Must be on everyone's minds.. but the 'tude of the team sounds about right.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/packers/262458
Packers: Bye-product of success
By JASON WILDE
ST. LOUIS — It wasn't pretty.
Oh, we're not talking about the Green Bay Packers' 33-14 victory over the St. Louis Rams Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.
While the win certainly wasn't a work of art, certain moments (Greg Jennings' game-breaking, 44-yard touchdown catch; Brett Favre surpassing Dan Marino's NFL record for career passing yards) and certainly the end result (clinching a first-round playoff bye) were things of beauty.
No, what was truly ugly was what happened after the game, in the far back corner of the visitors' locker room: Guard Jason Spitz — clad only in a towel — bursting into post-shower song.
"Takin' care of business ...," Spitz sang to no one in particular, after overhearing a question to veteran right tackle Mark Tauscher — the closest, most unfortunate observer of Spitz's act. "We're takin' care of business ..."
But what Spitz's Bachman Turner Overdrive karaoke falsetto lacked in melody and choreography, it made up for in accuracy.
It's been the Packers' mantra all season long, and it's exactly what they did again Sunday.
"We didn't play our best game of the year, but these games where you plug along and get the victory — and put yourself in position to have a home (playoff) game and a first-round bye — that's huge," Tauscher said, referring to how the Packers were outgained (364-279) and committed their second-most turnovers (three) in a game this season.
Added Packers coach Mike McCarthy: "We're a good football team, we're a focused football team and we have kept our eye on the target. We need to continue to."
That's because, while the Packers (12-2) went to St. Louis (3-11) and beat a lesser team with a losing record to keep their NFC postseason momentum rolling, the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys had their chances to do the same thing Sunday — the Seahawks at Carolina and the Cowboys at home against Philadelphia — and failed.
First, the 9-5 NFC West-champion Seahawks fell to the 6-8 Panthers, 13-10, meaning Green Bay will play at Lambeau Field Jan. 12 or 13 in the NFC divisional round.
Then, 12-2 Dallas fell to the 6-8 Eagles, 10-6, meaning the Packers can gain the NFC's No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if they win their final two games (at 5-8 Chicago next week, at home against 6-8 Detroit on Dec. 30) and the Cowboys lose one of their remaining games (at Carolina and at Washington, which was 6-7 heading into Sunday night's game).
"That whole 'You're supposed to' is overrated. Everybody can play in this league," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. "If you have a couple turnovers and the other team plays well, you're going to get beat. But I think our team has taken the approach of, 'This is our job. Let's be professional, let's be a machine, let's do what we're supposed to do.' And for the most part, we did that. We kicked it around a little today (with the three turnovers), but it's hard to win as many games as we've won this year. It's a tough league."
So while Dallas still holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Packers by virtue of its Nov. 29 victory, who knows what'll happen if the Packers keep this businesslike approach going?
"We made things happen when we needed to. That's what you have to do," Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. "No disrespect to the Rams or anybody we played this year, but we were a better team than them, and we're supposed to win this game. And that's the difference: If we would've come down here and lost this game, then it's back to the drawing board. Seattle, for them to drop a game against a team they should beat, maybe the focus isn't there, or you think the game is over before you even play. When you're a good team, you play better when you have to, and we did."
Not early on, when Steven Jackson (143 yards rushing) kept the Rams in it, and his 46-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter tied the game at 14-14. But after Packers rookie kicker Mason Crosby hit a pair of field goals — one just before halftime, one just after — Favre and Jennings broke the game open when the Rams gambled with an all-out blitz and lost.
In the shotgun in a four-receiver, one-back set, Favre saw the Rams were bringing the house and knew he had to unload quickly. When safety Oshiomogho Atogwe and cornerback Ron Bartell covered Donald Driver on a shallow cross, Jennings was so open he could've fair-caught Favre's arching pass at the 10-yard line.
"It seemed like it took forever to get there," Jennings said. "Atogwe was (supposed to be) covering me, but he tried to jump the underneath route, for whatever reason, and left me streaking down the middle of the field."
Said Rams coach Scott Linehan: "Obviously, you can't do that."
On his next pass, Favre hit Driver for 7 yards on a slant, breaking Marino's career record of 61,361 passing yards. Favre now owns every significant quarterback record.
"I'm tickled to death that I've had a chance to break these records and be a part of a lot of wonderful things," said Favre, who threw six interceptions in an NFC divisional playoff game here after the 2001 season and also lost the team's last regular-season visit in 2003. "But there's nothing like standing here today with this win after some of the games I've had to stand up here before and face some questions about how bad I played and our team played. The most important thing is we won."
And as a result, the Packers will have a playoff bye for the first time since 1997 — their last trip to the Super Bowl.
"To get a week off is great, and the good thing about it is you know you only have two games to get to the big show," Driver said. "Now we just have to make sure we do what we do."
