"I
just think we have a certain confidence in each other," James
Jones said Tuesday. "No matter where we play, no matter who the
team is, no matter how many great players they've got, we feel like
with the team we have, we can compete with anybody. I'm not saying
we're going to go in there, we're just going to blow people out. But
we feel like we can compete with anybody, anywhere. We feel like a
type of team build for that.
"Is it
going to be easy? Not by any stretch," he added. "We
understand that, but we've got confidence in each other."
The Packers
(12-5) travel to San Francisco (11-4-1) on Saturday for an NFC
divisional game. The 49ers are early three-point favorites after
beating the Packers in Green Bay the first week of the season.
Not that the
Packers mind.
While they
don't sit around the locker room reminiscing, the Packers have a
quiet self-assurance that comes from knowing what they did two years
ago. Needing to win their last two games just to get into the
playoffs, the sixth-seeded Packers went on a run that carried them
all the way to their 13th NFL title. They played every game on the
road, and had to beat each of the NFC's top three seeds just to
reach the Super Bowl.
After that
odyssey, anything seems possible.
"You try
not to look in the past, but there are definitely things you can
draw on from past years and that's one of them," offensive
lineman Josh Sitton said. "It's just something we know. We have
confidence in each other, and we feel we could go win
anywhere."
Green Bay has
already had to draw on that part of its DNA this year. Much like the
2010 team, the Packers have been hit hard by injuries. More than a
dozen starters or projected starters have missed one game or more,
including Charles Woodson (nine games), Greg Jennings (eight), Clay
Matthews (four) and Jordy Nelson (four). The offensive line is on
its fifth combination, and one of the starters, Don Barclay, was an
undrafted rookie free agent.
Yet, just as
they did in 2010, the Packers have persevered. After beginning the
season 2-3, they've won nine of 11. Green Bay is now the healthiest
it's been all season, and it's a much deeper team than it was at the
start of the year because those youngsters who were shoved into
bigger roles are now savvy veterans.
"That was
a team (in 2010) that had its own set of adversity and things we had
to get through together and learn together, learn how to win, learn
how to win big games. We kind of went into the playoffs almost
playing with house money, if you will, because we had to win our
last two and nobody expected us to do a whole lot as a sixth
seed," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "This year, we had
to learn again how to win, how to grow as a team, how to deal with
adversity. We had to have some young guys step up and play some
roles at the beginning of the season that you wouldn't have
expected. We lost some veterans over the course of the season to
injury, but have gotten some of those guys back.
"We're in
this position, we're excited about it, we have a tough test in front
of us. But anything can happen."
And if people
want to overlook the Packers, they're OK with that.
Few folks
outside of Wisconsin figured the Packers would make the playoffs
after that 2-3 start, let alone win the NFC North. Yet the Packers
dismantled the then-unbeaten Texans in Houston to start a five-game
winning streak. After a dismal performance against the New York
Giants, the Packers ripped off four more victories. And after
blowing the No. 2 seed with a loss to Minnesota in the
regular-season finale, the Packers overwhelmed the Vikings in last
weekend's wild-card rematch.
"Our
players like that. I think they respond better when they're
disrespected," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I'm sure we'll
get some of that this week, too, because we weren't successful in
the first week (against the 49ers)."
Whatever. Just
tell the Packers who they're playing and where, and they'll take
care of the rest.
"We just
have total confidence in this team, period," Tramon Williams
said. "We're just ready to go and take this next step, and
hopefully we can get to where we want to go."
Packers
reveal ticket plan if GB makes Super Bowl
GREEN BAY —
If you're a Packers season-ticket holder, you'll be finding out in
the next few days whether you've won a conditional drawing for two
Super Bowl tickets.
The team says
the drawing was conducted last week, and winners are being notified
this week. All season-ticket holders were eligible, whether their
account was a club seat or part of the Green or Gold packages.
The tickets
would be valid only if Green Bay gets to the Super Bowl. If that
happens, drawing winners will be allowed to buy a pair of tickets at
$850 apiece. Payment would be due by Jan. 17 at 5 p.m.
The Packers
say they can't reveal the number of tickets that would be available,
citing league confidentiality rules.
 |
An
image provided by the Green Bay Packers shows proposed changes
to the Lambeau Field Atrium in Green Bay, Wis. The Green Bay
Packers plan to make $140 million in renovations to the
atrium, starting this offseason. The Packers plan to expand
their Pro Shop and move it as part of a shuffle involving the
Hall of Fame and Curly's Pub.
|
Packers
plan $140M Lambeau atrium renovations
GREEN BAY —
The Green Bay Packers plan to make $140 million in renovations to
the Lambeau Field Atrium, starting this offseason.
The Packers
plan to expand their Pro Shop and move it as part of a shuffle
involving the Hall of Fame and Curly's Pub.
The
Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://gbpg.net/Uzd4aE
) reports the Pro Shop will double in size and move to a new
ground-floor location. The Packers Hall of Fame will move from the
atrium basement to the second-floor site now occupied by Curly's
Pub. The pub will move to where the Pro Shop is now.
Work is
expected to be completed in 2015.
The project is
the final phase of stadium renovation work that began in 2011 and
included a new sound system, new video boards and about 7,000 new
seats.
