Comming of age on the field and the sidelines... things are only going to continue to improve. MM and staff have this ship going in the right direction, just keep it rolling now..
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/247379
GREEN BAY -- If you want to know just what is happening to the Green Bay Packers, if you want to understand just where this magificent start is coming from and why this is rapidly turning into such a special season, ask Aaron Rodgers, Jon Ryan and Rob Davis.
The backup quarterback (Rodgers), the punter (Ryan) and the long-snapper (Davis) spend most of their Sundays like the rest of us -- watching. And so, on this particular Sunday, it gave them a unique perspective on what transpired at Lambeau Field during the Packers' 31-24 victory over the San Diego Chargers.
``Today, I really stepped back and kind of watched the guys on the sidelines at times, and I was kind of smiling to myself the whole game, just thinking, `We've got a pretty good team -- and we don't even really know it.' Which is pretty dangerous,'' said Rodgers, who also watched Brett Favre toss three touchdown passes for the second straight week, giving him 420 for his career and tying him with Dan Marino for the NFL's all-time record.
``It's amazing watching the confidence level each week rise a little bit. Not only with the players, but the coaches. I'm hearing everything the coaches are saying (in the headsets), and it's just a different attitude. Last year, it was like we were just waiting for something bad to happen. This year, we expect to win every game.
``We're a bunch of underdogs, guys who've been cut, guys nobody knows about and nobody thinks are any good, and we've just found a way to come together.''
As a result, the Packers (3-0) are not only off to their best start since 2001 and alone in first place in the NFC North, but they have beaten three straight teams that made the playoffs last year -- the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Chargers (1-2).
``I like the confidence of our football team. I think it's real. I think it's growing week to week,'' said McCarthy, whose team has now won seven straight games dating back to last season's 4-0 finish. ``But I cannot state it enough that we still have a lot of work to do.''
That may be, but there's no denying how impressive Sunday's victory over the surprisingly struggling Chargers -- ``I haven't lost any confidence,'' said reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, ``I'm just a little frustrated and baffled at the team right now'' -- was.
San Diego led twice on Sunday: 7-0 in the first quarter, which was vaporized by a 17-point explosion by Favre and the Green Bay offense, and 21-17, after Philip Rivers led back-to-back 80-yard touchdown drives on each side of halftime.
It took the Packers awhile to overcome the second deficit, but by failing to score after having first-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 5:48 left in the game -- following a fourth-and-inches incompletion out of an empty backfield set -- they simply set the stage for a thrilling, we'll-show-you-what-we're-made-of finish.
``I think everyone in the building was concerned that, `Man, we just blew our chance,''' Favre admitted. ``I think that's human nature.''
Just not the Packers' nature. Although the defense allowed the Chargers to get out of the shadow of their own goal post with an 18-yard catch by tight end Antonio Gates (11 receptions, 113 yards), it forced a punt on the next third down.
Two plays later, Favre (28-for-45, 369 yards, no interceptions, 110.3 rating) threw a simple 8-yard back-side slant pass to Greg Jennings, who beat cornerback Antonio Cromartie off the line and raced to a 57-yard touchdown, giving the Packers a 24-21 lead and Favre No. 420.
Linebacker Nick Barnett administered the knockout punch four plays later, intercepting a Rivers pass intended for Tomlinson and returning it 38 yards to the San Diego 2, setting up Brandon Jackson's 1-yard TD plunge.
``I was just kind of standing there watching in awe, because it was so impressive to see not only how well the offense and defense are playing but the heart we showed out there,'' said Ryan, who punted just three times. ``The big thing is that no-quit attitude. When we almost scored there and got stopped on the 1 (on fourth down) and turned the ball over down by four, I think a lot of teams would have rolled over, especially playing a great team like San Diego, and said, `That's the game.' But we came back and scored two more times.''
Added right tackle Mark Tauscher, part of an offensive line that stymied the Chargers' vaunted pass rush: ``We're resillient. It's not always pretty and sometimes things don't go as we hope, but we play pretty well.''
Now, the challenge is sustaining it.
``I don't think they're giving out trophies for 3-0, so we just want to keep on the path we're on and keep trying to build off the success we're having and stay the course,'' Davis said. ``(But) if that's the measuring stick for Super Bowl contenders, I think we're a little bit closer than we thought we were.
