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The retirement question came up for Julius Peppers as he fulfilled his NFC Championship week media obligation at the podium Wednesday. "Not yet," the linebacker replied when asked if he's thought about retiring. "The focus, right now, is on the Atlanta Falcons and nothing else."
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With the incentive of breaking through to the Super Bowl for only the second time in his stellar 15-year career, Peppers certainly isn't about to call it quits on this season. He's hoping that's the approach taken by all of his Green Bay teammates.
"You're never guaranteed tomorrow in the playoffs," said Peppers, whose only Super Bowl appearance came in his second pro season in 2003 with the Carolina Panthers. "When you go out on that field, you never know if this will be the last game or not. You always have that in your head going out. You try to learn from past experiences in that situation. It is definitely tough to get back to the playoffs, not to mention the conference championship game."
What was once thought unlikely when the Packers were scuffling with a 4-6 record is within reach as they get ready to play the Falcons on Sunday for a spot in Super Bowl LI.
Standing between Green Bay and a trip to Houston for the league championship Feb. 5 is Atlanta, which is a slight favorite as the No. 2 seed and has the home-field advantage in what will be the final game at the Georgia Dome.
"It's tough to get here," Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari said. "What was the number crunch, 28 teams that are home right now? There's only four teams that have this opportunity. It's very special. You have to capitalize on that."
Fourth-seeded Green Bay is in the NFC title game for the second time in three years and the fourth time under Mike McCarthy since 2007. Yet, the Packers have only one win in those previous three games, which came in their run as road warriors as a No. 6 seed all of the way to the Super Bowl XLV title in the 2010 season.
When the Packers last were in position to nab a Super Bowl ticket, they had one of the all-time meltdowns and lost 28-22 in overtime at the Seattle Seahawks two years ago.
Those who remain from that team believe the outcome will be different this time, what with Green Bay on an eight-game roll and having the white-hot Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
"We've been to every game in the playoffs (through the years) and have won every game and lost every game, aside from the Super Bowl," eighth-year linebacker Clay Matthews said. "So, we're ready for this, hopefully, and I think it will show on Sunday."
The Packers just hope they're healthy enough to avenge a 33-32 loss to the Falcons at the Georgia Dome on Oct. 30.
Rodgers had few pass catchers available on the practice field Wednesday. Davante Adams (ankle) and rookie Geronimo Allison (hamstring) sat out, but top wideout Jordy Nelson did get some work in as he caught passes from Rodgers.
It was a small, but fairly significant step for Nelson, who isn't counting himself out from playing Sunday despite having cracked ribs he suffered in the wild-card win over the New York Giants on Jan. 8.
"I've never played with broken ribs, (so) we'll find out, hopefully," Nelson said. "I don't know if you can prepare. It's one of those things that you'll figure out when you get out there. If it happens, we'll see how it goes. But, right now, I'm just focused on getting back to full motion and doing everything and seeing if we can get that opportunity, and it would b e a great chance to have."
Rodgers likes his chances of being Super Bowl bound, no matter who's available at wide receiver Sunday.
"Well, we've won without them before," he asserted.
After guiding the Packers to a scintillating 34-31, last-second road win over the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round last Sunday, some pressure is on Rodgers to continue playing at a high level. Putting points on the board in just about every possession may be needed because the Falcons have the league's highest-scoring offense this season with MVP candidate Matt Ryan at the controls.
"Just going through it, you're going to have to score some points," said Ryan, when asked Wednesday about the teams' previous meeting, which was decided on his 11-yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Sanu with 31 seconds left.
"Obviously, they're capable of making plays," Ryan added about the Packers. "We had to score points late in that game. I think the biggest thing you know is it's going to be a 60-minute game. They're competitive, they're tough, and they play hard for four quarters. That's probably the biggest thing I remember from that game."
The Falcons defense, meanwhile, is getting a heavy dose of trying to run down backup quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Matt Simms in practice this week as they mimic Rodgers' masterful ability to extend plays outside the pocket.
"I think he's played incredible," McCarthy said of Rodgers, who has thrown 24 touchdown passes with only one interception in the last nine games. "It's important for our team to play our best football come Sunday. He's in a great rhythm right now. Is he playing the best he ever has? He's played at this level so often, but I think this is probably one of his best runs."
Looming over Rodgers and the Packers is that he's been far from productive in NFC Championship games. In his two previous starts, Rodgers completed only 36 of 64 passes for 422 yards and one touchdown with four interceptions for a mediocre passer rating of 55.6.
Those games, though, were played outside at Chicago and Seattle.
On Sunday, Rodgers will be in his preferred indoor element, particularly the Georgia Dome for its last hurrah.
When the Packers steamrollered the top-seeded Falcons 48-21 in the divisional round during the 2010 season, Rodgers went 31-of-36 for 366 yards and three touchdowns with a 136.8 rating.
In the game three months ago, Rodgers had four touchdown passes and a 125.5 rating, on par with Ryan's efficiency mark of 129.5 that day.
"It's always fun," Ryan said. "Aaron's a good guy. I've known him for a long time, and (he's) a good friend. It's always fun catching up with him and seeing him. But, he's a tough competitor. I know he'll compete really hard on Sunday."
All the more so with what's on the line.
