Week 17 vs. Detroit Game Release.indd - NFL.com

LIONS AT PACKERS - WEEK 17
AT THE HELM
Having led Green Bay to the playoffs in three of his five seasons as head
coach, Mike McCarthy joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the
only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl win with a victory over
Pittsburgh last season in Super Bowl XLV.
McCarthy led the Packers to a Super Bowl win in his fifth season in
Green Bay, the same point that Holmgren led the Packers for the first
time to the NFL title game in 1996.
McCarthy joined Pittsburgh’s Bill Cowher (2005) as the only Super Bowlwinning
coaches to lead their respective teams to three road wins as the
No. 6 seed in the postseason en route to a world title.
The Packers’ 21-14 win at Chicago last season was their second NFC
Championship Game appearance in four seasons, the only team in the
conference to do so over that span.
Including playoffs, McCarthy has a 67-35 record since taking over
as head coach in 2006, a .657 winning percentage that ranks No. 3
among current NFL head coaches (minimum 50 games):
Coach
Winning Pct.
1. Mike Tomlin, PIT .686 (59-27)
2. John Harbaugh, BAL .671 (47-23)
3. Mike McCarthy, GB .657 (67-35)
4. Bill Belichick, NE/CLE .647 (189-103)
5. Mike Smith, ATL .646 (42-23)
Since taking over as head coach in 2006, McCarthy has a 62-33 regularseason
record (.653) and a 5-2 mark (.714) in the postseason.
McCarthy’s .714 winning percentage in the playoffs is tied for No. 1
among active NFL head coaches, matching the mark of Belichick (15-6)
and Tomlin (5-2). McCarthy trails only the legendary Lombardi (9-1,
.900) for the top postseason winning percentage in franchise annals.
With the five postseason wins, McCarthy trails only Lombardi and
Holmgren (nine each) for the most in Packers history.
With 67 overall wins, McCarthy ranks No. 4 in team history:
Coach
Overall Wins
1. Curly Lambeau, 1921-49 212
2. Vince Lombardi, 1959-67 98
3. Mike Holmgren, 1992-98 84
4. Mike McCarthy, 2006- 67
5. Mike Sherman, 2000-05 59
A look at where the Packers rank in the NFL in winning percentage and
wins since 2009 (including postseason):
Team
Winning Pct.
1. New Orleans .765 (39-12)
2. Green Bay .750 (39-13)
3. New England .735 (36-13)
Team
Overall Wins
1t. Green Bay 39
1t. New Orleans 39
3. New England 36
4t. Baltimore, Pittsburgh 34
SPREAD THE WEALTH
The Packers made history last season with three wide receivers (Greg
Jennings, Donald Driver and James Jones) each hitting the
50-catch plateau for the first time in franchise history, and Green Bay has
displayed another balanced aerial attack in 2011.
All five of Green Bay’s wide receivers (Jennings, 67; Jordy Nelson,
59; Driver, 35; Jones, 32; Randall Cobb, 25) have at least 25 catches.
It marks the first time in franchise history that the Packers have
had five different WRs catch at least 25 passes, topping the previous
record of five WRs with 16-plus catches in 2007. The last NFL team to
have five WRs with 25-plus catches each was the 1996 Atlanta Falcons.
In the Week 4 victory over Denver, Jennings, Nelson, Driver and Jones
all had TD catches, the first time in franchise history that four
different wide receivers caught TD passes in the same game.
The last time an NFL team had four different listed wide receivers catch
touchdown passes in the same game was on Oct. 27, 1991, when the
Houston Oilers’ foursome of Drew Hill, Haywood Jeffires, Ernest Givins
and Tony Jones all caught TD passes against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Green Bay had three different wideouts (Jennings, 103; Nelson, 91;
Cobb, 75) hit the 75-yard mark against the Broncos in Week 4. The last
time three Packers wide receivers accomplished that feat came on Sept.
23, 2007, vs. San Diego (Jennings, Driver, Jones).
Jennings, Jones and Nelson have all had 90-plus receiving yards in one
or more games this season, the sixth straight season that Green
Bay has had three different WRs post 90-yard games on the season.
Among the wide receivers, Nelson leads the way with 1,101 receiving
yards with Jennings (949) and Jones (546) checking in behind him.
With Driver (393) and Cobb (375) coming in behind them, the Packers
have five wide receivers with 300-plus yards for the first time in franchise
history.
The Packers’ wide receivers have accounted for 3,364 receiving yards
this season, an average of 224.3 per game that leads the NFL, and a
league-best 34 TD catches:
Team
Rec. Yards from WRs
1. Green Bay 224.3
2. N.Y. Giants 211.4
3. Pittsburgh 202.7
Team
Rec. TDs from WRs
1. Green Bay 34
2. Dallas 25
3. Detroit 22
Jennings’ 79-yard TD catch at Minnesota in Week 7 was the 10th
reception of 70-plus yards by the Packers since 2008.
Jennings and Nelson each have three 70-yard catches and Driver and
Jones each have two over that span.
Team 70-yard catches (since ’08)
1. Green Bay 10
2t. New Orleans, Dallas 8
4. Arizona 7
With Jones catching his seventh TD pass of the season on Sunday, he
became the third Green Bay wide receiver (Nelson, Jennings) this season
to do so. It is the first time in franchise history that Green Bay
has had three wide receivers with seven-plus TD catches in a season.
6