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I feel a hunger, it's a hunger, that tries to keep 53 men awake at night.
That hunger is for another Super Bowl title, and is clearly present in the Green Bay Packers this year. That word is being thrown around by multiple Packers players this week as they get ready to begin their playoff run and try to earn their fifth Super Bowl and fourteenth NFL title. Fresh in their minds are the memories of playoff runs cut too short, including last year's narrow defeat by the hand of the 49ers.
But along with that hunger will hopefully come a focus that allows this team to prepare and execute better than any Packers playoff team since that magical 2010 run. Let's take a look at what's going on around Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers senses ‘a little hungrier’ Packers team | Packers.com
Desperation isn't quite the right word, but there definitely appears to be a sense in the locker room that the time to take advantage of this window is right now.
Packers eager to shake playoff slump | Packersnews.com
The three straight early exits are certainly part of the reason for that hunger, and guys like Andrew Quarless, who tasted Super Bowl success very early in their careers, are probably among the most motivated.
Creating the New Joe Cool | Grantland
Mike McCarthy's first job in the NFL was coaching Joe Montana. Seriously. Here's a great look at how he's gone from that responsibility to developing one of the best QBs in recent NFL history.
Special-teams play could decide Packers' fate | JSOnline
We talked about this briefly yesterday, but the third phase of the game should be a big factor on Sunday, and it absolutely could swing in either direction.
Green Bay Packers CB Davon House's return could help against Bryant - ESPN
Some of us believe that House getting back on the field will be as big a boost to the special teams (especially the coverage units) as it will to the secondary.
BTB Dallas Cowboys Podcast: Playoff Edition, Featuring Evan Western And The Great Bob Sturm - Blogging The Boys
APC and BTB got together this week to preview Sunday's game. Listen or else!
The Seahawks' Michael Bennett compares the Panthers to a cousin he can't date - SBNation.com
... but wants to. Seriously, this interview provides one of the more bizarre analogies we've heard recently.
Finally, here's a fun fact about the last Packers-Cowboys playoff game held in Green Bay:
Wagering on #IceBowl, GB Mayor Tilleman offered Green Bay cheese and paper products. Dallas Mayor Jonsson offered Texas black-eyed peas.
— Jeff Ash (@JeffAshPG) January 7, 2015
It's a shame that Mayor Jonsson elected to wait 43-plus years to pay up his offer of Black-Eyed Peas, and that he did so in the form of the Halftime Show of Super Bowl XLV, held in Dallas and won by the Packers. (I'm so, so sorry that I linked to the video of that debacle.)