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BB: That was a good win for our
football team today. I thought the players really stepped up and made plays
in all three phases of the game. We did a nice job on special teams
covering, and had a big return there from Kevin [Faulk].
Offensively, we were able to have a fairly balanced attack and convert some
key situations. Played fairly well on defense – converted some third downs,
got off the field, which we needed to do, and played competitively in the
running game. I know [the Packers have] a very talented and skilled
offensive group; we had some trouble with [Donald] Driver and
the tight ends and so forth at some points during the game. But the team,
those guys stepped up and they played well. I'm not sure what the story on Brett [Favre] is, but obviously it's unfortunate to see him go
out. I hope he's okay. I know I represent the team's feelings on that, as
well. But the most important thing for our football team is we played a good
football game for sixty minutes, and that's what we obviously need to do
more of. So it's good to win, and on to Chicago.
If there were certain points of emphasis that he
was pleased to see executed well:
BB: Well, I think
everything's important – taking care of the ball on offense, not turning it
over, picking up first downs, finishing drives and getting in the end zone
and not having to settle for field goals. Defensively, stopping the run, not
getting beat on shot plays and then big down-the-field passes, getting off
the field on third down. Special teams...I thought we were pretty
competitive in all of the areas we talked about, and that's what we needed to
do, we needed to play a good, solid, sixty minute football game. We had a
good week of practice, it started on Wednesday and carried over today.
Hopefully we can have that same kind of week going forward. We'll need it.
Anything specific in terms of defending Packers
WR Donald Driver:
BB: Well, we doubled him
almost the whole game. I mean, there were very few plays out there when we
didn't double him. And when we didn't, we should have. He's a great player.
But I thought Troy [Brown], there were a few plays where he
didn't have help and Troy was very competitive against him. But we have all
the respect in the world for Driver. Blitzed one time there and Favre hit [Greg] Jennings and he broke a tackle, and then
even made a big run, but for most of the game we doubled Driver.
On the job by the tight ends today:
BB: I thought we got a good
performance from a lot of people. Certainly, we got some big production in
the passing game from both of them. The interference on Dan [Graham]
was a big play, [Benjamin] Watson came through with some big
catches. This is a team that plays a lot of man-to-man coverage and they're
very good at it. It was a real onus on the offensive line to keep them out
long enough to give the receivers a chance to get open, then the receivers
and tight ends needed to do a good job against tight man coverage and get
some separation so that we could get the ball in there. We, at times, did a
good job of that – receivers got open, the line gave Tom [Brady]
some time, Tom made some really good throws. It was some good execution in
the passing game. We hit a couple plays down the field and we were able to
convert on some third downs and hit some short possession patterns and stay
out there, break some tackles. Guys like [Laurence] Maroney and Troy and [Reche] Caldwell getting a few extra yards
after the catch, that was important, too.
If there is any reason why they are able to
focus so well during road games:
BB: I don't know. We just try
to approach it one game at a time. We're happy with the way things went
today. Like I said, we just have to go out there and do the same things that
we did this week in preparation for next week's game against Chicago.
I think each week is its own week, its own entity, and that's the way we try
to approach it.
If he thought play action would give them a good
chance today:
BB: It's always a part of our
offense. In the running game, play action, drop back pass, those elements
are always there. But again, I think it came down to some good execution by
the players. That was the most important thing.
If he expected Brett Favre would be back out
there:
BB: Sure. I mean, he's a
great competitor. He's been a great player and very durable for a long time.
I'm sure if he can play, he'll play.
About Aaron Rodgers coming into a
difficult situation:
BB: Yes, he did. When you're
down by 21 points...it was tough. But he's a good quarterback; he's
athletic. He hurt us scrambling around, running around a little bit. We had
trouble containing him in the pocket. It was just kind of one of those days
where a lot of things went right for us and not too many went right for Green Bay. I think they're a good football team. They've played very
well in the last month and really were close to winning a couple other games
before that. We have a lot of respect for them. I'm sure they'll bounce
back.
Why Tom Brady had more time during the pass
rush:
BB: The guys who blocked him.
The offensive line, the tight ends, blitz pickup. They pumped those
linebackers up there. They gave us a few problems on that, but our backs,
whether it was Corey [Dillon] or Laurence or Kevin,
to step up and block them. Sometimes we got them, sometimes we didn't, but
that's man-on-man. When they bring a fifth or sixth guy, then that singles
everybody up and they're hard to block. But I thought our line, for the most
part, did a good job and gave Tom enough time to throw.
On the defensive line controlling the line of
scrimmage:
BB: I thought that we did do
a pretty good job of that. We did a decent job in the running game and were
able to get some pressure on the quarterback – even when we didn't hit him,
push the pocket a little bit, make him throw from kind of a collapsing
pocket sometimes. I thought all those guys, it would be hard to single
anybody out, but I thought that they all played competitively. It seemed
like we were getting pretty solid play when they were in there.
The throw to Reche Caldwell that resulted
in a touchdown and Green Bay's secondary having a history of giving
up big plays:
BB: It was just a play action
pass. Again, Tom had all the time back there, Reche ran a good
route and just layed it up there. We had been running a lot from that
formation, we'd been running those wam and those inside running plays, so we
tried to fake that in there. But again, the most important thing was Reche
ended up running a good route, set him up, Tom had time to throw and was
able to lay it up there. |
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