Murphy on NFC title game: 'Just didn't finish'

Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy understands frustration felt by the team's fans following the Packers' 28-22 overtime loss to Seattle in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

He was disappointed in the outcome, too.

"Obviously it's very disappointing," he said. "It's not often you get to that point and have an opportunity like that. I was very proud of our team and we played hard and we played well. Just didn't finish and you could look at a number of different plays and it was pretty improbable that Seattle won, but you have to give them credit. They made the plays when they had to."

Murphy pointed to an intangible as a key to the game.

"I've been around athletics my whole adult life and momentum is a strange thing," Murphy said. "When you have it, it's great. When you lose it, it's hard to get back. We had it and that swing of momentum, they made all the plays at the end."

Despite the tough loss, Murphy is excited about what lies ahead for the Packers, starting with this off-season. The Packers have several key young players up for free agency, including right tackle Bryan Bulaga and wide receiver Randall Cobb.

"Mike (McCarthy) started the process today and he meets with every player, one-on-one," Murphy said. "We'll start an evaluation process of all our players and first, we have a number of key players that are free agents that we'll look at. We would like to keep them all, but we're also cognizant of the salary cap. You can't pay everybody, but Russ Ball and Ted Thompson do a great job of managing our cap and I really feel confident that we're going to be a very good team for a number of years to come.

"We have a solid base and core of good, young players. We have the best quarterback in the NFL and we have continuity and great management with Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy. I think we're positioned well for the future."

— Ricardo Arguello: 920-993-1000, ext. 558, or rarguello@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @PCRicardo