Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Mccarthy knows a lot about wins and losses. He has a 151-61-1 record in the regular season and a 10-8 record in the postseason. However, one of those losses came last season to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. Atlanta ended up going to the Super Bowl and loses in an embarrassing second half collapse to the New England Patriots.
This weekend, the Green Bay Packers prepare to face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 of the 2017 NFL season. A lot of fans are talking about a revenge game for the Packers and the media asked the Packers head coach about that on Wednesday.
For his part, Mike McCarthy wanted to hear nothing about revenge or last year's loss.
"If you're thinking about last year and talking about last year, you're wasting time and energy," Mike McCarthy told ESPN.
The 2016 NFC Championship
When asked about the 2016 Atlanta Falcons team, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn believes that his team is even better this year than they were when they beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. The biggest problem was the Atlanta defense. When asked about that defense, Quinn said that things have improved. He also said that the Packers have improved on defense as well.
"I definitely can tell the speed that guys are playing with, that definitely is evident.
I hope when you see our defense, we've added some as well," Quinn said. "I would say both defenses look to be playing faster than they did. From the end of last year to the start of this year, you can definitely see that both defenses have added speed to their units."
That should make this year's regular season game much different from the NFC Championship game.
That game saw the Atlanta Falcons beat the Green Bay Packers, 44-21. Aaron Rodgers threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns and Matt Ryan threw for 392 yards and four touchdowns. This year's game is likely to have a lower score.
The 2017 NFL season
The Green Bay Packers opened the 2017 NFL season with a very tough game. They played a Seattle Seahawks team that hopes to compete for the NFC title again this year.
Aaron Rodgers was still able to throw for over 300 yards against the Legion of Boom defense while the Packers held Russell Wilson to 158 passing yards and the rushing offense to under 100 yards.
On the other hand, the Atlanta Falcons played the woeful Chicago Bears. Matt Ryan, as usual, threw for 321 yards. On the other hand, the Falcons defense held Mike Glennon to 2013 passing yards and the rushing offense to 125 yards.
The Green Bay Packers looked great on defense against a good Seattle team and the Atlanta Falcons looked slightly above average against the Bears. If things stay the course in Week 2 of the 2017 NFL season, the Packers should be able to get revenge, even if Mike McCarthy doesn't want to talk about it.