McCarthy reviews rout of hometown team

“It’s never as good as it looks and it’s never as bad as it looks.”

True coach speak from Packers boss Mike McCarthy Friday after his team rolled over his favorite childhood team, the Pittsburgh Steelers 51-34 Thursday night at Lambeau Field.

There was production galore, six touchdowns, two from the defense with three field goals. After quickly jumping up by 14 and letting Pittsburgh get back even in a flash, the Packers reeled off 27 unanswered points and rolled to their second pre-season win in as many starts.

McCarthy felt the game, just like the 31-17 win over the Tennessee Titans a week ago, had plenty of teachable tape both positive and negative.

One area that got my attention was the running game. The Packers have averaged 2.8 and 2.7 yards per carry offensively in the first two, getting 77 on the ground Thursday night but a third of that came from quarterbacks. Conversely, the defense gave up 151 yards to the Steelers, traditionally one of the best rushing teams in the league, with a salty 5.6 per carry average. I asked McCarthy if running the ball and stopping the run is a facet of the game that needs the full month of exhibitions, considering the lack of full contact in training camp under the CBA rules.

McCarthy referred to his line of it’s not as bad or as good as you think and he also touched on the two position groups that stood out in the Steelers victory.

The tight ends accounted for 9 catches and 106 yards with two touchdowns. Jimmy Graham caught the first, Robert Tonyan the second. Mercedes Lewis made a deep grab, Lance Kendricks was busy and even Emmanuel Byrd came up with a big catch.

The defensive backs, led by the interception returns for touchdowns from Tramon Williams and Josh Jackson at the start of each half, were combative throughout. Even the two touchdown catches by the Steelers were wrestled away from the tight covering hands of Demetri Goodson and Herb Waters.

On the injury front, wide receiver Jake Kumerow underwent tests on Friday for his injured shoulder. He got hurt diving into the end zone to cap his 82 yard catch and run touchdown, the latest in a series of eye opening plays this summer. Kumerow thought it was just a stinger but according to reports, he suffered a sprained SC joint that could take a week or more to heal on it’s own so it shouldn’t jeopardize his chances of making the final roster.

Guard Justin McCary got kicked in the calf and gingerly walked to the sidelines and running back Jamaal Williams suffered an ankle sprain.

McCarthy said the team will be off until Sunday and he’ll have medical updates on those players at that time.

The Packers will have a closed workout Sunday and it will focus exclusively on the regular season opening date opponent, the Chicago Bears.

Then it’ back to Ray Nitschke Field on Monday and Tuesday as the team prepares for it’s first road test of the pre-season, against the Raiders in Oakland next Friday night.