and I think it will carry over and hopefully we can keep riding that wave of momentum."
