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Green Bay vs. Minnesota
12/17/00 - Packers Win 33-28
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| With a career-high 161 rushing yards in Sunday's game against the Vikings, RB Ahman Green passed the 1,000 yard mark for the season. |
The Green Bay Packers remarkably kept their playoff hopes alive Sunday, when
they stunned the NFC Central-leading Minnesota Vikings, 33-28.
In arguably their most complete game of the year, the Packers dominated the
line of scrimmage and limited the opportunities of the Vikings' big-play
offense.
Helped by a career day by running back Ahman Green,
quarterback Brett Favre
was dazzling, completing 26-of-38 passes for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Kicker Ryan Longwell was equally impressive -- a perfect four-for-four on
field goal attempts.
"I'm just very pleased and proud of this football team," said Head Coach
Mike Sherman following the game. "We've battled back continuously this
season."
To make the playoffs, the 8-7 Packers must win their final game next week
against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In addition, Tampa Bay or the St. Louis
Rams must lose their final two games. Those two teams square off Monday
night.
It is conceivable, should the Rams defeat the Buccaneers, that the Packers
and Bucs will battle next week at Lambeau Field in a winner-take-all game,
but for that to have meaning, the Detroit Lions also must lose next week
against the Chicago Bears. They defeated the New York Jets on Sunday to
keep their hopes alive, and the Lions are now 9-6, one game in front of the
Packers.
If both Green Bay and Detroit finish 9-7, the Packers will advance to the
playoffs based on the league's tie-breaking rules.
The Packers kept the ball from the dangerous Vikings offense for over seven
minutes on their opening drive, going 62 yards in 13 plays with a 34-yard
Longwell field goal giving Green Bay an early 3-0 advantage.
Green led the charge with 24 rushing yards on the drive, while Favre went
5-for-7, showing no worries of the hostile Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
environment.
Next, the defense held Minnesota to a three-and-out to give control back to
the Packers.
Taking over at their own 13-yard line, Favre and the offense began a
precision series, going 87 yards in 8 plays. Two catches by Antonio
Freeman, including an 18-yard touchdown pass from Favre, put the Packers in
front by 10.
The Vikings, however, would not take long to strike back. On the first play
of the ensuing possession, Minnesota quarterback Daunte Culpepper eluded the
rush of Vonnie Holliday and launched a deep pass to receiver Randy Moss, who
caught it and raced the remainder of the way for a 78-yard touchdown.
The play was Minnesota's longest scoring throw of the season and quickly got
the Vikings back to within three points.
But the Packers seemed unshaken by their opponent's quick-scoring
capabilities.
On their third possession of the game, they took control at their own 20.
Green made two catches, and tight end Tyrone Davis made a key 42-yard catch
and run to give the Packers a first down at the Minnestota 11. Three plays
later, Favre found Green sneaking into the end zone for a six-yard touchdown
with 11:51 to play in the second quarter.
Later in the half, Longwell added another field goal, this time from 35
yards, after another time consuming drive of over 50 yards.
With time waning at the end of the half, Culpepper took Minnesota 79 yards
in just over 2 minutes. With 20 seconds remaining, he slipped through the
line and into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run, which cut the Green
Bay lead to 6.
The Packers temporarily regained momentum early in the third quarter, when
Longwell booted a 43-yard field goal.
Earlier in the drive, Green reached a personal milestone.
With consecutive runs of 15 and 12 yards, he went over 1,000 yards rushing
for the season. It is the first time in his young, 3-year career he has
eclipsed the mark, and he becomes just the seventh Packer in the team's
81-year history to do so.
Green continues to flash signs of his seemingly unlimited potential. The
23-year-old, in his third year as a pro, rushed for 161 yards on 25 carries
(6.4 avg.). He also caught 4 passes for 31 yards and continues to lead the
club in both rushing and receiving.
The Vikings again responded, though, and a 22-yard catch by Johnny
McWilliams put Minnesota within 2 points of tying the score.
The third quarter concluded with the Packers again on the Vikings' doorstep
with a third-and-goal on the three-yard line.
On perhaps the pivitol play of the game, Favre rolled right and found
Schroeder running right in the back of the end zone. A perfect throw and
catch meant another nine-point lead.
The third-down combination of Favre-to-Schroeder connected on 5 occasions
for 50 yards during the game. Overall, Favre was 9-of-13 on third down, an
impressive 69%.
Favre's third touchdown pass of the game was the 255th of his career. That
amount moves the 31-year-old into a tie with Sonny Jurgensen for eighth on
the league's all-time list.
Soon after, safety Darren Sharper made his bid for the game's crucial play
when he intercepted Culpepper and raced 47 yards to set up a 36-yard field
goal.
Sharper, who was selected previously in the week to start his first Pro
Bowl, now has nine interceptions for the season to lead the NFL.
The Vikings would score again on a five-yard catch by Chris Carter, but the
drive ate up over four minutes of clock time, and when they elected not to
on-side kick, the Packers took over with 2:21 to play.
With runs of 16, 3, -2 and 28 yards, Green left the Vikings without a chance
to reacquire the ball for their offense as time expired.
"We did what we had to do today, regardless of whether we're going to make
it or not," said safety LeRoy Butler when asked about the game's playoff
implications. "It came down to a shoot out, and Brett Favre is the man."
Injury Notes
Linebacker Chris Gizzi suffered the Packers' only injury during the game.
He did not return after his hamstring tightened and will be evaluated on Monday.
Other Notables
* The Packers dominated time of possession on Sunday. They maintained
possession for 35:41, compared to the Vikings' 24:19. That included a
nine-minute advantage in the first half.
* With one more interception, Sharper will tie the Packers'
longstanding record for thefts in a season. Irv Comp picked off 10 passes
in 1943, a record that has stood for 56 years.
* Favre now has passed for 20 touchdowns in seven straight seasons,
surpassing Len Dawson for second place all-time, behind only Dan Marino's
10-consecutive years.
* Green has 1,101 rushing yards this season, tying his performance
with Jim Taylor's 1960 effort for the eighth best in team history. With 69
yards against the Bucs, Green would jump to fourth place, ahead of Taylor's
1964 season of 1,169. Taylor, who rushed for 1,000 or more yards 5 times in
his Green Bay career, also has the third-best ground accumulation with
1,307.
Game Highlights (Real Audio)
Packers-Vikings archived complete game broadcast (Real Audio)
Post-Game Audio Clips
GM Ron Wolf (RealAudio)
Head Coach Mike Sherman (RealAudio)
S LeRoy Butler (RealAudio)
QB Brett Favre (RealAudio)
RB Ahman Green (RealAudio)
LB Bernardo Harris (RealAudio)
DT Russell Maryland (RealAudio)
WR Bill Schroeder (RealAudio)
S Darren Sharper (RealAudio)
T Mark Tauscher (RealAudio)
C Frank Winters (RealAudio)
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
GBP: R.Longwell 34 yd Field Goal is good
GBP: B.Favre 18 yd pass to A.Freeman for Touchdown (R.Longwell Extra Point is good)
MIN: D.Cullpepper 78 yd pass to R.Moss for Touchdown (G.Anderson Extra Point is good)
2nd Quarter
GBP: B.Favre 6 yd pass to A.Freeman for Touchdown (R.Longwell Extra Point is good)
GBP: R.Longwell 35 yd Field Goal is good
MIN: D.Cullpepper 3 yd run for Touchdown (H.Anderson Extra Point is good)
3rd Quarter
GBP: R.Longwell 43 yd Field Goal is good
MIN: D.Cullpepper 22 yd pass to J.McWilliams for Touchdown (G.Anderson Extra Point is good)
4th Quarter
GBP: B.Favre 3 yd pass to B.Schroeder for Touchdown (R.Longwell Extra Point is good)
GBP: R.Longwell 36 yd Field Goal is good
MIN: D.Cullpepper 5 yd pass to C.Carter for Touchdown (G.Anderson Extra Point is good)
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