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THE PACKERS STORYCOMMUNITYADMIN. &COACHESVETERANSDRAFT &FREE AGENTS2012 REVIEWPACKERSSTORYLAMBEAUFIELDMISC.consecutive home wins in the final two weeks, and secured the sixthand final seed in the NFC’s playoff bracket.Taking to the road for the NFC playoffs, the Packers started bybottling up the explosive Eagles’ offensive attack and winning theopening-round Wild Card game at Philadelphia by a score of 21-16.The task wouldn’t get any easier the following week as they traveled toAtlanta to take on the No. 1-seeded Falcons. After an initial back andforth, Green Bay exploded with a 28-point second quarter and neverlooked back. On the strength of a near-flawless display of quarterbackingby Rodgers, and two crucial interceptions by Williams, the Packershammered the Falcons 48-21, the second-largest margin of victory inteam postseason history.For the NFC Championship, the Packers faced their division rival,the Chicago Bears, for a chance to return to the Super Bowl for thefirst time since the 1997 season. Despite the rich, 182-game historyof the rivalry, the game marked just the second-ever meeting betweenthe two teams in the postseason. On a 20-degree afternoon at SoldierField, the Packers got out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.The opportunistic defense forced three Chicago turnovers, highlightedby an improbable 18-yard interception return for a touchdown byRaji that put Green Bay ahead 21-7 late in the fourth quarter. Rookiecornerback Sam Shields sealed the 21-14 win on the Bears’ final drive,making his second interception of the game to send the franchise toits fifth Super Bowl.The Super Bowl pitted the Packers against the AFC championPittsburgh Steelers. In what was billed as a matchup between tworenowned 3-4 defenses, it was the Green Bay offense, led onceagain by the exceptionally precise Rodgers, that was the difference.The Packers stormed out to a 21-3 lead in the first half, with twotouchdowns coming off the arm of Rodgers and one on an interceptionreturn by Collins. Under circumstances reflective of the entireseason, the Packers were forced to overcome injuries, as veteranstalwarts Driver and Woodson were both ruled out of the game latein the first half.The Steelers fought their way back, but a forced fumble byMatthews at the start of the fourth quarter led to another Rodgerstouchdown pass. Forcing a turnover on downs on Pittsburgh’s finaldrive, the Packers won the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl, 31-25.In the months that followed the season, both Thompson andMcCarthy were rewarded with multi-year contract extensions that willkeep them in Green Bay for the foreseeable future.With an unquestioned franchise quarterback, a nucleus of youngveterans, and a roster even further bolstered by the return of injuredplayers and a 10-man draft class, all eyes were set on the quest foranother world title in 2011.Due to a league-wide work stoppage that began in early March,the Packers – like the rest of the other clubs – were deprived of anoffseason program that would have fostered continued developmentand the integration of newly selected rookie players. The ongoing labornegotiations meant that the players first convened as a team at thestart of training camp in late July. With an abbreviated training campschedule and a bull’s-eye affixed firmly to their backs as the reigningchampions, the Packers would have to rely on their stable roster andestablished schemes to help pick up where the team had left off at itspeak in early February.And that they did. Beginning with the NFL’s season-openingThursday night spectacle against the high-powered New OrleansSaints at Lambeau Field, the Packers stormed through the regularseason, reeling off a team-record 13 consecutive wins en route toa franchise-best 15-1 record. The team became just the sixth inNFL history to reach the 15-win plateau, and when combining thestart of 2011 with the six wins that closed out 2010, the 19-gamewinning streak was the longest in team history and second longestin league annals.The franchise laid claim to its first NFC North division title since2007 and secured the conference’s No. 1 seed for the playoffs.Throughout the season, the recipe for success was written by Rodgersand a prolific offense that scored 560 points, the second-highest totalin league history.Rodgers finished the season having completed 343 of 502attempts for 4,643 yards and 45 touchdowns with only six interceptions,earning the league’s Most Valuable Player award and consensusfirst-team All-Pro honors from almost every major publication. His122.5 cumulative passer rating set a new NFL record and he alsoeclipsed the previous franchise single-season marks for yards,touchdowns, completion percentage, yards per attempt and 300-yard games.The Packers continued to display their knack for taking the footballaway on defense, leading the NFL with 31 interceptions, the most by aGreen Bay team since 1962. Woodson tied for the NFL lead with sevenINTs, and Matthews set a new career high with three of his own. Thedefense’s 38 takeaways tied for the league lead and helped contributeto an aggregate plus-24 team differential in the turnover department,a mark that also tied for No. 2 in franchise history.Joining Rodgers, Woodson and Matthews in the Pro Bowl wereJennings, FB John Kuhn, Raji and C Scott Wells, giving the Packersseven representatives, the most voted in for the franchise since 1967.In the postseason, Green Bay fell victim to uncharacteristic, costlyturnovers in its only contest, and lost to the eventual Super Bowlchampion New York Giants in the Divisional round, 37-20. Having notexperienced playoff disappointment during 2010’s memorable run, theloss to the Giants left a foul taste in the team’s collective mouth, alongwith several assurances that there would be a renewed determinationand focus on the ultimate prize in 2012.The Packers entered the 2012 campaign with strong motivationand a recalibrated focus that centered upon getting the team to peak atthe right time: the end of the regular season and playoffs.With that in mind, the club overcame its share of adversity inthe season’s early going, recovering from a 2-3 start to win 10 of11 games in Weeks 6-16 and putting itself in prime position for thepostseason. With a win at Chicago in Week 15, the Packers securedtheir second consecutive NFC North title, marking the franchise’s firstback-to-back divison conquest since 2002-04.During the regular season, it was once again a Rodgers-ledoffense that forged the team’s identity. The unit ranked No. 5 in theleague in scoring despite being plagued by injuries throughout theseason. Five different players started at running back in addition tofive different combinations on the offensive line and primary targetsJennings and Jordy Nelson missing 12 full games combined and partsof others with various ailments.Defensively, the Packers made significant strides after a challenging2011, climbing all the way to No. 11 overall in pass defense onthe strength of an 81-yard-per-game improvement over the previousseason.Matthews was on his way to his finest statistical season when hesuffered a hamstring injury in Week 9 that shelved him for more thana month. He still managed to finish fifth in the NFL with 13 sacks andbecame the first player in franchise history to be named to the ProBowl in each of his first four seasons in the league.The defense was also aided during the season by the emergenceof rookie cornerback Casey Hayward. A second-round draft pick,Hayward led the team and all NFL rookies with six interceptions. Hebecame the first Packers CB to ever be named (since 1974) to the ProFootball Weekly/PFWA All-Rookie team and finished third in the votingfor The Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year.Finishing the season with an 11-5 record, the Packers laid claim tothe No. 3 seed in the NFC and a Wild Card matchup with the divisionrivalMinnesota Vikings. The game marked the two teams’ thirdmeeting over a six-week stretch, and this time, the defense managedto keep league MVP Adrian Peterson in check while Rodgers and theoffense mounted a 24-3 margin en route to a 24-10 victory.In the following week’s divisional-round contest at San Francisco,the 49ers’ offense proved too much for Green Bay to handle, anddespite only trailing 24-21 at halftime, a second-half surge saw thePackers ultimately fall 45-31.The typically quiet Green Bay offseason was highlighted by longtermcontract extensions for both Matthews and Rodgers that promiseto keep the two franchise cornerstones in Green Bay for the foreseeablefuture. Their presence, combined with an ascending young coreof veterans and the addition of an 11-man draft class, looks to onceagain have the Packers among the NFL’s elite in 2013.512