Pettine: 'It can't be a one-time thing'

[Cheesehead]

(on being part of any other individual performance like Z. Smith’s)


Certainly not off the top of my head. That was obviously pretty special. That’s just a tribute to him. He prepared well. We had a good plan for him and played well around him. Guys freed him up in certain circumstances and he made plays.


(on Jaire Alexander and Kevin King clamping down on Diggs and Thielen)


It just goes back in recent weeks, the mindset of our guys. We’ve been wanting to get more physical on the outside, be more hands on. They’ve accepted that challenge, and it’s paid dividends. We had situations before where we’d bail and give guys free access in the secondary, and we paid for it.


(on the overall improvement lately)


It’s been a lot of little things, a lot of things we emphasize and things that will be cornerstones of what we do. A big part was the communication which has improved dramatically the last several weeks. It was a real points of emphasis. We had some games the communication lacked and we gave up some big plays when we weren’t on the same page.


(on the meaning of the performance at Minnesota)


It’s the ability to have momentum going into the playoffs. You just look at what we were able to accomplish in December, especially from a points standpoint. We had some stretches we were a little rough around the edges and in search of that put-it-all-together game, and we got it on Monday. But we told the guys it can’t be a one-time thing. They’ve been caught on tape. That’s the standard. We’re capable of playing like that. Slowly over the season we’ve been building to this. We want to take the momentum from Monday and apply it to Sunday.


Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett


(on Detroit’s banged-up defense)


Coach Patricia has always been pretty aggressive in certain aspects of the game. He’s going to keep that demeanor and push his guys. We’ll see. It’s that last game of the year. You have to be ready for anything.