McCarthy stresses positives after loss to Vikings 

January 1, 2012
 
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy looks on during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Minneapolis.

GREEN BAY — As disappointing as their loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday had been — especially since it cost them the NFC's No. 2 seed and a first-round playoff bye — the Green Bay Packers had no time to feel sorry for themselves.

With those same Vikings coming to Lambeau Field on Saturday night for an NFC wild card game, the work week is already underway. And coach Mike McCarthy as already stressing the positives.

"I mean, there's nothing but positives right now," McCarthy said at a 7:45 a.m. press conference, on a day when players were technically off but could come to the stadium if they wanted to.

"This is playoff football, and really, yes, we had every intention of winning the game in Minnesota (Sunday). OK, it didn't work. I'm not just fluffing it by, but you have to, because the door is open for the playoffs to begin.

"It's the playoffs. It doesn't matter who we play, where we play them. We feel confident that we're going to get it done and do whatever we need to get it done."

While the onward-and-upward theme was predictable — "We have no choice at this point," defensive tackle B.J. Raji correctly pointed out — it was also necessary with the shortened work week.

McCarthy said the team would practice Tuesday afternoon, then Wednesday and Thursday mornings, doing all of its normal installations. The players will have a mandatory weightlifting session Tuesday morning, and the team will gather at noon to officially kick off their week.

"We've been through some adversity this year, more so than probably in the past, and I felt like we dealt with it very well throughout the year," left guard T.J. Lang said. "Knowing these guys, these players, these coaches, we're going to be ready to go — get this game out of our minds and get ready to prepare for them next week."

It will help that the Packers will be prepping for the Vikings for the third time in a month. The Packers won at Lambeau Field, 23-14, on Dec. 2 before Sunday night's 37-34 loss.

"We know who our opponent is. The preparation for our opponent should be pretty clean," McCarthy said.

Whether or not the rematch is a good thing was a matter of opinion. In the visitors' locker room at the Metrodome, opinion had been mixed.

"We're in the playoffs now, so you play who you are seeded against. The road got a little tougher having to play on opening weekend, but we've got a home game and that's why you win the division," quarterback Aaron Rodgers replied when asked if he wanted a rematch. "You get to go back home and the game will be a different type of game. They won't have the home-crowd advantage and hopefully that will make a difference."

Others were anxious to get another shot at the Vikings and running back Adrian Peterson, who followed up a 210-yard effort on Dec. 2 with a 199-yard effort Sunday, which left him eight yards short of Eric Dickerson's 1984 NFL single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards.

"As long as we're in the playoffs, it really don't matter who we play. Obviously, it's a team we play twice a year so it's going to be a lot of recognition out there," cornerback Tramon Williams said. "We've got the Vikings next week, (so) bring them on. Bring them on. Obviously, they have to go to Lambeau and hopefully we can go out and put together a better performance that we did."

This isn't the first time the Packers have faced their Week 17 opponent the following week in the opening round of the playoffs. At the end of the 2009 season, the Packers went to Arizona for the regular-season finale and knew before kickoff that there would be a postseason rematch the following week. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt pulled his starters while McCarthy played his, and the Packers won the game that didn't matter. The next week, the Cardinals won in dramatic fashion, advancing with a 51-45 overtime victory.

It's also not the first time the Packers have faced an NFC North opponent in the postseason. In 2004, the Packers swept the Vikings in regular-season play but lost in the wild card round at Lambeau. And in 2010, the Packers split their regular-season series with the Chicago Bears before beating them in the NFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl XLV.

In that instance, the Bears could have kept the Packers out of the playoffs by beating them in Week 17 at Lambeau Field. Instead, the Packers won, and the Bears lived to regret it. McCarthy's task is to make sure the Vikings don't return the favor.

"It's different because there's a familiarity. There's a lot more tape. You're watching it over and over and over again. You can call out the plays just as soon as they start," McCarthy said. "Those are the things you have to be cautious of, but at the end of the day playoff football is about fundamentals.

Woodson cleared to play for Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Charles Woodson has been cleared to play again, and the Green Bay Packers are counting on the defensive back to provide a lift in Saturday night's playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Woodson deferred to team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie and gave his broken collarbone as much time to heal as possible, sitting out Sunday's regular-season finale at Minnesota. He was injured on Oct. 21 and has missed nine consecutive games.

But now that the Packers are in win-or-go-home mode, Woodson is back.

"Charles has been a stud in this league for 15 years, so whenever he's on the field with us, he's always a huge threat," inside linebacker A.J. Hawk said after practice Tuesday evening. "Not only is he a threat to make huge plays throughout the game, but quarterbacks, I think they know where he's at every single play. He seems to know what receivers are running before they do. And I think he has an intimidation factor as well.

"Every team we play has to respect him."

Playing without Woodson each time, Green Bay split its two regular-season games against Minnesota. But Vikings star Adrian Peterson had two strong performances against the Packers, rushing for 210 yards in Green Bay's 23-14 victory on Dec. 2 and gaining 199 yards on the ground in Minnesota's 37-34 win on Sunday at the Metrodome.

"I just think having Charles Woodson back on the field helps our football team," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in announcing that Woodson had been cleared. "I mean, just what he's meant to our defense, his playmaking ability, his ability to make plays at the line of scrimmage. He's extremely productive, so I'm just glad to have him back on the field."

The 36-year-old Woodson was not in the Packers' locker room during the media access period on Tuesday night. But when he last spoke at length with reporters on Dec. 21, he acknowledged that he hasn't always agreed with McKenzie or McCarthy's recommendations. But if waiting allows him to make it through an entire playoff run - right through Super Bowl XLVII - without reinjuring his collarbone, he will be grateful, he said.

Before his injury at St. Louis, Woodson was playing strong safety in the Packers' base defense, then playing the nickel and dime slot positions in sub packages. After he went down, M.D. Jennings was his primary replacement at safety in the base defense, while rookies Casey Hayward (nickel) and Jerron McMillian (dime) covered opposing slot receivers.

It's unclear where Woodson will line up this weekend, but his defensive teammates believe he'll help against Peterson and Christian Ponder, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday.

"(Woodson) helps us in every aspect of the game, just his experience," cornerback Tramon Williams said. "No doubt about it, obviously he's a great player from the start, but with that experience, we know he's going to be in the position he's supposed to be in, we know he's going to be looking to make a play. You can be aggressive yourself because you know you have a guy back there you can trust."

Williams said Woodson also makes a difference because, while some of the team's young players have done well in his absence, his knowledge of the game allows him to do things that younger players aren't able to do, aren't comfortable doing or can't do as well as he does them.

"This defense is based off disguising and things like that, so Charles has been so experienced so he knows how long to hold a disguise, and he's not scared to do it," Williams said. "It's definitely going to help us in the long run."

Vikings QB Ponder has quietly moved past struggles

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The most glaringly bad performance by Christian Ponder in a season marked by costly mistakes and curious decisions had just concluded, and the skepticism about his viability as Minnesota's quarterback was as prevalent as ever.

As for Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, well, his faith in Ponder was never clearer.

After Ponder threw two devastating interceptions in the third quarter at Green Bay that day, one in the end zone with Minnesota leading 14-10 and the other at the Packers 13-yard line with the Vikings trailing 20-14, the playoffs appeared improbable. They were 6-6 and facing a difficult four-game segment at the end of the schedule. Ponder's future as the starter looked tenuous.

So Frazier, anticipating the swirl of speculation and criticism from the analysts and the fans, sought out Ponder in the locker room at Lambeau Field to assure him the team was still behind him. Adrian Peterson gave him a pep talk, too.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder (7) throws a touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, in Houston.

"I don't want you to walk in there with any doubt about your future here as our starting quarterback," Frazier told Ponder before his postgame news conference. "Next ballgame, you're going to be our starter."

The Vikings finished with four straight wins to secure a wild card spot, and though Peterson and the defense had a lot to do with the rally they wouldn't have qualified for the postseason without improvement by Ponder. Yes, the Vikings are Peterson's team, but Ponder is ultimately the one most responsible for their progress.

"Obviously a lot has changed. I think the biggest thing for me was making better decisions," Ponder said. "Obviously I made some bad decisions in that first game. It's something that I knew I had to improve upon. I think each week it's gotten better."

First, he had to eliminate those turnovers. In victories over Chicago and at St. Louis, Ponder's efficiency improved, and his last interception of the year came Dec. 9 against the Bears. The Vikings were more conservative than usual with the pass, though, asking Ponder to do even less. Safe, short throws were about all he tried. Part of that, of course, was Peterson running wild.

The next week, though, Ponder was a more assertive passer in that 23-6 victory at Houston. The Texans were the only team to contain Peterson since October, limiting him to 86 yards on 25 rushes, so the second-year quarterback had to step up. He threw for a touchdown, finished with 174 yards and went 9 for 13 on third down, moving the chains on six of those completions. Ponder also ran more effectively than he had all season, taking off seven times for 48 yards, twice for first downs.

Then on Sunday, Ponder matched his career high with three touchdown passes, turning in his fifth turnover-free performance of the year and taking only one sack in the most important NFL game he's played in. His 65-yard completion to Jarius Wright that set up one of those scores was his longest of the season.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Minneapolis. The Vikings won 37-34.

Without his favorite receiver since Percy Harvin's injury on Nov. 4, Ponder has had a tougher time finding open targets. But his patchwork group, while never being confused with the collection of standouts the Packers have at their disposal, has begun to give him more help. Wright, Michael Jenkins and Jerome Simpson all made tough catches on Sunday against Green Bay.

"I don't think my confidence ever really was shaken or anything. I think it just goes back to obviously understanding what I can and can't do. I can't force things that aren't there," Ponder said.

He acknowledged Tuesday how much he appreciated the assurance from Frazier, Peterson and others.

"It was a tough situation and I was very hard on myself, so it was good to hear," Ponder said.

The passing game was so weak and the ground game so good that, for a while, Peterson was rushing for more yards than Ponder was accumulating passing. During an eight-game stretch from Oct. 21 to Dec. 16, when the Vikings went 4-4, Peterson averaged 164 yards rushing and Ponder averaged 137 passing. In the other games this season, of which the Vikings won six, Peterson averaged 98 yards and Ponder 230.

"From my perspective as the head coach, you can't be swayed by outside opinions," Frazier said. "You can listen, but you've always got to make sure you're doing the best thing for the team and what gives the team the best chance to win. And for me, that was making sure that Christian knew that he had my unwavering support."

At some point, the Vikings might face more of a crossroad about whether to stick with Ponder or find a replacement. But with only 26 career starts — Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, by comparison, has 80 — they have a lot more performance reviews to conduct.

"He's done a fantastic job these past few weeks. I thought this past game was his best," center John Sullivan said. "Obviously he's taking care of the football. He's completing passes, a lot of third-down conversion and some big plays down the field. And that's all we can ask of him. He's doing his job just like everybody else is trying to do."

Except that he's under the most scrutiny, except maybe for Peterson.

"I think he's done a great job just weathering that and continuing to play ball. It's not always going to be pretty in this league," linebacker Chad Greenway said. "I think he's just going to continue to push and improve, and you can kind of see where the results are now."

Associated Press