Packers News Briefs: Packers looking for 10th straight season finale win

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GREEN BAY - If the Green Bay Packers win this Sunday’s season finale it will be the 10th in a row. And, the Pack has won 17 of the last 18 season finales.

Green Bay hasn’t lost the last regular season game since 2002. This is also the first time in 20 years the Packers will be closing out the regular season with a game at Minnesota.

The Packers’ 11-4 record is good for the number-two seed in the NFC and the team can clinch a first-round bye for the second straight season by winning the 3:25 p.m. game. Green Bay has won at least 10 games each of the last four seasons, a team record, and a record that matches the performance of New England. No other NFL team can match that.

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Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy says he will not pay attention yet to who his team might face in the post-season – or when. McCarthy told reporters yesterday that he’s lasered in on next Sunday’s regular season finale at Minnesota. Both teams have a lot at stake during Sunday’s contest at the Metrodome – and that’s why the NFL moved the kickoff from noon-to-3:25, so more fans around the country can see it. The Packers are 11-4, and a win over the Vikes would give them a first-round bye and the NFC’s Number-two playoff seed. A Minnesota win would automatically give the Vikings the sixth-and-final NFC playoff spot. McCarthy also said he wants to get some of his injured players back as soon as possible. He said he was surprised that running back Alex Green did not pass his concussion test in time to play in yesterday’s home win over Tennessee. The coach also receiver Jordy Nelson is close to returning from a bad hamstring – and defensive back Charles Woodson is close to getting over a broken collarbone from late October.

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Green Bay Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy says he will not take receiver Randall Cobb off the punt-and-kickoff return teams, for fear of what happened yesterday. Cobb hurt an ankle while returning a punt in the third quarter of the Packers’ home victory over Tennessee. In his regular Monday news conference this morning, McCarthy had no new information on Cobb’s injury – but he said Cobb himself did not seem very concerned, and he’s such a positive individual. The coach said he understood the risk of having Cobb on both special teams and the Packers’ offense. But McCarthy said quote, “I don’t understand how you play scared … You can’t sit here and say special teams (are) important if you don’t put a guy like Randall Cobb out for a return.” He said Cobb’s returns often give the Packers great field position – and it’s an even bigger factor in playoff games. McCarthy said the coaches would hang around today. But except for optional weight training or treatments, the players are off until Wednesday – when they start practicing for next Sunday’s regular season finale at Minnesota. Also, corner Davon House is having tests today on a shoulder he injured yesterday. It’s the same shoulder that kept bothered the second-year House earlier in the season.

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That 55-7 Packer pounding yesterday was no accident. Coach Mike McCarthy told his players on Saturday night that he wanted them to crush the Tennessee Titans in front of the Packers’ home crowd. And McCarthy offered no apologies afterward, saying quote, “It is important for us to go out and dominate opponents late in the year … We wanted to take the next step as a football team, and I felt we accomplished that.” Unlike a year ago, McCarthy says he wants the Packers building steam late in the regular season and into the playoffs. And that means you’ll see more starters play in Week 17 than a year ago, when the Pack takes on the Vikings in Minneapolis next Sunday – a game that’s been moved to 3:25 because of its importance. A Packer win would give them a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs. A Vikings’ victory would guarantee Minnesota the final NFC Wild Card spot. The Packer offense took advantage of numerous defensive lapses by the Titans, while the Green Bay defense went after quarterback Jake Locker mercilessly. The rookie was sacked seven times and pressured 12 others, as Tennessee racked up just 180 total yards to the Pack’s 460.

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