McCarthy's leadership shows the for Packers

Disappointed Bears fans should be encouraged by the Green Bay Packers' almost-overnight transformation from chronic loser to Super Bowl contender.

On Dec. 3, 2006, the Packers lost to the New York Jets 38-10 to fall to 4-8 under rookie head coach Mike McCarthy. That was their 20th loss in 28 games, including a 4-12 finish under Mike Sherman in 2005.

But since that dark day against the lowly Jets in December, the Packers have gone 18-3, one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NFL history. And the Bears are responsible for 2 of those Packer defeats.

Surprisingly, most of the players from the group that went 8-20 are the same ones who will strap it up today against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field with a trip to Super Bowl XLII on the line.

The only notable change on offense is at running back, where Ryan Grant has replaced Ahman Green. The only major defensive change is strong safety Atari Bigby for Marquand Manuel.

The coaches are the same and the system is the same, but the commitment to excellence is different.

Cornerback Charles Woodson is the perfect example. He came to the Packers via free agency before the 2006 season with a resume that already included four Pro Bowl trips for the Oakland Raiders.

But he was coming off a broken leg and didn't get much attention from Tampa and Jacksonville, his top choices for relocation. He settled on Green Bay because the Packers were the team that showed the most interest.

Initially, Woodson and McCarthy clashed. According to Woodson, whose performance in practice doesn't match his elite performance in games, he was fined "for everything" in his first season with the Packers.

But the relationship between him and McCarthy has become a mutual-admiration society, a microcosm of the team-wide change.

"It was a quick turnaround," Woodson said. "When I came here I knew we had talent. Guys could play, but we were all just a bunch of individuals on the team. It was a new staff, new (defensive) coordinator (Bob Sanders), and so we struggled for a lot of last year.

"I think what everyone noticed is the last four games of last season. That's when everything kind of came together."

The Packers closed last season with 4 straight wins, a mere footnote to most, considering it still left them short of the playoffs. But it meant a lot to the people who mattered, especially the 26-7 season-ending victory over the Super Bowl-bound Bears at Soldier Field.

"We said (going into this season's minicamp) that we had an opportunity because in that last game of the season we realized that we should have been in the postseason," said wide receiver Donald Driver, an eight-year Packers veteran. "I think everybody built off that during the off-season."

The momentum continued to build throughout the regular season as the existing parts meshed perfectly. Physically, the Packers haven't changed much, but when it comes to mind-set and mental approach, it's a different team.

It took the players some adjustment time to come around to McCarthy's way of doing things, and there is no mistaking that McCarthy's way is the way the Packers do things now.

"You have to create the culture that you feel gives you the best chance to win," said the 44-year-old Pittsburgh native. "It's a positive environment. It's an environment that involves communication. Accountability is at a premium, the importance of availability from your players.

"Those are all key factors that we've stressed here since Day One. We're doing a very good job of that. The culture has been created."

In the beginning, the "Culture Club" wasn't the big, happy family that it has become. In time, players warmed to McCarthy's ways, and winning had a lot to do with players buying what he was selling.

"It started off kind of slow here," Woodson said. "Coming from Oakland I was kind of in a comfort zone. You come here and everybody has their own set of rules. A lot of those talks after practice (with McCarthy) weren't necessarily good talks, but we met a couple times in private and tried to talk through things.

"I had to get some fines and that sort of thing, but since then the relationship as a whole with the organization, coach, players and everything has gotten better. I know that with Coach McCarthy it's all about winning."

Al Harris was the only Packers cornerback to make the Pro Bowl this season, but McCarthy has talked about Woodson as a defensive player of the year candidate. He wasn't saying that early in the 2006 season.

"Charles and I had some big-time growing pains in his initial stages here," McCarthy said. "We've made it through that, and the benefits have definitely outweighed the negatives.

"I can't say enough about him, how he's bought into our program. He's one of the most unique players that I've been around (with) the (limited) practice time that it takes for him to get ready for football games. Turn the film on, and it's clearly evident that he plays at an extremely high level."

Most of the Packers are playing at a similar level, which McCarthy agrees started just more than 13 months ago, at the end of what may have looked like a lost season.

But it was the genesis of the current success.

"We played our best football of the season," McCarthy recalled. "We used the momentum. We referred to it a lot through our off-season and through training camp. And we found ways to win some games that were tough games early in the season, and the confidence continued to build."