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Name: BigE
Email: BigE@idatasports.com
Date: Wed Oct 16 0:25:16 2002

Headline: Packers Pound the Patriots

A week after dismantling their division rival, the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers marched into Foxboro and soundly beat the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots 28-10. Playing with all sorts of new faces on defense, the Packers forced the Patriots into 4 costly turnovers, and made the most of them.

Defense dominated the first quarter, as both teams struggled to get anything going offensively. Finally, in the second quarter, the Patriots got on the board with a 32-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri to make it 3-0. The Patriots had moved down the field 58 yards on the drive that was ultimately stopped by the front four of the Packers. Billy Lyon and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila forced Tom Brady to throw the ball away, and Steve Warren pressured him into another incompletion to make it fourth down, forcing the Patriots to settle for the field goal.

The Packers answered with a 12 play, 76 yard drive, that ended with a Brett Favre pass to William Henderson to make it 7-3. The Packers were determined to run the ball in this game, and Ahman Green got it going on this drive. Green had 22 yards on his first two carries of the drive, and that was only the beginning for the running game.

The Packers also took points off the board when they accepted a penalty after a Ryan Longwell field goal that gave them a first down. The play calling was exceptional on this drive, as the Packers sent out their jumbo package making the Patriots think run, only to throw to a wide-open Henderson in the end zone.

On the Patriots second play on their next drive, Brady dropped back and threw a lateral to Kevin Faulk who dropped it. As several players including KGB were right there thinking it was an incompletion, rookie safety Marques Anderson swooped in to help the Packers recover at the Patriots 8-yard line. From there Favre hit Green for the 8-yard touchdown to make it 14-3 at the half.

Possibly the biggest play of the game came in the third quarter, when Darrien Gordon fumbled a punt that was initially recovered by the Patriots Larry Izzo. When Izzo rolled so the ball faced upward, Torrance Marshall pounced on him, and ripped the ball away.

After escaping what could have been a disaster, the Packers pulled it together and drove 94 yards for a touchdown. This time Favre hit Bubba Franks, who slipped behind the linebackers, in the back of the end zone for the 2-yard score to make it 21-3.

With the Patriots driving into Packer territory, the Packers created another huge turnover to stop the threat. Again it was the rookie Marques Anderson coming up with the big pick to snuff out another Patriot drive.

The Packers then drove the ball down the field 65 yards, finishing with a 1-yard touchdown run by Green to make it 28-3. On this drive the Packers showed that their persistence with the running game would pay big dividends. Green had a stellar day so far, but he then delivered his biggest blow of the day when he broke one off left tackle for 38 yards. That was a dagger right in the heart of the Patriots who scored a meaningless touchdown, to make the final score 28-10.

The Packers did not play very good in their first four games, but their last two games were against very good teams, and they responded with complete victories. It really makes no sense that the Packers have turned it around, considering all the injuries they been faced with. They were playing so poorly on defense when all the starters were healthy, so how have they managed to get better on defense?

The coaching staff should get much of the credit, putting together game plans that are putting players in position to make plays. The back-ups along the defensive line have stepped up in a big way, and now the Packers are in the hunt for home field advantage in the playoffs.

The Redskins are coming to town, and the way the Packers are playing, and with the weather getting colder, the Packers should be able to put them away.

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