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Green Bay Packers vs. Baltimore Ravens - 10/14/01
Game Summary - Packers Win 31-23
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| QB Brett Favre posted a 137.4 passer rating for the day. |
In a game that featured the top ranked defensive units in the NFL, it was the Packers passing attack that proved to be the difference. Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes to orchestrate a 31-23 win over Baltimore.
Antonio Freeman played a major role in the victory catching nine passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. Coming into the game Freeman had caught only nine passes for 80 yards this season. His second-quarter touchdown marked the 53rd time that Favre has found him in the end zone, tying him for eighth on the NFL's all-time list of most touchdown connections between quarterback and receiver.
"His number was up today," GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman said. "We didn't force the ball to him. He had some opportunities, but we didn't do anything different than we normally do in regard to who is getting the football. We were able to hit him when he was open and he did something with it all the way up until the second-to-last play of the game. He recovered that onside kick and I can't say enough about that."
Green Bay (4-1) forced four turnovers and scored the most points on Baltimore (3-2) since Jacksonville put up 36 points in a September loss to the Ravens last year.
"We made a great statement," Packers safety Darren Sharper said. "You take out that last drive when we were just playing vanilla, we out-played their defense; that's what we wanted to come in the game and do."
The Packers' Ahman Green fumbled on the opening drive to give Baltimore the ball on their own 36-yard line. after a 47-yard pass to Qadry Ismail, Elvis Grbac hit Travis Taylor for the first touchdown of the game.
Green Bay opened up the second quarter with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Bubba Franks. The tight end also caught a scoring pass in the fourth quarter for the first two-touchdown game of his career.
With just 1:19 left on the clock in the first half, the Packers drove 74 yards, eventually scoring on Freeman's touchdown reception with two seconds remaining.
In the second half, the Green Bay offense had touchdown drives of 80 and 82 yards to give the home team a 31-10 lead. Baltimore made a late charge on touchdown runs from Jason Brookings and Randall Cunningham, but Freeman recovered the final onside kick with 37 seconds left to secure the victory.
Both kickers made one field goal on the afternoon with Baltimore's Matt Stover connecting from 28 yards out and Green Bay's Ryan Longwell hitting from 33 yards out. Longwell missed a 47-yard attempt wide right in the second half.
Completing 27-of-34 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns, Favre stole the show from both defensive units. His counterpart, Baltimore's Elvis Grbac, connected on 11-of-21 attempts for 138 yards and one touchdown. Randall Cunningham took over after Grbac left with a mild concussion to guide two late scoring drives. He finished completing 5-of-10 passes for 70 yards and added 40 yards rushing with one touchdown.
Green finished with 54 yards rushing on 20 attempts with one touchdown for the Packers. The Ravens' Terry allen gained 75 yards on 18 carries while Jason Brookins recorded 33 yards on nine carries with one touchdown.
"It was hard - it was just like running against Tampa Bay's defense," Green said. "They're quick, they're smart, they don't get beat on a lot of things and their interior defensive linemen do a lot of stunting."
The Packers worked mainly out of the shotgun with varied wide receiver formations and empty backfields to disrupt Baltimore's stingy run defense. Favre spread the ball around completing passes to nine different receivers.
"Every dog has his day," Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis said. "We truly come out and try to have excellence every day. They made plays. We didn't. It's simple."
Some of those plays included fumble recoveries by Cletidus Hunt and John Thierry and interceptions by Darren Sharper and Mike McKenzie. The first interception on the season for McKenzie set up the Packers touchdown drive in the final minute of the second quarter.
"It was one of those situations where we were locked up and I was pressing him toward the sidelines and got my head around in time to see the ball coming down," McKenzie said.
For Sharper, grabbing his third interception of the season to help beat the defending Super Bowl champions wasn't the highlight. More than 20 friends and family witnessed the second consecutive time his team has beaten brother Jamie Sharper's Ravens in a head-to-head match-up.
"It is great to have bragging rights," Darren said. "He beat me twice in college but now I've got him twice in the NFL."
Packers-Ravens archived complete game broadcast
(Real audio)
Post-Game / Locker Room audio Clips
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman (Realaudio)
S LeRoy Butler (Realaudio)
DT Santana Dotson (Realaudio)
WR Donald Driver (Realaudio)
QB Brett Favre (Realaudio)
TE Bubba Franks (Realaudio)
WR antonio Freeman (Realaudio)
LB Bernardo Harris (Realaudio)
DT Cletidus Hunt (Realaudio)
WR Bill Schroeder (Realaudio)
S Darren Sharper (Realaudio)
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