Packers Public Relations Lambeau Field Atrium 1265 Lombardi Avenue Green Bay, WI 54304 920/569-7500 920/569-7201 fax Jeff Blumb, Sarah Quick, Adam Woullard, Rob Crane, Mike Spofford, Jeff Harding, Aaron Popkey VOL. IX; NO. 16 GREEN BAY, NOV. 13, 2007 WEEK 11 CAROLINA (4-5) at GREEN BAY (8-1) among all 32 teams. Sunday, Nov. 18 Lambeau Field 12 p.m. CST The top 5 NFL teams by record all are ranked in the top 10 in both total offense and defense. Other than Green Bay (8-1), the list includes New CAROLINA COMES TO LAMBEAU FOR WEEK 11 CLASH England (9-0), Dallas (8-1), Indianapolis (7-2) and Pittsburgh (7-2). The Packers host their second consecutive home game one week after improving to 8-1 for the first time since 2002. WITH THE CALL Green Bay comes into the contest winners of 12 of its last 13 games and FOX Sports enters its 14th season as an NFL network television partner tied for the NFC’s best record. and will air the contest to a regional audience. Play-by-play man Dick Sunday marks the 251st consecutive regular-season sellout (264 includ- Stockton joins color commentator Brian Baldinger in the broadcast booth. ing playoffs) at Lambeau Field, the league’s longest-tenured stadium. Milwaukee’s WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, With a win, the Packers would earn the best start in team history since heads up the 56-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee 1962, when Vince Lombardi led (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) Green Bay to a 10-0 start en route calling the action. The network covers 47 markets in six states. to their eighth world title. For out-of-town listeners, the broadcast is available to NFL Field Pass A familiar non-divisional foe, the subscribers on www.packers.com as well as on Sirius Satellite Radio Panthers come to Lambeau Field (channel 110 WTMJ feed) as part of the network’s NFL Sunday Drive. for the first time since 2002. Sports USA Radio Network will air the game across the country. Howard The two clubs first met in 1996 in David (play-by-play) and Doug Plank (analyst) will call the action, while the NFC Championship game. Rich Herrera serves as the sideline reporter. Antonio Freeman’s go-ahead TD DirecTV subscribers can watch the game on channel 706. catch gave the Packers their first PRESEASON lead of the day, as Green Bay Al Tielemans/Sports Illustrated earned its first Super Bowl berth in 29 years. Date Opponent Wis. Time TV Sunday is the 10th meeting in 12 years between the teams. Just three Sat., Aug. 11 at Pittsburgh Steelers . W, 13-9 (57,151) games have been played in Green Bay, with the Packers holding a 2-1 Sat., Aug. 18 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (Gold Pkg.) . .W, 48-13 (69,761) advantage over the Panthers. (Midwest Shrine Game) Establishing a true home-field advantage is something the club has Thurs., Aug. 23 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS . .L, 21-13 (69,268) (Bishop’s Charities Game) begun to do, winning six of its last seven games in Green Bay. Thurs., Aug. 30 at Tennessee Titans . .L, 30-14 (69,143) OFFENSE, DEFENSE CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS REGULAR SEASON Sunday’s effort against the Vikings, in which Green Bay nearly doubled the Date Opponent Wis. Time TV offensive output of Minnesota, 488 yards to 247, was undoubtedly the Sun., Sept. 9 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES . .W, 16-13 (70,598) most complete effort of the Mike McCarthy era. Sun., Sept. 16 at New York Giants . .W, 35-13 (78,701) Sun., Sept. 23 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (Gold Pkg.) . .W, 31-24 (70,733) “We anticipated a very physical game with Minnesota today, especially Sun., Sept. 30 at Minnesota Vikings . .W, 23-16 (63,779) after the game at the Metrodome,” McCarthy said following the win. “I Sun., Oct. 7 CHICAGO BEARS . .L, 20-27 (70,904) thought our guys really prepared well, starting with the defense with the Sun., Oct. 14 WASHINGTON REDSKINS . .W, 17-14 (70,761) shutout and stopping the run. That was the emphasis going into the Sun., Oct. 21 Open Date . game. Offensively, we wanted to establish our run game. It was a com- Mon., Oct. 29 at Denver Broncos . .+W, 19-13 (77,160) pletion-oriented mindset as far as game plan against their defense. For Sun., Nov. 4 at Kansas City Chiefs . .W, 33-22 (78,988) the most part, I was very pleased with the performance in all three phas- Sun., Nov. 11 MINNESOTA VIKINGS (Gold Pkg.) . .W, 34-0 (70,945) es. That's clearly our best performance this year.” Sun., Nov. 18 CAROLINA PANTHERS . .12 noon FOX Thurs., Nov. 22 at Detroit Lions (Thanksgiving) . .11:30 a.m. FOX Facing the league’s second-ranked rush defense looked like a tall task for Thurs., Nov. 29 at Dallas Cowboys . .7:15 p.m. NFLN the Green and Gold, but they responded with their highest output of the Sun., Dec. 9 OAKLAND RAIDERS . .*12 noon CBS season behind Ryan Grant’s 119 yards rushing, the first 100-yard rush- Sun., Dec. 16 at St. Louis Rams . .*12 noon FOX er against the Vikings this season. Sun., Dec. 23 at Chicago Bears . .12 noon FOX Simply put, the defense was outstanding. It did not allow the Vikings to Sun., Dec. 30 DETROIT LIONS . .*12 noon FOX convert on third down (0-for-8) or fourth down (0-for-3), and held the *—Start time and broadcast may shift due to NFL flexible scheduling NFL’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, to 45 yards, his lowest output of + – overtime the season. NFL POSTSEASON DATES “We feel that we are a very good football team,” McCarthy continued. Jan. 5-6 . .AFC and NFC Wild Card Playoffs “We're focused on winning and improving. It's as simple as that. There's Jan. 12-13 . .AFC and NFC Divisional Playoffs a lot of football left to be played.” Jan. 20 . .AFC and NFC Championship Games Statistically, both the offense (No. 4 overall) and defense (No. 10 over- Feb. 3 . .Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ all) rank in the league’s top 10. Green Bay’s passing offense ranks first Feb. 10 . .AFC-NFC Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu NOV. 18, 2007; CAROLINA at GREEN BAY Pg. 2 THIS WEEK AT LAMBEAU TOP 10 DEFENSE ROUNDING INTO FORM Historically speaking, Woodson is only the fourth Packers player since Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and his unit have steadily climbed the 1940 with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception in the league rankings this season, finally playing the dominant football it showed same game. The other three Green Bay Packers to do that were Charley signs of in 2006. Brock (10/4/1942, at CHI), Tom Brown (11/17/1968, vs. NO) and Ahmad During the team’s four-game win streak to close the 2006 season, the Carroll (11/29/2004, vs. STL). unit climbed from 29th to 12th. Sunday the defense posted the first shutout since Dec. 10, 2002, a NOBODY’S BETTER AFTER THE CATCH 10-0 victory over Buffalo. It did so against the Vikings, which owned the The league’s No. 1-ranked passing offense has been bolstered by its league’s longest active scoring streak at 260 games. Minnesota’s 260- receivers’ ability to run after the catch. game streak without a shutout is the third-longest in NFL history. Big plays have served as a catalyst to the success of the Packers offense. The defense has allowed 142 points thus far, third-lowest in the NFL. Despite having the league’s 32nd-ranked rushing attack, the unit still Its 26 sacks are tied for third best in the league, paced by the NFL’s top ranks fourth overall thanks in large part to its dominance through the air. sack duo. Defensive end Aaron Kampman, the NFC Defensive Player of Wins over San Diego, Denver and Kansas City have all been highlighted the Month for October, has posted nine sacks, second in the league. by long touchdowns passes by Favre. Not to be overlooked is who he is Fellow defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila has tallied eight-and-a-half throwing to, and what they are able to do once the ball is in their hands. sacks. Led by wide receivers Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones and 24½ of those sacks have come courtesy of the defensive line, which tight end Donald Lee, Green Bay has amassed 1,300 yards after the forms one of the deepest rotations in all of football. Their ability to pres- catch, tops in the NFL. sure the quarterback rushing just four frees up linebackers Nick Barnett Behind the Packers at No. 2 is a team with a much more publicized group and A.J. Hawk, two of the team’s leading tacklers, to make plays. of receivers – the New England Patriots at 1,157 yards after the catch. Not to be forgotten is perhaps the top cornerback duo in the NFL – The NFL average is 820 yards. Charles Woodson and Al Harris. No cornerback duo is as physical at the The big-play ability of the Packers offense shouldn’t come as a total sur- line of scrimmage, while Woodson continues to display his knack for the prise. Green Bay finished second in yards after the catch, behind New big play with three interceptions and two defensive touchdowns on the Orleans, in 2006.