Packers Notebook (Jan. 12)

By: 
Bill Huber
Correspondent

Rodgers chasing a second ring

In the NFL, stars are born during the regular season but legends are made in the playoffs.

With two MVP awards, Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Now, with the Green Bay Packers coming off a 13-3 season, he’s in position to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time. That journey will continue on Sunday night with a divisional playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field.

“It’s on my mind every day,” Rodgers admitted on Wednesday. “That’s why we play the game. That’s why you put in the time in the offseason. That’s why you do the little things. It’s to put yourself in this position, where we’re two games away from being able to compete for that. I’m 36, I know what this is all about. This is an important opportunity for us.

“I feel like I’ve got a lot of really good years left, but you never know. A lot of things happen year to year. We’ve had some great teams that have been an injury away or a play away from being special, so I want to make the most of this opportunity.”

Rodgers won his lone Super Bowl in 2010, part of a run of eight consecutive playoff berths that included 2011 (a 15-1 season that ended with a divisional-round loss to the Giants), 2014 (the infamous NFC Championship Game loss at Seattle), 2015 (an overtime playoff loss at Arizona in the divisional round) and 2016 (when Rodgers dragged a beat-up team to the NFC Championship Game at Atlanta).

The Packers fell short of the playoffs the last two years, with Rodgers’ broken collarbone derailing a promising start in 2017.

This team represents Rodgers’ best chance to earn the elusive second Super Bowl ring since 2014, when Rodgers was 31 and about to win his second MVP. Now, Rodgers is 36 and coming off a third season in which his personal performance failed to reach his lofty standards.

Maybe the Packers, in Year 2 under coach Matt LaFleur, will be even better, or maybe this is a lightning-in-a-bottle season. That’s why this opportunity is so dear to Rodgers.

“When I was 31,” he said, “I thought I was going to play into my 40s and that was still a decade away, and now I’m 36 so now we’re a half a decade away.”

All he does is win

In his eight seasons, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson has the team in the playoffs for the seventh time. His 86 victories are tied with Tom Brady for the most in NFL history through a quarterback’s first eight seasons. Including playoffs, Wilson’s 95 wins trail only Brady’s 100.

Initially, Seattle general manager and De Pere native John Schneider had the built-in advantage of having a quarterback on his rookie deal. Now, Schneider has to work around his quarterback’s $140 million contract. He’s made it work, though.

While former Packers general manager Ted Thompson is among Schneider’s mentors, they could hardly be more different in terms of personnel acquisition. Since 2010, the dawn of the Schneider-Pete Carroll era, Schneider has made 2,323 roster moves.

Just before the start of this season, Schneider acquired Pro Bowl defensive end Jadeveon Clowney from Houston for two players and a third-round pick. Then, a week before the trade deadline, he traded for Detroit safety Quandre Diggs. Clowney is Seattle’s best defensive lineman and Diggs has three interceptions in a half-season.

“We have agreed to be really aggressive,” Carroll said in a conference call. “John’s always championing that every single opportunity, we want to compete and be involved in every deal so that we knew what was going on, so it’s not like we just pick and choose and sometimes we go and sometimes we don’t. We exhaust the opportunities as much as we can and stay in them to see if it’s going to work out. You’re either competing or you’re not. That’s kind of how we look at it.”

Advantage, Carroll?

At age 68, Carroll will be coaching his 20th playoff game on Sunday. At age 40, LaFleur will be coaching his first.

Carroll, with one Super Bowl win and one other Super Bowl appearance on his resume, doesn’t see his experience as a big edge, though.

“Tell Matt it’s a big advantage for us, OK?” Carroll said. “I don’t know that. It’s the next football game. There’s a lot of talk made about there’s so much more riding on everything and everything’s so different and all that. I don’t see it like that. I just think it’s just football.

“He’s obviously very well situated and very well equipped with his team. He’s had a fantastic season. Such an accomplishment for Matt to have pulled this together in this fast order. Of course, it helps when you have your quarterback like that. But fitting together with Aaron Jones and getting Jimmy (Graham) to keep playing for him and using Davante, they’ve done a magnificent job. And the defense has played and caused problems, too. It’s a really good setup and he really deserves a ton of credit.”

LaFleur’s goal for himself and the team this week is to treat this week just like it’s any other week.

“I think it’s pretty easy, to be honest with you,” he said. “Our preparation’s been the same as it’s been every other week this season, and I know our guys are looking forward to it. Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of outside noise and we’ve just got to go about our business, trust our process and do what we’ve been doing all season long.”

Strength vs. strength, part 1

Both teams have dominated close games. Green Bay is 8-1 in games decided by eight points or less, its .889 winning percentage in one-score games being the best in the league.

“I think character is really important,” Rodgers said. “And it’s not like the kind of character that maybe comes to mind first. I’m not talking about good guys or a good feeling. I’m talking about understanding how to win and in those moments, the character that comes through is a hyper focus, I think, and an understanding of what it takes in those moments to win, and that’s a learned trait.

“I don’t think it’s something you start the season out with. It’s a learned trait. You learn throughout the year. We’ve, thankfully, had a number of those games that have gone our way and we’ve learned how to get it done in those moments.”

Including last week’s playoff win at Philadelphia, Seattle is 11-2 in one-score games, the most wins in the league.

“It’s going to be about which team can finish the best,” Packers receiver Davante Adams said. “Obviously, we’re going to try to put as many points on the board as possible so we don’t end up in that predicament. But if that’s the type of game it ends up being, then my money’s on us to finish it.”

Strength vs. strength, part 2

Green Bay went 7-1 in home games to help earn the first-round bye and divisional home game. Over the last decade, the home team is 59-35 in playoff games. However, including the Philadelphia game, Seattle went 8-1 in road games this season.

“It’s a playoff game at home. We haven’t had one of those in a while,” Rodgers said. “It feels good to be back in the playoffs. It’s not the same type of squad that we’ve had in years past that have a ton of playoff experience. That’s what happens when you go to the playoffs eight straight years.

“You kind of get used to that feeling and understand what it’s all about. It’ll be new for I think more than half of our team, which will be a good test for those guys to settle down early on. We wanted one of these for a while, a divisional game at home, good opponent, with the weather in our favor.”