*Green Bay Packers wide receiver Chad Lucas writes a diary for Packers.com, chronicling his NFL Europe experience as a member of the Amsterdam Admirals. Last week, the Admirals beat the previously undefeated Rhein Fire, 35-31. Chad had a chance to play against best friend and Fire cornerback Therrian Fontenot. Chad plays with three other Packers: TE Tory Humphrey, S Atari Bigby and WR Vince Butler. This, week Chad writes about the victory, playing against Therrian, his fellow Packers on the Amsterdam roster and team camaraderie. *
It was a great win. I got a touchdown, but it wasn't on Therrian. I got to play against him on a few plays and I got a pass interference call on him. We had a great time. During the game, we were competing against each other, but after the game, we talked and laughed about different stuff that happened during the game.
It was the most challenging game we've played in this year. They were the No. 1 team going into the game. They had the No. 1 defense in the leagues and we had the No. 1 offense, so it was a big challenge. It was an up and down game, and we stuck together until the end and we fought to get the win. That's what being a team is all about. Now we just need to keep striving and not get complacent. If we can keep competing at a high level, that means we're getting better.
This week, we play the Fire again at their place. Never in my career have I played the same team in back-to-back weeks. Every year it happens with two teams in the NFL Europe schedule. It's going to be another great game. We know some tendencies that they have and they know some that we have. It's going to be interesting to see who makes the adjustments, so I can't wait until Saturday.
All of us allocated from the Packers keep at each other. If someone sees something in a game that I can do better, they tell me. And Tory, even as a tight end, if I see something he can do better, than I tell him. Even for Atari, when I play against him in practice on the scout team, I tell him stuff that I think might help him in the game.
Tory has been getting better every week, just like me and everyone else over here. He had a touchdown last week where he broke three or four tackles. We told him he's going to have to start going out with us so he's not so angry. Tory made a great a play. I was happy for him, because he had a chance to score the week before and the ball got batted down.
Atari has made a lot of big hits in games, and they've been game-momentum changing hits. I just hope he carries that the rest of his career with him. I think Vince is learning his role on the team. He has a lot of ability, so Coach is trying to find a way to utilize him He's coming up and making plays. We need him in order to keep doing what we're doing.
The team chemistry over here is slightly different than in America. When practice is over is the States, people go to their own homes and hang out with a person of choice. Over here, we all live in the hotel and we're constantly around over here, so there is a lot more camaraderie than in America, which helps us as a team. We're just enjoying the ride and hopefully we can keep winning games.
