Vikings QB gets best of old team
Photo 
Minnesota Vikings' Brett Favre reacts during the second half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers on Monday, Oct. 5, 2009, in Minneapolis. The Vikings won 30-23.
MINNEAPOLIS — Brett Favre proved to the Green Bay Packers he has plenty of fire left inside, and in his right arm.
Favre’s first game against his former team was all fun for the Minnesota Vikings and all frustration for the Packers, as the graying quarterback kept his cool and connected for three touchdown passes and 271 yards in a 30-23 victory on Monday night.
Favre went 24 for 31, without a turnover. He celebrated his first scoring toss with an awkward body bump with kicker Ryan Longwell, also a former Packers teammate, and showed plenty of emotion—but also stayed poised in the pocket all night and mostly avoided risk.
“I don’t know how to explain it. I felt right, but I guess I never thought I’d be in that situation,” Favre said.
The Vikings (4-0) sacked Favre’s replacement, Aaron Rodgers, eight times. Jared Allen was credited with 4½ of them, a career high, including a safety in the fourth quarter that stretched the lead to 16. Rodgers had his first two turnovers of the season, and Favre turned both of them into vintage touchdown passes in the first half.
“I definitely wanted to get this win for Brett,” teammate Adrian Peterson said. “He downplayed it all week, but I just knew it meant a lot to him. I could see it in his eyes.”
Favre hugged Rodgers, Donald Driver and several other Packers once the game was over. Rodgers tried to engineer the kind of drive his predecessor is famous for, but he came up short.
Favre also had plenty of time to throw throughout the game.
Rodgers had the exact opposite experience. He finished 26 for 37 for a career-high 384 yards, many of them in desperation down the stretch, and two touchdown passes.
The Vikings were relentless in their rush, particularly Allen on left tackle Daryn Colledge, who left in the third quarter with a right knee injury. Colledge moved from left guard two weeks ago when Chad Clifton got hurt.
Rodgers’s receivers let him down, too, though. On fourth-and-goal at the 1 in the third quarter, Rodgers found tight end Donald Lee open in the end zone. But the ball bounced off Lee’s chest and onto the turf, as Rodgers snapped his head back with his hands on the sides of his helmet.
Pink wristbands, cleats and sideline caps for breast cancer awareness gave the game a different look, but nothing altered the color scheme as much as Favre in purple. This was his sixth game with Minnesota, counting the preseason, but the sight of the guy who led Green Bay to a Super Bowl trophy and took only one losing record in 16 years there wearing the rival team’s jersey was still strange.
This was a highly anticipated and heavily hyped game. Everybody in the stadium stood all the way through the Vikings’ first possession, instead of sitting after the first few snaps like usual. Cameras flashed constantly.
Favre was clearly uncomfortable this week with all the attention on this reunion, trying to downplay the significance and stumbling through denials that his main motivation to unretire last year was revenge on general manager Ted Thompson for not letting him come back and compete for his old job with Rodgers.
“My statement has been what I’ve done over my career,” Favre said. “One game does not define my career good or bad. I know what I’ve done. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I know I can play. I wanted to do what it takes to win.”
One of the most excitable players football has ever seen, Favre’s history in emotional games has been mixed. In 2003, on Monday night against Oakland after the death of his father, Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns. In 1999, though, he went 14 for 35 with four interceptions in his first game against Mike Holmgren after the head coach took over in Seattle.
Favre said he felt on this night a lot like he did in that game after his dad died. He said he was as nervous as he could remember, once it dawned on him in the afternoon the significance of this matchup.
“It’s why I play the game. It was fun. It never gets old to me, even though I do,” he said.
The Packers (2-2) stuffed Peterson with their new 3-4 defense, holding him to 55 yards on 25 attempts and even turning one short gain directly into points. Rookie Clay Matthews joined a gang tackle and ripped the ball out, returning it 42 yards to tie the score at 14.
Favre trotted right out and took the Vikings down the field, though. He fired a 43-yard pass to Percy Harvin to give the Vikings first-and-goal at the 3, then caught a break when Charles Woodson’s interception in the end zone was wiped out by a pass interference penalty. Replays showed Woodson making minimal, if any, contact with Sidney Rice, but Peterson plunged in for a touchdown on the next play to make it 21-14.
Then came an eight-play, 80-yard drive that stretched the lead to 14. Favre found Bernard Berrian wide open from 31 yards for the score, but the setup was more impressive. Favre had six or seven seconds to throw, and found backup tight end Jeff Dugan for a 25-yarder.
Blackmon, Colledge injured
Packers kick returner Will Blackmon and right tackle Daryn Colledge had to be helped off the field with knee injuries during Monday’s loss to the Vikings.
Blackmon was injured in the second quarter. He cut to his right and his left knee appeared to buckle as he tried to head up field. Blackmon remained on the turf for several minutes and was taken on a cart to the locker room for examination.
Coach Mike McCarthy said it was a sprained knee and Blackmon would be evaluated on Tuesday. Jordy Nelson replaced him on punt and kick returns. He returned two kicks for 52 yards.
Colledge injured his right knee when he got tangled with a Vikings defensive linemen in the third quarter. Rookie T.J. Lang replaced him.
Starting tackle Chad Clifton missed another game with a sprained right ankle. That again put Colledge at left tackle, Jason Spitz at left guard and Scott Wells at center for the Packers.
“We’ll see how it is tomorrow,” Colledge said. “I’ve never missed a start. I don’t plan on making Detroit the first one.”
McCarthy said running back DeSean Wynn had a wrist injury and linebacker Desmond Bishop bruised one of his knees. Both will be evaluated on Tuesday.
Oct 6, 2009 at 11:54 p.m.
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This wasn't a case of the better QB...it was a case of the better offensive line...case closed.
Oct 6, 2009 at 8:53 p.m.
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As much as I hate to admit it....Favre is still the best. Experience beats the hell out of anything else. Go Pack Go.
Oct 6, 2009 at 7:40 p.m.
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The thing that disapointed me the most was our defensive calls by our so called great defensive coordinator, Dom Capers. The 3-4 defense is all about blitzing and putting pressure on the QB, and with a soon to be 40 year old at QB i would of thought the packers would of came out with their ears pinned back and got after him. Iv'e been a Packer fan for 40+ years but i have to say it was nice to see him stick it to the Packers and show the so called BRAINTRUST of the organization he still has it.
Oct 6, 2009 at 7:22 p.m.
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Plain and Simple the Vikings opened a can of woop ass on Rodgers and the Packers. I only wish they interviewed Thompson after the game.
Oct 6, 2009 at 7:21 p.m.
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Rodgers is a better QB right now than Favre is hands down, however, the Packers offensive line would get dominated by Parker or Craig (well maybe not that bad).
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The Vikings have an amazing offensive line or Green Bay has no pass rush.
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You could take Troy Aikman out of the broadcast booth 5 years removed from football and he could make the passes favre was making if he had 7 seconds to find a receiver, that was embarassing. The vikings won but i wouldnt trade rodgers for favre, rodgers is clearly a better QB right now.
Oct 6, 2009 at 7:06 p.m.
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The Vikings beat the Packers. Brett Favre did not. There is no "I" in team. The Vikings could beat the Packers without Favre. They have a better defense, and our offensive line sucks as proved last night. Favre had a great offensive line; Rodgers did not. While we had a few really good years with Favre, there were definitely more that we did not. Yes, Favre can be really great, but there are times when he's not. Right now, he has an excellent team to back him up. I don't think denying his position as a Packer back had anything to do with whether he could play or not. Obviously, we know he's good.
Oct 6, 2009 at 5:32 p.m.
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GLOATING - A feeling of pleasure or self- satisfaction. For what it's worth, the NFL has a LONG season and many players (like BRETT)often have problems as they near the end of the season. Look at Brett when he was a Jet and had a great start. He also had a TERRIBLE end of the season performance with the Jets. He should have been benched by the coach. Take a look at his final season ending game (playoffs) as a Packer - more poor decisions and throws. He cost the Packers a Superbowl berth with his throws. One game is not the full season and remember he is old for a quarterback. Those little nagging injuries will add up during the season and he will falter once again.
Oct 6, 2009 at 5:05 p.m.
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Forget the excuses and cut all the crap. It all comes down to one thing: The Vikings beat the Packers. The score was closer than the game appeared ... at least on my TV. I have never been as happy for Brett as I was last night. He is still one heck of a player. Let's see, how many interceptions did he throw? Oh, yeah, ZERO!!!!!! He's only thrown one all season, folks. And I feel badly for Rodgers. Since Game 1 this season, he has been getting knocked flat. One more game like last night and he ought to file a lawsuit against Thompson for not bothering to protect him. Just one last thing to say about the game's end result ..... YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oct 6, 2009 at 3:46 p.m.
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Yo Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy! The verdict is in on your choices. All the things that were wrong when Brett Favre was our quarterback did not magically improve when Aaron Rogers became our quarterback. We still have lousy passer protection (EIGHT Sacks? C'mon now!). Poor Rogers is going to be an inkspot by the end of the season. #4 recognized that he could not do the job alone, but you did not. Better update those resumes...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Oct 6, 2009 at 3:05 p.m.
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ya know, yea Brett is with the Vikings now..... so what. The Vikings have WAYYYYY better defense and offensive lines than the packers and thats about what it boils down to. Rogers has just as good of tools as Favre, just not the offensive line. the defensive line is good at stopping the run, but pass rush? forget it. the Packers seem to ALWAYS lack in the lineman department. i was real sorry to see Tauscher go. at least then the line seemed decent.
Oct 6, 2009 at 1:35 p.m.
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whythink:
No Favre's receivers aren't as good as Rodgers but he has "the best" running back in the league behind him. This forced the defense to bring 7 or 8 into the box to stop him (which they did very well) and with only 4 or 5 guys in coverage any quarterback is going to be successful...except maybe Jamarcus Russell
Oct 6, 2009 at 1:04 p.m.
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This sour grapes & love/hate affair between Favre and the fans is irrelevent to anything. I'm not a Packer fan, but, have always respected Favre for the way he plays the game. There's no question the way Favre played the hokey pokey with his return to football after first announcing his retirement the first and almost the second time was very irritating and less than desirable and it made him look like a complete idiot. Whether he is a complete idiot or not, doesn't take away from the bottom line....which is, the guy can flat out play the game and makes things happen! You can't hate Favre for his shortcomings, but to take anything away that he accomplishes on the field because of those issues is insane. He's a warrior and a champion, plain and simple! .... As far as I'm concerned, the one blemish I on his track record that's a tough pill to swallow is when he layed down in a game against the Giants a few years ago so Michael Strahan could get his sack record! I'm over it now!......You have no idea how hard that just was for a diehard Bear fan to just say!
Oct 6, 2009 at 12:39 p.m.
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MosleyBanker
Oct 6, 2009 at 9:56 a.m.
Suggest removal "I can't believe all the Favre bashers must still be sleeping! A few weeks ago all you heard was how much everyone was glad that the Packers don't have Favre and all he wants is attention."
If you did watch the game last night considering Rodgers had 3 seconds to throw the ball and Favre had 6, Rodgers outplayed Favre. The Packers don't have anything to be worried about if Clifton can come back healthy. The Pack stopped AP and with Clift and Bigby back for round 2 this will be a very different game!
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Rogers outplayed Favre because of the oline/dline play. How about Favre ouplayed Rogers because of the WR options?
How about Favre outplayed Rogers because of the stats.? How about Favre outplayed Rogers because HE DID?
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Question: Did Culter ouplay Rogers because the WR's ran the wrong route?
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Seriously, lame homer argument.
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One last thing...
When Clifton comes back, who is the starting Right Tackler for the Pack/
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Yep, that is what I thought.
Oct 6, 2009 at 12:18 p.m.
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Brett is the Babe Ruth of football. The Packers were NUTS to let him go.
Oct 6, 2009 at 12:07 p.m.
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Ahhh, yes, we got beat. Favre played great, but so did Aaron. A few times he held the ball too long, a few more his line let him down. It was a great effort. We definately need Clifton back, but it was a hell of a show for football fans! I think Green Bay held their own given the circumstances...Vikings just played better.
Oct 6, 2009 at 12:06 p.m.
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I am both a Packer and Brett fan and I will admit that Brett and the Vikings played an awesome game last night. If the O-line can find a way to keep a high school JV team from getting to A-Rod we will still have a great season. If I remember correctly Brett started hot last season only to fold late in the season.
Oct 6, 2009 at 10:56 a.m.
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You are right for a couple of the sacks but at least 5 of them he had nothing to do but go down. When the Vikings blitzed he was getting rid of the ball but when they rushed 4 against 5 there were too many people in coverage to always find that opening right away. A very simple catch by Donald Lee and this was a very different ending...not saying they would have won but it would have definitely been closer!
Oct 6, 2009 at 10:42 a.m.
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Mosley - NFL QBs are taught to not hold the ball for more than 3 seconds if there is any sort of pass rush, if Rodgers had 3 seconds, he had more than ample time to take care of business. His problem was holding onto the ball and taking sacks when he should have thrown the ball away. GO VIKINGS!
Oct 6, 2009 at 10:21 a.m.
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The Vikings are my favorite team 2 times per year..........Chapter I, my favorite team prevailed! Chapter II: probably won't include Aaron Rodgers in the equation, he'll be in traction during that game!
Oct 6, 2009 at 10:19 a.m.
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The Packers had better work on protecting their quarterback if they plan to have him play out the season. Rodgers outplayed Favre? What sort of twisted mental gymnastics do you have to go through to come up with that? Best wishes to all of you and your friends in Imaginationland. Does any of this involve a six-foot tall rabbit named Frank?
Oct 6, 2009 at 9:56 a.m.
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"I can't believe all the Favre bashers must still be sleeping! A few weeks ago all you heard was how much everyone was glad that the Packers don't have Favre and all he wants is attention."
If you did watch the game last night considering Rodgers had 3 seconds to throw the ball and Favre had 6, Rodgers outplayed Favre. The Packers don't have anything to be worried about if Clifton can come back healthy. The Pack stopped AP and with Clift and Bigby back for round 2 this will be a very different game!
GO PACK!
Oct 6, 2009 at 9:40 a.m.
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We still have another chance, I was happy for Brett however I am a packer fan no matter what not a fan when only winning.
Oct 6, 2009 at 9:26 a.m.
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The Packers did not beat themselves. The Vikings beat them. It was on TV.
Oct 6, 2009 at 8:50 a.m.
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I can't believe all the Favre bashers must still be sleeping! A few weeks ago all you heard was how much everyone was glad that the Packers don't have Favre and all he wants is attention. I am a Packer fan but will always be a Favre fan. He brought us some of the best years of Packer football. Rodgers is doing well if he had protection. Thompson should be FIRED! He did nothing to recruit a decent team.
Do you all still think Favre is a "hasbeen"??
Go Brett, stick it to all the ones who enjoyed all the years you had at Green Bay and now say they cant stand you. I will cheer for your at the Super Bowl, we all know with the offensive line and defense the Packers won't be there!!
Oct 6, 2009 at 8:19 a.m.
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Hopefully Brett can keep the streak going.......There are a lot of us rooting for him!!!!!!
Oct 6, 2009 at 8:08 a.m.
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WAY TO GO VIKINGS I enjoyed watching the veteran QB hand it to the packers
Oct 6, 2009 at 8:08 a.m.
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The Packers beat themselves. Rodgers didn't get much for protection. Defense was asleep. And McCarthy called some of the dumbest plays I've ever seen. When you give Brett Favre time to sit and wait for a target to open he's going to beat you. It was a close game and as a Packer fan, I'm glad it wasn't a blow out.
Oct 6, 2009 at 7:51 a.m.
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I got so excited about last night that I forgot to say...WAY TO GO VIKINGS.....guess my words got sacked
Oct 6, 2009 at 7:49 a.m.
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Good morning fans. How come I don't see any comments from the Packer fans? You sure had a lot to say yesterday. Well, all I can say is....WAY TO VIKINGS.
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