As frustrating as it was to see the yellow flags keep flying in his direction this past Monday night, cornerback Tramon Williams redeemed himself in a way that validated his mental approach to his position.
That approach, following three pass interference calls for 106 yards - including two in the end zone that put Baltimore on the 1-yard line - was to not worry about avoiding the calls that were hurting his team but to keep fighting to find a way to help his team instead.
He did that, picking off an ill-advised Joe Flacco pass in the end zone just two snaps after his third pass interference call, preserving a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in the Packers\' 27-14 victory.
"You have to be mentally tough for this game," Williams said. "For one, me, I think I\'m very mentally tough. When the refs kept calling flags on me, I saw it as a challenge. I can\'t get down. I got frustrated with it, but at the same time I just wanted to make a play even more and more, once ..
Chicago features one of the better 1-2 combinations in the league in kickoff returners Johnny Knox and Danieal Manning, so preventing either one of them from having a momentum-changing return on Sunday at Soldier Field will be critical.
The rookie Knox enters Sunday\'s contest as the top kickoff returner in the league with a 29.4-yard average on 29 returns, including a 102-yard touchdown, and Manning ranks No. 14 in the NFL with a 24.7 average on 20 returns. Manning led the NFL last season with a 29.7-yard average.
The two players, who happen to both be alums of Abilene Christian University in Texas, have helped the Bears to the No. 2 ranking (tied with New Orleans) in kickoff returns with a 25.6-yard average, as well as an average starting field position after kickoffs of 31.6, which also ranks second in the league. The Bears lead the NFL with six returns of 40-plus yards, with four of those coming from Knox and two from Manning.
"I think Knox has really sh..
As a projected first-round draft pick in 2005, quarterback Aaron Rodgers felt that his ability to scramble, get out of the pocket, and pick up yardage running if needed was an overlooked part of his game.
No one is overlooking it anymore.
Rodgers not only leads all NFL quarterbacks in 2009 with 277 rushing yards, but he showed on Monday night against Baltimore how dangerous he can be when given room to run.
With the Packers leading 10-0 late in the second quarter and driving for another score, a 7-yard sack put the offense in second-and-17 from the Baltimore 48-yard line with 1:18 on the clock. The long down-and-distance gave the Ravens a great chance to get a late stop and keep it a two-score game at intermission.
But on the next snap, Rodgers read a "two/man" coverage by Baltimore, which means the Ravens were dropping two deep safeties and playing man-to-man on everybody underneath. Finding no one open right away, Rodgers saw his safety valve, ru..
Rookie outside linebacker Clay Matthews\' NFL career might not have started the way he wanted to after being sidelined for much of the preseason with a hamstring injury, but his production has been unquestioned since he entered the starting lineup.
Matthews is coming off one of his finest performances this season on Monday night against the Ravens, one that earned him the NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award. He is the first defensive rookie in the NFC to win the honor this season.
Matthews registered a career-high six tackles, matched his career best with two sacks, and added a forced fumble in the first quarter that safety Nick Collins recovered inside the Green Bay 20 to halt a potential Baltimore score.
"These types of awards come obviously when you are winning and an overall team effort, so it\'s not just me out there obviously making plays and what not," Matthews said. "It\'s a whole team effort. But it\'s definitely gratifying seeing that your hard wor..
As the Packers prepare for a tough final stretch that includes three of four games on the road, Head Coach Mike McCarthy likes where his team is, and not just because it has won four straight.
"We\'re a team that\'s winning games, but I\'m excited because I think our best football is in front of us," McCarthy said on Tuesday, one day after his team improved to 8-4 and stayed near the top in the NFC Wild Card hunt.
That\'s saying something, considering how the Packers have put together their four straight wins. In beating Dallas, San Francisco, Detroit and Baltimore, the Packers have:
--Outgained their foes by an average of 130 yards per game (384.8 total yards per game to 254.8).
--Recorded 13 takeaways against just five giveaways, boosting the turnover ratio on the season to plus-18.
--Posted 13 sacks while allowing only eight.
--Controlled the ball for an average of 36 minutes, 44 seconds per game, or more than 13 minutes per game l..
Forcing opponents to turn the ball over has been one of the keys to the Packers\' defensive success this season, and the ability to do so came through when it mattered most on Monday night against Baltimore.
Green Bay picked off Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco three times, highlighted by fourth-quarter interceptions from linebacker A.J. Hawk and cornerback Tramon Williams that helped seal the 27-14 win over the Ravens. It was only the second time in Flacco\'s career (at Indianapolis, Oct. 12, 2008) that he was intercepted three times.
Add those three picks to a first-quarter fumble recovery, and the Packers boosted their season takeaway total to 31 (21 interceptions, 10 fumble recoveries). That number ranks second only to the undefeated New Orleans Saints\' 36 (23 interceptions/13 fumble recoveries) and tops the Packers\' total of 28 takeaways in 2008 with four games remaining.
It was also the third time this season the Packers have posted four or more takeaways ..
Tight end Jermichael Finley played a part in helping the Packers jump out to a 17-0 halftime lead against Baltimore on Monday night, and after leaving the game briefly in the third quarter with a knee injury, he came back to make another key touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.
Finley led the Packers on Monday night with seven receptions, which matched his career high, for 79 yards and two touchdowns, the first multi-score game of his two-year career.
"He\'s done a great job for us," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "He really adds an extra dimension to our offense and opens things up for Greg and Donald and James. Having Jermichael out there just gives us another weapon. You have to kind of figure out how you\'re going to guard him.
"It really presents some matchup problems when he\'s playing well, and he made some nice catches tonight. He had a good feel I think for the soft spots in the zones."
With the Packers holding a..
If the fans at Lambeau Field on Monday night were thinking they\'d never seen so much penalty yardage in one game before, they were right. The Green Bay Packers are approaching every game these days like it\'s a playoff game, and in the process they keep moving closer and closer to an actual playoff spot. A month ago, the Green Bay Packers were worried that their season was slipping away.
The Packers and Ravens combined for 310 penalty yards (on 23 infractions), the most combined penalty yards in the Green Bay franchise\'s 1,200-plus game history. The total topped the 309 yards in the Oct. 21, 1945, contest between the Packers and Boston Yanks.
It also tied for the second-highest penalty yardage in one game in NFL history.
The Packers had 11 penalties for 175 yards and the Ravens had 12 flags for 135. The huge yardage totals were due mostly to the nine pass interference calls -- some certainly questionable -- but many of which came on downfield throws and were significant plays in the game.
Some of the more noteworthy were:
--A 25-yard pass interference call on Baltimore cornerback Frank Walker against Greg Jennings in the second quarter, which helped lead to a Green Bay touchdown.
Game Review: Winning Streak Hits Four
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Monday night\'s 27-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens in front of 70,286 at Lambeau Field was the Packers\' fourth straight victory, putting them at 8-4 and keeping them among the leaders for an NFC Wild Card berth.
In an ugly contest that featured seven turnovers and 23 penalties for a combined 310 yards, the Packers overcame enough of their miscues to survive and keep their winning streak and postseason aspirations very much alive.
"Games like this are ugly sometimes, and no matter what it looked like on the exterior, on the interior it feels very beautiful," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "They were fighting for their playoff chances and we were fighting for ours, and it was a battle.
"It\'s huge. Every game from here on out the rest of the year is important. There\'s so much relevance an..AP Game Summary: Packers Stave Off Ravens 27-14 For Fourth Consecutive Win
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Now they\'ve won four straight after beating the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.
Yes, Monday\'s 27-14 win was monumentally ugly. But that didn\'t matter afterward, because the Packers are suddenly sitting pretty in the playoff race.
"It wasn\'t pretty out there, but a win is a win," Packers wide receiver Donald Driver said. "We had to get this one to stay ahead in the playoff race."
While the Packers (8-4) are in good position to earn an NFC wild-card berth, Monday\'s win showed they still have some work to do to be taken seriously once they make it to the playoffs.
Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes, including two to tight end Jermichael Finley. But Rodgers also had a pair of interceptions, two of the combined seven turnovers in the game.
The teams also committed 23 penalties for 310 yards, tying for the second-highest yardage total in an NF..