The Green Bay Packers go on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime at Heinz Field. It is the first prime-time meeting between the two teams in the regular season since a matchup on Monday Night Football in Pittsburgh on Nov. 9, 1998.
It will be the second consecutive game against a team from the AFC North as part of a three-game run in a four-week span against the division that will finish with a trip to Cleveland in Week 14.
Green Bay is 19-15 overall against the Steelers, including a 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV. This will be just the second meeting between the two teams since the Super Bowl.
Four of the last five regular-season games between the two clubs have been decided by seven points or less.
Dating back to 1967, 11 of the last 14 matchups (including Super Bowl XLV) have finished with a single-digit point differential.
This will be the second regular-season game at the Steelers (2009) under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native.
Green Bay is looking for its first victory at Pittsburgh since winning, 20-12, in 1970.
Five of the last six games between the two teams in Pittsburgh have been decided by eight points or less, including three by fewer than five points.
Four of the Packers’ last six games against AFC opponents have been decided by eight points or less.
Under McCarthy, the Packers have scored 20-plus points in 35 of 47 games (including the postseason) against AFC teams, including 20 games of 30-plus points.
Green Bay has eclipsed 20 points in six of the last seven contests against AFC opponents.
Green Bay is 1-1 this season against teams from the AFC, beating Cincinnati in Week 3 and falling to Baltimore in Week 11.
The Packers have recorded a .500 or better record against AFC teams in each season under McCarthy except for two (1-3 in 2006 and 2008).
In four of the last six seasons (2011-12, 2014-15), Green Bay has gone 3-1 against the AFC.
Dating back to 1990, the Packers are 25-12 in Sunday night games, a .676 winning percentage that ranks No. 1 in the NFL.
Green Bay has won the turnover battle in five of the last seven games, recording a turnover margin of plus-four over that span.
The Packers have registered a takeaway in nine of 10 games this season, including each of the last eight.
Green Bay is tied for No. 2 in the NFL in games with one-plus takeaways this season, trailing only the Cleveland Browns, who have a takeaway in 10 contests.
Next week, the Packers return to Green Bay to host Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers’ first December trip to Lambeau Field since 2000.
WITH THE CALL
NBC will broadcast the game to a national audience. Play-by-play man Al Michaels joins analyst Cris Collinsworth in the booth with Michele Tafoya reporting from the sidelines.
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 (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team’s broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 23rd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 19th season of broadcasts together.
Westwood One Sports will air the game on radio across the country. Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Jason Taylor (analyst) will call the action, with Scott Graham hosting the pregame and halftime shows.
The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed).
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
The Packers currently have a 53-man roster that is composed of 25 offensive players, 25 defensive players and three specialists.
Of the 53 players on Green Bay’s roster, 33 of them (62.3 percent) were draft picks of the Packers. Dating back to 2007, Green Bay has at least one member of each draft class still on the roster.
Green Bay has 15 players on the roster that began their careers as undrafted free agents, with 10 of those originally signed by Green Bay.
Over a third (37.7 percent) of the players (20 of 53) on Green Bay’s roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as an undrafted player.
The Packers have four players on the roster that played in the NFL prior to the 2009 season. Three of the four players were draft picks of the Packers (K Mason Crosby , WR Jordy Nelson and LB Clay Matthews ) and two have made at least one Pro Bowl.
Of the 53 players on the roster, 43 began their pro careers with the Packers (81.1 percent).
Only 18 of the 53 players on the roster (34.0 percent) were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, with 16 being drafted by the Packers.
GREEN BAY’S ROSTER ...
BY AGE (as of Nov. 26)
21-24: 26 players
25-28: 20 players
29-32: 3 players
33-plus: 4 players
BY EXPERIENCE
R-1: 15 players
2-3: 17 players
4-5: 9 players
6-9: 7 players
10-plus: 5 players
BY DRAFT ROUND
1st: 5 players
2nd/3rd: 13 players
4th/5th: 15 players
6th/7th: 5 players
Undrafted: 15 players
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Steelers
All-time, Regular season: 18-15
All-time, postseason: 1-0
All-time, in Pittsburgh: 7-7
Streaks: The Steelers have won four of the last five meetings, with the Packers’ win coming in Super Bowl XLV.
Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 22, 2013; Steelers won, 38-31, Lambeau Field
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 129-74-1, .632 (incl. 10-8 postseason); 12th NFL season
Mike Tomlin: 119-65, .647; (incl. 8-6 postseason); 11th NFL season
Head to Head: 1-2
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 1-2 vs. Steelers; Tomlin 2-1 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 12th year as the Packers’ 14th head coach.
Led the Packers to their eighth consecutive playoff appearance last season, tied for the third-longest streak in NFL history. Has also led the team to nine playoff appearances in the last 10 years (2007, 2009-16).
Ranks second in franchise history in total victories, trailing only Curly Lambeau.
Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
Reached the 100-win plateau faster than any active NFL head coach, needing just 155 games.
Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
MIKE TOMLIN …Is in his 11th year as the Steelers’ 16th head coach.
Has led Pittsburgh to two Super Bowl appearances. Became the youngest head coach (36 years, 323 days) in NFL history to win a Super Bowl when the Steelers defeated the Cardinals, 27-23, in Super Bowl XLIII.
By winning the Super Bowl in only his second season as a head coach, he also became the fastest to win a Super Bowl title in Steelers history.
In his 11th season, is just the third Steelers head coach since 1969.
Reached 100 wins faster (157 games) than any other coach in franchise history and became the eighth head coach in NFL history to win 100 regular-season games in their first 10 seasons.
Has helped guide the Steelers to five division titles and seven playoff appearances in his first 10 seasons.
THE PACKERS-STEELERS SERIES
The Packers lead the all-time regular-season series with an 18-15 edge, having won the first nine contests between the two teams from 1933-46.
Green Bay won the lone postseason meeting between the clubs with a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
Pittsburgh played its first-ever road game in the NFL at City Stadium on Oct. 15, 1933, a 47-0 Packers victory.
The Steelers won six of seven games from 1947-54 before Green Bay rattled off four straight from 1957-65.
The 2009 meeting won by the Steelers was the highest-scoring game (combined score) in the 32 contests. The 73 total points (37-36) surpassed the 1969 matchup by one point (38-34 Packers).
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy grew up in Greenfield, a neighborhood just outside of downtown Pittsburgh. He also coached at the University of Pittsburgh for four seasons (1989-92)...Packers EVP/GM/Dir. of Football Operations Ted Thompson played with Pittsburgh’s OL coach Mike Munchak with the Houston Oilers while Green Bay’s equipment manager Red Batty was on staff in 1982...Packers DC Dom Capers held the same job with the Steelers from 1992-94...Packers special teams coordinator Ron Zook (1996-98) held the same position in Pittsburgh and secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry coached DBs for four seasons (2003-06) and played seven seasons (1992-98) with the Steelers, starting in Super Bowl XXX...Perry was coaching while Pittsburgh’s OLBs coach Joey Porter was a player for the Steelers and both were a part of the Super Bowl XL championship team...Capers coached Porter while he was the DC in Miami in 2007...Perry was a teammate of Steelers DBs coach Carnell Lake in Pittsburgh and Capers coached Lake in both Pittsburgh and Jacksonville when he was the DC with those clubs...Lake served as a coaching intern with the Packers in 2010...Packers asst. special teams coach Jason Simmons (1998-2001) played for the Steelers...Packers tight ends coach Brian Angelichio coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 2006-10...Steelers LB T.J. Watt is a native of Pewaukee, Wis., and played collegiately at Wisconsin…Packers QBs coach Alex Van Pelt is a Pittsburgh native and played QB at the University of Pittsburgh from 1989-92...Van Pelt was drafted by the Steelers in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft...Van Pelt was on the Bills’ roster during Pittsburgh special teams coordinator Danny Smith’s three seasons as Buffalo’s special teams coordinator from 2001-03…Van Pelt coached alongside Pittsburgh’s RBs coach James Saxon in Buffalo in 2005...Packers assistnt offensive line coach Jeff Blasko is from Pittsburgh and graduated from Rober Morris University...Smith and Packers DL coach Mike Trgovac coached together with the Eagles from 1995-98…Trgovac would then go on to coach alongside Pittsburgh WRs coach Richard Mann in Washington in 2001…Prior to his time in Washington, Mann spent the 1999 season on the same coaching staff with the Chiefs as Ron Zook…Lake and Packers offensive perimeter coach David Raih were both on the UCLA coaching staff in 2009…Packers RBs coach Ben Sirmans held the same title at Kent State during Steelers offensive assistant Shaun Sarrett and LB James Harrison’s playing career for the Golden Flashes…Packers director of pro personnel John Wojciechowski served as a player personnel assistant from 1996-97 with Pittsburgh...Wojciechowski was also born in Pittsburgh...Packers secondary – cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. was Steelers CB William Gay’s position coach while Gay played at Louisville and led the Cardinals with six interceptions as a senior under Whitt’s tutelage…Mann served as WRs/TEs coach in Cleveland from 1986-99 while Packers LB Clay Matthews’ father, Clay Jr., played LB for the Browns...Packers WRs coach Luke Getsy was born in Munhall, Pa. and went to Steel Valley High School and played at Pitt for two seasons...Packers inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley was a four-year letterman at LB at the University of Pittsburgh, and was born in New Castle, Pa., …Packers CB Davon House and Steelers DE Tyson Alualu were teammates with the Jaguars from 2015-16…Packers TEs coach Brian Angelichio held the same title in Cleveland while Steelers CB Joe Haden played for the Browns…Green Bay LB Ahmad Brooks and DT Quinton Dial teamed with Pittsburgh TE Vance McDonald for three seasons in San Francisco…Packers TE Lance Kendricks and Steelers CB Coty Sensabaugh were teammates for part of the 2016 season with the Los Angeles Rams...Former college teammates include Packers P Justin Vogel , Steelers CB Artie Burns and LB Anthony Chickillo (Miami), Packers C Corey Linsley , Steelers LB Ryan Shazier and DE Cameron Heyward (Ohio State), Packers FB Aaron Ripkowski and Steelers QB Landry Jones (Oklahoma) and Steelers G David DeCastro and Packers RB Ty Montgomery (Stanford)
I saw that their HC is 9-19 coming off a 14 plus point win, plus they just lost a starting OL to a suspension. Screw it...... Green Bay 31-23 over Pittsburgh. The fans start all that crazy playoff talk until the Browns beat us at home !