Packers seek to clean up mistakes for strong finish

Packers seek to clean up mistakes for strong finish

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Coach Mike McCarthy has put blinders on the Green Bay Packers. The focus is squarely on looking ahead and finishing strong — not looking back on the improbable desperation touchdown pass that beat the Detroit Lions last week.

And not even on the track record of success that Green Bay has had this late in the calendar; the Packers are 14-6 in the last four games of the season since 2010, tied for the third-best record in the league in the season’s final month.

“We’re an 8-4 football team that needs to do better at the little things,” McCarthy said before practice on Wednesday. “We’re not as detailed as we’d like to be right now.”

Heading into the regular season’s final four games, the Packers have the same record as Minnesota but have the edge in winning the NFC North after beating the Vikings last month. The division title and a home playoff game could be at stake in the season finale against Minnesota on Jan. 3 at Lambeau Field if both teams have the same record.

But that game is way too far off for Green Bay. The Packers would just like to get past the Dallas Cowboys first on Sunday.

“It’s December football,” said McCarthy, whose teams are 17-3 at home in the month. “Everybody’s playing for something.”

The running game, once again, needs more production out of the beleaguered Eddie Lacy.

The Packers went undefeated in the first phase, and lost four of six in the second phase.

“And now we’re into the final stage, and the final stage is really the return, the return to the initial commitment of why we’re all here, what we started,” McCarthy said.