Packers have traveled path from 1-2 to playoffs before
The Green Bay Packers don't like the view from where they're sitting after three games this season, but they've seen it before.
A 1-2 record. Question marks on offense and defense. Little time to correct course.
If it sounds like last year, and the year before, there's good reason. It's the third straight season Green Bay has started 1-2. Of course, the Packers recovered to win the NFC North each of the past two seasons.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy wasn't taking any solace in that Monday, a day after his team lost 19-7 on the road against the Detroit Lions.
"I don't really think about things that way," McCarthy said. "Our record is 1-2. Why we're 1-2 is really the things that I focus on.
"You do have opportunities to draw from past experiences, but I think the biggest thing that we are focused on is what we need to do to improve. We haven't put together a full game as far as the offense, defense and special teams playing in a winning fashion. That's what we have to get to."
Packers fullback John Kuhn said the course Green Bay took each of the past two seasons doesn't matter now. It's a new team, with new challenges, and there's no comfort after a loss.
Still, Green Bay knows its goals remain attainable. It's a slow, uphill climb, but the Packers' experience with this type of challenge should prevent their faith from faltering. They know what the path looks like from here to the playoffs, because they've seen that too.
"It's obviously similar," Kuhn said. "We haven't gotten off to a great start either of the last two years. So, looking at that, we know that you can recover from it. That's what you've got to take from it right now.
"You can't assume that it's going to happen. You have to put in the work and the effort to make a win a reality. Coming off a loss, you have to get a win. You have to get a win the next game. You can't go on losing streaks, and you've got to try to have winning streaks. That's how you get to 10 wins and get in the playoffs."
--rwood@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ByRyanWood