Date of McCarthy’s return to Lambeau set
GREEN BAY – Former Packers coach Mike McCarthy’s anticipated return to Lambeau Field for the first time since he was fired in 2018 will be Nov. 13.
McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys will face Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers at 3:25 p.m. The game will be on Fox, the NFL and the network announced Wednesday morning as part of the partial rollout of the 2022 schedule, which will be fully released Thursday.
The game will be during week 10 of the NFL schedule, which makes it a Green package game for Packers season ticket holders.
McCarthy was named Dallas head coach in 2020.
McCarthy had a fantastic run in his nearly 13 years as Packers head coach, including a Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of the 2010 season. The Packers were the sixth and last seed in the playoffs, which meant they played all their games on the road. They defeated Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago on their way to Super Bowl XLV.
The Packers were even better in 2011, going 15-1 and leading the NFL in points scored. That season, Aaron Rodgers won the first of his four MVPs, throwing for 4,643 yards and 45 touchdowns.
The season came to a disappointing end when the No. 1 seed Packers were defeated by Eli Manning and the No. 4 seed New York Giants in Green Bay’s opening playoff game. The Giants went on to defeat New England in the Super Bowl.
McCarthy was fired by team President and CEO Mark Murphy after a 20-17 loss to the woeful Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 2, 2018, at Lambeau Field. At that point, the Packers had lost five of their last six games on the way to a 6-9-1 record.
McCarthy’s 13-year record with the Packers was 135-85-2, including 10-8 in the playoffs. The Packers won six NFC North titles under McCarthy, including five in a row. He’s the second-winningest coach in Packers history, trailing only Curly Lambeau.
LaFleur, who was hired to replace McCarthy after a four-game interim stint by Joe Philbin, won three consecutive NFC North titles, and his three-year regularseason record of 39-10 gives him the most wins by any NFL coach at the beginning of his career.
The teams last played in 2019 in Dallas, when the Packers scored a 34-24 victory.
Green Bay Press-Gazette USA TODAY NETWORK – WISCONSIN