GREEN BAY — Mike McCarthy wished all of those assembled in the Lambeau Field media auditorium a “Merry Christmas” as he wrapped up his postgame news conference Saturday.
Not before the ultra-confident head coach uttered these 10 words, however, in the happy aftermath of the Green Bay Packers’ 38-25 win over the visiting Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Eve: “We’re planning on going to Detroit to win the division,” McCarthy asserted.
No matter what happened in Monday night’s game between the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions and the NFC East-champion Dallas Cowboys in Texas, the Packers will be playing for division supremacy and a berth in the playoffs next weekend.
By running their winning streak to five to get to 9-6, the Packers need only to prevail Sunday night in Detroit to reign again in the NFC North. The matchup is the marquee game of the final day of the regular season in the NFL with the kickoff at Ford Field pushed back to prime time.
“We’ve got a date in Detroit,” Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari said gleefully.
This is the fourth straight season Green Bay’s last game in the regular season has determined the division champion.
The Packers extended their run of NFC North titles to four straight when they rallied in the closing seconds for a 33-28 road win over the Chicago Bears in 2013 and then downed the Lions 30-20 at Lambeau in 2014.
Green Bay, though, relinquished division supremacy to the Vikings last season, falling 20-13 to visiting Minnesota.
“It’s what we’re here for,” ninth-year wide receiver Jordy Nelson said. “We want to win division titles, get in the playoffs and make a run at the Super Bowl. Winning games isn’t enough around here. We’re here to win a championship. That’s the expectation we’ve put on ourselves. That’s what we’ve done in the past. It’s an opportunity you’ve got to cherish because they’re hard to do, especially (facing) a three-division-game stretch (to end this regular season) and (having) two of them on the road. It’s a battle.
“(Sunday) will be as well. So, we’ll prepare, go in there, try our best and, hopefully, come out on the right side.”
The Packers surely have the right leader on the field to get them another division title and a guaranteed spot in the postseason for the eighth straight year.
Aaron Rodgers was showered with chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP!” in the midst of throwing for 347 yards and four touchdowns, along with a rushing touchdown, in the Christmas Eve dismantling of the Vikings. Nelson was clutch on the receiving end with nine receptions for a season-high 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Rodgers has thrust himself into contention for a third league MVP award by playing almost spotless football the last five games to rescue the Packers from a 4-6 record.
“It feels like the best thing we could hope for,” Rodgers said of having a shot to play for the NFC North title. “We had some adversity, and we stuck together. I’m really proud of the character of the football team. We talk a lot about identity and character and how it’s been one of those trying seasons where it hasn’t kind of come together at the right time. But, I think over the last five weeks we’ve shown a lot of mental toughness, a lot of grit and guys sticking together when there could have been some fracturing. So, I think that’s the identity of this football team, is that we’re going to push it right to the very end and we’re going to stick together and believe in each other.”