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Green Bay Packers at Tennessee Titans - 12/16/01
Game Summary - Packers Lose 26-20
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| CB Tyrone Williams breaks up a fake punt in the 2nd quarter of the Packers 26-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans. |
The Packers went into today's game thinking about the arm of Steve McNair, but left devastated by the running of Skip Hicks. With help of 142 rushing yards from Hicks, Tennessee defeated Green Bay 26-20.
The Titans' Eddie George has been a Pro Bowl running back for Tennessee since winning the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State and being drafted in the first round, but today he could muster out only 26 yards on 15 carries. Hicks carried 17 times to reach the 142-yard plateau, but it was his 51-yard gain on a crucial third-and-five inside the two minute warning that was the dagger in the heart for the Packers.
Meanwhile, the Packers' Ahman Green, the NFC's leader in yards from scrimmage, gained just nine yards on nine carries to go along with four receptions for 24 yards. Quarterback Brett Favre was Green Bay's leading rusher with five carries for 20 yards.
After losing to Minnesota last week, Tennessee (6-7) had been reduced to playing for pride instead of a playoff berth. The Packers' loss coupled with the Chicago victory over Tampa Bay saw the Green Bay hold on first place in the NFC Central division and a first-round bye in the playoffs disappear.
Green Bay (9-4) never found a rhythm on offense. Less than four minutes into the game Green was tackled in the end zone for a safety giving the Titans a 2-0 lead. The Packers were able force a three-and-out on the ensuing series and used a 29-yard punt return by Antonio Freeman to spark a 10-play drive from mid-field culminating in a 33-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell.
Late in the first quarter the Packers turned a Steve McNair fumble into seven points when Favre hit wide receiver Donald Driver for a seven-yard touchdown pass. That gave Green Bay a 10-2 lead.
Green Bay defensive end Vonnie Holliday sacked McNair, forced the fumble and recovered it himself to set up the scoring drive. Holliday was a monster on defense leading the team with 10 tackles, two sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and a pass defensed.
Not to be out done by his numerical counterpart on defense, Jevon Kearse wreaked havoc on the line of scrimmage all day. He finished with three tackles, one forced fumble, one pass defensed and a sack. More importantly Kearse supplied Favre with constant pressure that limited the quarterback to just 201 yards passing.
McNair found his stroke in the second quarter at one time completing eight straight passes. He connected with Mike Green for a four-yard touchdown pass to pull the score to 10-8. Packers' cornerback Tod McBride batted down the attempted two-point conversion pass to preserve the lead.
Following a Favre fumble with 2:52 seconds left in the first half, McNair hit wide receiver Derrick Mason for a 35-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing play. Things got worse for Green Bay on the first play of the next drive when Green couldn't hang onto a screen pass and it was intercepted by Eddie Robinson.
The Packers defense eventually forced the Titans to fail on a fake punt attempt to negate any further scoring damage. Favre drove the offense 25 yards in the final 53 seconds to set-up a 54-yard field goal attempt by Longwell. The once-troubled kicker nailed the career-long kick to cu nnessee's lead to just 15-13 going into halftime.
Longwell, who struggled in recent weeks, had a revival on the afternoon making both field goal attempts including a career-best 54-yarder. That kick tied the team record held by Chris Jacke. Longwell also recorded a touchback to start the second half.
The Titans controlled the ball for over 37 minuets in the game and worked 7:17 off the clock on a third-quarter drive that finished with a 24-yard field goal by Joe Nedney. He missed a second-quarter field goal attempt wide left.
On the next Titan possession, Hicks spearheaded a 7-play, 81-yard drive that ended with his 22-yard touchdown run.
Forced to go exclusively to the air, Favre passed for 90 yards on the next drive hitting Bill Schroeder with a 16-yard touchdown pass to keep the Packers alive. The Packers got the ball back one more time only to punt it away and have Hicks run out the clock.
Favre finished the day going 21-of-39 for 201 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He has 27 touchdown passes on the season to lead the NFL. McNair went 25-of-35 with 283 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Mason paced the Titans with eight receptions for 107 yards including one score. Tight end Frank Wycheck hauled in six passes for 96 yards while Kevin Dyson added three catches for 43 yards. Mike Green also scored his first NFL touchdown among his two catches for eight yards.
Schroeder grabbed six passes for 82 yards and a score for the Packers. Freeman added two catches for 42 yards with both coming in the fourth quarter. Driver caught two passes for 17 yards with one touchdown.
Green Bay was without the services of numerous defensive starters. John Thierry missed his second consecutive game along with linebacker Nate Wayne. Defensive tackle Gilbert Brown was also inactive with a toe injury.
He defense did record four sacks in the game. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila added one to bring his team-leading total to 13. Bernardo Harris also had one and Holliday had two bringing his season total to seven.
Notes: Linebacker Chris Gizzi was slated to start but was troubled by back spasms in pre-game warm-ups...Rookie Torrance Marshal made his first NFL start in place of Gizzi without having practiced at the outside linebacker position all week...Corey Bradford left the game with cramps in the first half but later returned...Marco Rivera played just the first and third quarters for the second straight game since breaking his hand.
Packers-Titans archived complete game broadcast
(Real audio)
Post-Game / Locker Room audio Clips
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman (Realaudio)
DT Santana Dotson (Realaudio)
QB Brett Favre (Realaudio)
C Mike Flanagan (Realaudio)
WR antonio Freeman (Realaudio)
DE Vonnie Holliday (Realaudio)
K Ryan Longwell (Realaudio)
LB Torrance Marshall (Realaudio)
G Marco Rivera (Realaudio)
WR Bill Schroeder (Realaudio)
S Darren Sharper (Realaudio)
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
TEN: J.Fisk Safety on A.Green
GBP: R.Longwell 33 yard Field Goal
2nd Quarter
GBP: D.Driver 7 yard pass from B.Favre (R.Longwell kick)
TEN: M.Green 4 yard pass from S.McNair (2 point conversion no good)
TEN: D.Mason 35 yard pass from S.McNair (J.Nedney kick)
GBP: R.Longwell 54 yard Field Goal
3rd Quarter
TEN: J.Nedney 24 yard Field Goal
TEN: S.Hicks 22 yard run (D.Mason 2 point conversion from S.McNair)
4th Quarter
GBP: B.Schroeder 16 yard pass from B.Favre (R.Longwell kick)
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