Packers/Rams Postgame
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:34 pm
St. Louis - Here's what Mike McCarthy had to say after the game:
(Kind of fourth quarter what you want to see?)
Definitely. It starts with the turnover on defense and the ability to get the two first downs in the four-minute offense. It's difficult to win on the road. To come down here to St. Louis, I was very impressed with our fan support here today. We got off to a great start defensively with the turnovers. We didn't get the point production you would have liked, there were some up and down parts of the game. I really like the way the team responded and kept fighting. I thought it was a good victory for us to complete a good week of work.
(Big plays?)
Big plays equal points in this league. You see it every week. It's very evident today. I would say most of our scoring drives definitely benefitted from our big plays. We feel we have the ability to play that way, but more importantly this was the first time this year we were able to stay balanced offensively, both run and throwing the ball on first and second down. And that's when we play our best football.
(You weren't running that well, but you stuck with it. Hard to do?)
Well, we've talked about this all the time. The most important statistic in my view in running the football is being able to run it for four quarters. And the yards came there at the end. That's when you really needed them. You don't usually come out and run for 6, 7, 8, 9 yards. When it does, you should have a good day or the defense has to make corrections. Just the fact that we were able to sustain for four quarters the run-pass mix, I think is playing to our strength.
(Balance help with the deep passes?)
Oh definitely. When teams can't play you one way, whether it's just for the run or the pass, it definitely plays to your advantage. We were able to get some one-on-ones with Greg and Donald on the backend and was able to benefit from it. So that's the way you'd like to play week in and week out.
(Defense with Chillar in safety role?)
Just once again trying to utilize our players. It was something that came up earlier in the week. You had Brandon Chillar and Desmond Bishop on the sidelines and the ability to probably play a better run defense. It was great to get a lot of work at it today against a big-time back. We have a lot of respect for Jackson and just the way he's able to start the thing inside and bounce it to the outside. He did a good job of even today finding the open gap. But it was just another way of playing run defense.
(Bishop for Barnett?)
We're just being smart with Nick Barnett's reps. He's been at right about 40 all three games.
(Something about Mason Crosby)
I couldn't answer that. But he needs to make extra points. I'm not sure what happened there.
(Take a step forward this week?)
Definitely. Clearly we played better in the protection part of it and frankly it starts on first and second down. When you have your linemen playing on their heels on long down and distances, it definitely plays to the advantage of the pass rush of the defense. So once again, just to be able to be balanced today will help all parts of our offense. Running the ball, pass protection and everything.
(Team kept their composure?)
There was a lot of enthusiasm here today. There's no doubt about it. Playing on the road is tough. Their home opener. We expect to come down here for a charged-up football team. They had a big shot in the arm, I think, when Kyle came into the game, with his scrambling ability, he was able to go down and put the two drives together. But we fully anticipated a very emotional, tough football game today.
(Steven Jackson?)
I think just the way we played Steven Jackson shows the kind of respect that we had for him. He's a big-time player. I think he has all the ability as far as running inside-outside. Excellent vision. Also they line him up at the No. 1 and No. 2 receiver slots, throwing him the football. He's a big part of their offense and we knew he was going to be a challenge for our run defense.
(How disappointing was the score at the end of the half?)
Hey, it's a two-minute drill and the goal is to keep them out of the end zone. We didn't get that done. But I though Kyle did a good job coming in there and his scrambling ability, it started earlier in the drive on 3rd and 10 and we didn't get off the field. But it was a four vertical and that's definitely something we can learn from.
(Say we're back on track?)
I'll leave this game saying we're 2-1 and we'll feel good about a lot of things tomorrow when we watch the tape and there's some things we're going to correct. It's a long year, there are a lot of moving parts to a season, it looks like we're relatively healthy coming out of the game. Greg Jennings and James Jones both returned from their injuries. So we just have to get healthy, put together a good plan and stay after our fundamentals.
(Injuries)
James had a hand. Greg had a wrist.
(One turnover all season?)
I just think it's the fact that we work it every single day and we feel it's part of the blue print for success. The ability to play with more vision on defense is definitely helping us take the football away. We feel that's probably, outside of winning, the No. 1 statistic that we look at week in and week out.
(Kind of fourth quarter what you want to see?)
Definitely. It starts with the turnover on defense and the ability to get the two first downs in the four-minute offense. It's difficult to win on the road. To come down here to St. Louis, I was very impressed with our fan support here today. We got off to a great start defensively with the turnovers. We didn't get the point production you would have liked, there were some up and down parts of the game. I really like the way the team responded and kept fighting. I thought it was a good victory for us to complete a good week of work.
(Big plays?)
Big plays equal points in this league. You see it every week. It's very evident today. I would say most of our scoring drives definitely benefitted from our big plays. We feel we have the ability to play that way, but more importantly this was the first time this year we were able to stay balanced offensively, both run and throwing the ball on first and second down. And that's when we play our best football.
(You weren't running that well, but you stuck with it. Hard to do?)
Well, we've talked about this all the time. The most important statistic in my view in running the football is being able to run it for four quarters. And the yards came there at the end. That's when you really needed them. You don't usually come out and run for 6, 7, 8, 9 yards. When it does, you should have a good day or the defense has to make corrections. Just the fact that we were able to sustain for four quarters the run-pass mix, I think is playing to our strength.
(Balance help with the deep passes?)
Oh definitely. When teams can't play you one way, whether it's just for the run or the pass, it definitely plays to your advantage. We were able to get some one-on-ones with Greg and Donald on the backend and was able to benefit from it. So that's the way you'd like to play week in and week out.
(Defense with Chillar in safety role?)
Just once again trying to utilize our players. It was something that came up earlier in the week. You had Brandon Chillar and Desmond Bishop on the sidelines and the ability to probably play a better run defense. It was great to get a lot of work at it today against a big-time back. We have a lot of respect for Jackson and just the way he's able to start the thing inside and bounce it to the outside. He did a good job of even today finding the open gap. But it was just another way of playing run defense.
(Bishop for Barnett?)
We're just being smart with Nick Barnett's reps. He's been at right about 40 all three games.
(Something about Mason Crosby)
I couldn't answer that. But he needs to make extra points. I'm not sure what happened there.
(Take a step forward this week?)
Definitely. Clearly we played better in the protection part of it and frankly it starts on first and second down. When you have your linemen playing on their heels on long down and distances, it definitely plays to the advantage of the pass rush of the defense. So once again, just to be able to be balanced today will help all parts of our offense. Running the ball, pass protection and everything.
(Team kept their composure?)
There was a lot of enthusiasm here today. There's no doubt about it. Playing on the road is tough. Their home opener. We expect to come down here for a charged-up football team. They had a big shot in the arm, I think, when Kyle came into the game, with his scrambling ability, he was able to go down and put the two drives together. But we fully anticipated a very emotional, tough football game today.
(Steven Jackson?)
I think just the way we played Steven Jackson shows the kind of respect that we had for him. He's a big-time player. I think he has all the ability as far as running inside-outside. Excellent vision. Also they line him up at the No. 1 and No. 2 receiver slots, throwing him the football. He's a big part of their offense and we knew he was going to be a challenge for our run defense.
(How disappointing was the score at the end of the half?)
Hey, it's a two-minute drill and the goal is to keep them out of the end zone. We didn't get that done. But I though Kyle did a good job coming in there and his scrambling ability, it started earlier in the drive on 3rd and 10 and we didn't get off the field. But it was a four vertical and that's definitely something we can learn from.
(Say we're back on track?)
I'll leave this game saying we're 2-1 and we'll feel good about a lot of things tomorrow when we watch the tape and there's some things we're going to correct. It's a long year, there are a lot of moving parts to a season, it looks like we're relatively healthy coming out of the game. Greg Jennings and James Jones both returned from their injuries. So we just have to get healthy, put together a good plan and stay after our fundamentals.
(Injuries)
James had a hand. Greg had a wrist.
(One turnover all season?)
I just think it's the fact that we work it every single day and we feel it's part of the blue print for success. The ability to play with more vision on defense is definitely helping us take the football away. We feel that's probably, outside of winning, the No. 1 statistic that we look at week in and week out.