The
Packers moved up to the No. 2 seed in the NFC on Sunday with their
55-7 thrashing of the Tennessee Titans and Seattle's victory over
San Francisco. Beat the Minnesota Vikings next weekend, and the
Packers (11-4) can spend the first week of the playoffs parked on
the couch.
"Everything
happens for a reason. We have 11 wins because of what we've put into
it and we're going to take whatever opportunity is in front of
us," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "We're going to
play to win next week."
The Vikings
can consider themselves warned.
Aaron Rodgers
threw for three touchdowns and ran for another against the Titans,
Ryan Grant scored twice and the Packers made Tennessee quarterback
Jake Locker look like a tackling dummy with seven sacks. It was the
most points scored by the Packers since they put up the same number
against Tampa Bay on Oct. 2, 1983, and their largest margin of
victory since a 52-3 win over New Orleans on Oct. 9, 2005.
The 55 points
were the most allowed by the Titans (5-10) since they were shut out
59-0 by the New England Patriots on Oct. 18, 2009. Tennessee was in
danger of being blanked again until Kenny Britt's 2-yard reception
with 1:39 left in the game.
"They're
a good football team," Titans safety Jordan Babineaux said.
"They're a playoff team for a reason."
And there's a
reason all of the Titans should be concerned about their job
security.
After
finishing 9-7 and missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker last year,
Tennessee has faded to the back of the AFC. This was the Titans'
sixth loss in eight games, and the second time this season they've
given up 51 points or more. Yes, the Titans have been ravaged by
injuries — they started their fifth offensive line combination
Sunday and were without leading receiver Kendall Wright — but they
were simply outclassed by the Packers.
"It got
uglier than it needed to," Titans coach Mike Munchak said.
"We needed to make a stand somewhere and we didn't. I would
never have thought this possible because I felt we had been playing
better. But today we did not. Obviously we took a step back as a
team when you lose by that number. It's only one loss, but it's
embarrassing to lose by that score."
In addition to
his seven sacks, Locker was picked off twice and finished 13 of 30
for 140 yards for a quarterback rating of 41.0. Tennessee managed to
cross midfield just three times the entire game. After holding their
last five opponents to an average of 17.6 points, the Titans had no
answer for Rodgers and the Packers. Green Bay scored on nine of its
first 12 drives — one of those misses was the end of the first
half — and was six of seven in the red zone.
"It was
important for us to go out and dominate the opponents late in the
year," McCarthy said. "We have momentum going for us,
particularly what we've done over the last nine weeks, ten weeks, so
we wanted to take the next step as a football team and I felt we
were able to accomplish that today."
Now the
Packers can turn their attention to the Vikings. And locking up that
No. 2 seed.
Green Bay won
the Super Bowl two years as a wild card. Last year, the Packers got
that first week off as the No. 1 seed and were promptly bounced out
in the divisional round.
But there's a
different mentality to this group, which has been hardened by a
rough start and a locker room that's looked more like an infirmary
what with all its injuries.
Charles
Woodson (collarbone) missed his eighth straight game Sunday and
Jordy Nelson (hamstring) his third, and the Packers were down to two
running backs — neither of whom was on the active roster at the
beginning of December — because of injuries to Alex Green and
James Starks. The offensive line is being held together with
bandages and tape, and injuries to ends C.J. Wilson and Jerel Worthy
have left the defensive line thin, too.
"Me,
personally, I'd love to have the bye," said Clay Matthews, who
missed four games with a hamstring injury. "This team is more
mentally tough than last year and that we understand what we need to
accomplish and we can't just skate into the playoffs, which we did
last year. We're taking this victory, but even more so, we're
getting closer."
NOTES: Randall
Cobb broke Ahman Green's single-season franchise record for net
yardage. With 101 yards Sunday, Cobb has 2,342 for the year, 92 more
than Green in 2003. ... With 100 yards on seven catches, James Jones
has at least one 100-yard game in each of his six seasons. His 722
yards also tops his previous season best. ... A.J. Hawk's two sacks
tied his career best. ... Seven of the Titans' 10 losses have been
by 14 points or more. ... Fifteen different Packers have had a full
sack this season, matching the franchise high.
Cobb
leaves Titans-Packers game with ankle injury
GREEN BAY —
Randall Cobb went to the Green Bay Packers locker room with an ankle
injury, and his return to Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans
is questionable.
Cobb was hurt
on a punt return, and limped back to the Packers sideline. After a
brief talk with trainers, he headed to the Green Bay locker room.
The injury does not appear to be serious, however, with Cobb able to
walk to the locker room.
Cobb set a
Green Bay record for single-season net yardage with a 14-yard punt
return in the first quarter. He broke the record of 2,250 yards set
by Ahman Green in 2003.
