Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks: Game Day primer
With the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks ready to kickoff within the next couple of hours we’ve provided some of the basics to get you ready for the game.
Lots of info here for Packers and Seahawks fans … enjoy
The Green Bay Packers (0-0) vs. the Seattle Seahawks (0-0)
7:30 p.m. CDT Thursday.
CenturyLink Field, Seattle.
On the television: NBC; Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will be in the broadest booth and Michele Tafoya is reporting from the sidelines.
On the radio:
Milwaukee’s WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) call the action. McCarren first joined the team’s broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 20th season calling Packers’ games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 16th season of broadcasts together.
Westwood One Sports will air the game across the country. Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) and Boomer Esiason (analyst) will call the action, with Mark Malone reporting from the sidelines. Jim Gray hosts pregame and halftime shows.
The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed) as part of the network’s NFL Sunday Drive.
Head coaches:
Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy is 88-50-1 (including 6-5 in the postseason) in his ninth season as the Packers’ coach and as an NFL head coach. The Seahawks’ Pete Carroll is 33-28 (including 5-2 in the postseason) in his fifth year as the Seahawks’ coach and is 77-61 (6-4) in his ninth year as an NFL head coach.
The Packers lead the all-time regular-season series, 8-6, and had won three straight and six of seven (including two playoff games) until the infamous “Fail Mary” game two years ago. The Seahawks won that game, 14-12, on Sept. 24, 2012.
The rankings: Last season, the Packers’ third-ranked offense was No. 7 in rushing and No. 6 in passing. Their 25th-ranked defense was No. 25 against the run and No. 24 against the pass. The Seahawks’ 18th-ranked offense was No. 4 in rushing and No. 26 in passing. Their top-ranked defense was tied for No. 7 against the run and ranked No. 1 against the pass.
Seahawks are favored by 6.5 points.
PACKERS INJURIES
Packers – Out: C JC Tretter (knee, placed on injured reserve/designation to return); TE Brandon Bostick (fibula); CB Demetri Goodson (concussion). Probable: ILB Brad Jones (quadriceps).
SEAHAWKS INJURIES
Seahawks – Out: TE Cooper Helfet (knee); G Jeanpierre Lemuel (neck); LB Kevin Pierre Louis (hamstring); RB Christine Michael (hamstring); CB Tharold Simon (knee).Probable: LB Bruce Irvin (hip); WR Kevin Norwood (ankle); CB Jeremy Lane (groin).
PACKERS ON THURSDAYS
Under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, Green Bay is 6-2 in games played on Thursday, 3-1 in Thursday night matchups and 3-1 in day games played on Thursday.
The last time the Packers played in the NFL’s primetime kickoff game was in 2011. Green Bay won the shootout with the New Orleans Saints with a goal-line stand on the game’s final play. Rodgers threw for 312 yards, three touchdowns and a passer rating of 132.1 and WR Randall Cobb became the second player in NFL history to catch a pass for a touchdown and return a kickoff for a touchdown in his pro debut.
The Packers first played a game on a Thursday on Nov. 25, 1920, beating the Stambaugh Miners 14-0 on Thanksgiving. Green Bay’s first Thursday night game came on Oct. 17, 1991, losing 10-0 to the Chicago Bears. Although the Packers started off losing the first three Thursday night games they played in, Green Bay has won two of the last three, including a 23-10 win vs. Chicago in 2012.
Although this will only be the third time under Head Coach Mike McCarthy (2010 at Philadelphia, 2013 at San Francisco) that the Packers have played away from Lambeau Field in Week 1, they have had success in their first road contest of the season.
Green Bay has won its first road game in six of eight seasons under McCarthy.
The Packers have an all-time record of 53-38-2 (.582) in road openers, the most wins and fourth-best winning percentage in the NFL.
With a six-game winning streak in the first road game of the season from 2006-11, McCarthy joined Vince Lombardi (eight straight, 1960- 67) as the only coaches in team history to win six or more consecutive road openers.
BREAKING DOWN THE 53
The Packers’ 53-man roster is composed of 24 offensive players, 26 defen- sive players and three specialists.
Of the 53 players on Green Bay’s roster, 34 of them (64.2 percent) were draft picks of the Packers.
Green Bay has 16 players on the roster that began their careers as non-drafted free agents, with eight of those originally signed by Green Bay.
Almost 50 percent of the players (24 of 53, 45.3%) on Green Bay’s roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as anon-drafted player.
The Packers have 12 players on the roster that played in the NFL prior to the 2009 season, and six of those players began their pro careers as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as a non-drafted player (QB Matt Flynn, K Mason Crosby, CB Tramon Williams, CB Jarrett Bush, FB John Kuhn, LS Brett Goode).
Of the 53 players on the roster, 43 began their pro careers with the Packers (81.1 percent).
Only 17 of the 53 players on the roster (32.1 percent) were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, with 16 being drafted by the Packers. Of the 53 players on the roster, nine of them (81.1 percent) are 28 years old or younger (as of Sept. 4) and 21 players (39.6 percent) are 24 years old or younger.