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 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 did an awkward body bump with kicker Ryan Longwell, also a
former Packer, and stayed poised in the pocket all night.
The Vikings (4-0) sacked Favre's
replacement, Aaron Rodgers, eight times. Jared Allen was credited with
4 1/2 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.
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 Darryn 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' 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.
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.
The Packers (2-2) stuffed Adrian
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.