(My Sportsbook) - This past Sunday's contest against the high-powered
San Diego Chargers was supposed to be the game that brought the
Green Bay Packers back to reality.
Well, someone forgot to remind Brett Favre and company that was the script, as the Pack made a statement to the league and their critics with a thrilling 31-24 victory over the Chargers to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Favre threw three touchdown passes, the final one giving the Packers the lead for good with 2:03 left. The ageless wonder ended 28-of-45 passing for 369 yards without an interception for the Packers, who are off to their best start since beginning 2001 with three straight wins.
Donald Driver ended with six receptions for 126 yards with a touchdown for the Packers, who rallied to score two touchdowns within a 64-second span in the fourth quarter to come away with their seventh straight regular-season win dating back to last year.
"It feels great. I don't think too many people gave us a shot to be 3-0," Favre said after the game. "I have to admit I questioned it myself. We're not playing perfect football by any means, but that's a good thing because theres a lot of things we can correct. We've still a long ways to go, but it sure is a good start."
A good start is an understatement to say the least, undefeated after three games is a great start for a storied franchise aiming to return to prominence.
"I think this is a football team that truly believes in what they're asked to do and more importantly, how they're asked to do it," said head coach Mike McCarthy in his post-game press conference. "That's a part that everybody wants to establish coming out of training camp. It's a young team in a lot of areas. Our confidence is real. It's building. It's a team that needs to continue to improve. That's our focus. It's something that we talk about all the time in our preparation. We'll continue to take that course."
FAVRE TIES DAN MARINO
After his three touchdown tosses against San Diego, the veteran Favre now has 420 career touchdown passes, tying the Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino for the most in NFL history.
Despite being mentioned in the same breath as Marino, Favre was more concerned and focused on his team's victory.
"I'm going to be totally honest with you, I'm so glad we won I could care less about that record today," Favre said after the game. "It's like throwing that touchdown at the end, everyone's over there celebrating and cheering and congratulating me and I said, 'Look, this will mean nothing if we don't win this game.' That's what it's all about. There's no better feeling than winning. Those touchdowns are great because they gave us an opportunity to go up and to win the game."
While Favre downplayed his recent accomplishment, his head coach had nothing but praise for his quarterback and team leader.
"I think every time he takes the field he adds another log on the fire of such a brilliant career," McCarthy said. "That will continue to burn, hopefully for a while. He's a remarkable individual. He's plays the game of football with such a passion. It's no surprise that he's breaking records and will continue to break them."
DEFENSE KEEPS TOMLINSON IN CHECK
A huge factor in Green Bay's victory over San Diego was the defense limiting Chargers superstar LaDainian Tomlinson to just 62 yards on 22 carries.
"I thought the run defense was excellent, especially when they came in and tried to establish the run from the first series of the game," said McCarthy. "It wasn't like they tried to run the ball, got away from it and came back. They pounded away at it. We talk about swarming it. We had the ball bounce a few times early. They like to run the power inside. He's [Tomlinson] an excellent runner, obviously. He has exceptional vision. He got the ball on the perimeter a couple times on us. I thought they [defensive front seven] did a great job."
Defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was a huge part of Green Bay's strong defensive effort after notching his first two sacks of the season and forcing a fumble. He needs just two more sacks to match Reggie White's franchise record of 68 1/2 sacks.
Linebacker Nick Barnett also came up with a huge play in the victory as he intercepted a Philip Rivers pass intended for Tomlinson at the Green Bay 40 and returned it to the two-yard line to set up the Packers' second score of the game.
JENNINGS RETURNS WITH A BANG
Despite missing the first two games of the season with a lingering hamstring injury, wide receiver Greg Jennings showed no rust against San Diego, hauling in four passes for 82 yards and a 57-yard touchdown.
Having Jennings in the lineup gives the Packers a tremendous boost on offense, as it allows Driver more space since teams will have to defend the deep threat potential that Jennings brings to the table.
Jennings now needs to prove that he can stay healthy and on the field. In his rookie season last year, he got off to a quick start with three touchdowns in his first five games, before an ankle injury in the sixth game slowed him the rest of campaign.
FANTASY FOCUS
Driver continues to benefit from Favre's solid play as he posted six catches for 126 yards and a score this past week. The return of Jennings will probably take a few looks away from Driver, but it will also help free Driver up more. On the season, he has 20 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Driver is also averaging 13.3 yards per catch.
At this point of the year, Favre is a must-start, as he is piling up the points. The gunslinger has thrown for 861 yards, six touchdowns and only two interceptions so far this season. Even with the lack of a running game to support him, Favre is firing on all cylinders and should be in your lineup.
UP NEXT
The Pack travels to Minnesota to take on the inconsistent Vikings (1-2) as they look to go 4-0 for the first time since the 1998 season, and Favre attempts to surpass Marino's record for career touchdown passes.
Green Bay won both games against the Vikings last season, while Minnesota was victorious in both games in 2005. The Packers lead the all-time regular season series with the Vikes at 46-44-1.
