Packers Player Of The Game: Green Bay's leader in the secondary, Darren Sharper dominated the second quarter. Starting with his punishing hit that brought down Andre' Davis after a 5-yard reception, Sharper was in on four consecutive plays to almost single-handedly halt a Browns drive. Later in the quarter, Sharper recovered the football after Cletidus Hunt swatted down a Browns field goal attempt. After scooping up the ball, Sharper took it the remaining 35 yards straight to the house before making the first Lambeau Leap of the preseason. Sharper's touchdown brought the Packers within 4 at halftime and drastically altered the momentum of the game.
Browns Player Of The Game: It was hard to find fault in Tim Couch's performance. Couch completed 14 of his 18 passes, racking up 118 yards and hooking up with Quincy Morgan for a 33-yard touchdown. His replacements, Kelly Holcomb and Josh Booty, were a combined 10-of-17.
Stat Of The Game: Led by Andre' Davis' 93-yard touchdown return the opened the game, the Packers allowed a combined 175 yards on six kick returns (29.2 avg.). However, the Packers had some nice returns of their own, with rookies Najeh Davenport and Javon Walker combining for 124 return yards on five attempts (24.8 avg.).
THEY SAID IT:
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman -
On injuries: "Joe Johnson had some scar tissue around his elbow and that's why he was out there on the field for and extended period of time, but he's going to be okay. Javon Walker got poked in the eye. I'm not exactly sure when that was, but he'll be okay. (Tony) Fisher, ankle, looks like he'll be okay, it's going to be a little sore, as is Rob Davis, his shin is going to be a little bit sore. Terry Glenn went through warm-ups pregame, I didn't play him in the first series and his knee stiffened up on him a little bit. I wanted him to play, but I just felt it was best to hold him back. Guys who were out there for the first time, Nate Wayne, Antuan Edwards, Najeh Davenport played for the first time this year and I thought they did a good job."
On performance of backups: "Fisher continues to impress me with his running, he's a downhill runner, he makes plays, he can make a guy miss. Rondell Mealey I thought played a good game, he made some nice cuts, had a couple good runs in there. Craig Nall stepped up in a critical situation, winning at Lambeau whether it's preseason or regular season is ever-most important to me and I was going to keep Doug in there, but the smart thing to do is give Nall his chance in a very critical situation and he iced the game for us with some key throws."
On offense/defense: "Well our first offense was three-and-out, three-and-out. We didn't light it on fire offensively, we struggled in the red zone. We didn't get a touchdown, we should've had a touchdown. I don't think our first offense played particularly well, we're better than that. Our defense wasn't very good on third down, we've been rushing the quarterback pretty good throughout the preseason and they came in saying we're not going to get our quarterback sacked or hit and they ran a ton of screens against us and we were effected. They moved the chains on us on third down. I still thought our overall defensive play was more than adequate however, considering the fact that we were playing with a third-team corner on one side and a second-team corner on the other side."
Najeh Davenport -
On his performance: "I thought I could have done better. For my first shot out I thought I could have done a better job than I did . . . I need to improve on my blocking. I blocked, but I was in the wrong position on a couple of them. They didn't make the tackle, but I could have had a better block on them."
Bubba Franks -
On offensive struggles early: "We got off to a slow start, we never really got going until toward the end of the second quarter. We were three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out, which is not Green Bay football. We've just got to go back to the drawing board."
On his receptions sparking the offense: "It definitely felt good. The tight end is the key to all offenses, the tight end opens up the passing game as well as the running game . . . It kind of plays out that way. They're not going into the game stressing, we're going to get the tight end as many balls as we can, it just kind of plays out like that. You adjust to whatever defense they give you."
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila -
On being double-teamed: "Then when I get a one-on-one, you know I'm going to beat it because I can beat two guys, so it's a blessing when guys are doing that to me because it's going to make me a better player. That's what they did to me in college, they used to shed-block, and I became very good at defeating two blocks and then when I had a one-on-one it was cake."
Ahman Green -
On Rondell Mealey as No. 2 running back: "From what I've seen he's been a good guy (for the job). He's picking up the plays, he's running hard and he's doing whatever is asked of him. That's all that's needed from a running back in this offense, just do what your told to do running the ball, pass protection and catching the ball and you'll do fine. He's picked up that role very well."
Cletidus Hunt -
On blocked kick: We were in a situation where we really needed to turn the momentum around in this game, so when I went out on the field I had my mind set on getting to the kicker. I went in and told the guys I was going to get it. I got a strong, solid push from Hardy (Nickerson), went on the inside, blew my guy up, and when I got to the backfield, I just threw my hands up."
Joe Johnson -
On potential of D-line: "This defensive line is probably the most talented overall line that I've been on. We have some youth within the ranks. It's important for us just to get better and take what can be and make it a reality, because we definitely have the talent, the personnel, the coaches to get it done and go from being a good defensive line to being a great defensive line."
On slow start: "I don't think that we completely fell apart tonight, we just gave up a few plays here and there and we got a couple penalties here and there. It's just a matter of staying together and making those adjustments on the run. I think that's something that we have to do when the offense is trying to mix it up and try and keep us off-balance like Cleveland did a good job of doing early in the game today."
Hardy Nickerson -
On entering Lambeau Field as a Packer: "It was special, you just get a sense of all the history and tradition here and the fans are just awesome so it was a great experience."
On defense: "We're out there flying around trying to make some plays and make some things happen. They got off to a fast start, but we caught up with them and we were able to come out with a win."
On Browns offense: "They threw a lot of stuff at us, formation-wise, scheme-wise, that we had to make the right adjustments to and once we did that we were able to stop them."
Darren Sharper -
On game/performance: "Every time I go out, whether it's preseason or regular season, I just try to play hard and hopefully good things will come my way. Early on in they game, they return a kickoff for a touchdown and everyone on the field could feel the air go out of the stadium. Going into the first drive, I felt that we were out there for about 100 plays, they kept moving the ball, moving the ball, then they scored on a pass play. I just felt like we were really down as a team. I was just telling myself, try to make a play, try to make a play, but don't rush anything, be patient. That's what happened in the second quarter is a lot of things started coming in my direction and I every time I made a play, whether it was a tackle or breaking up a pass, get excited so that hopefully our defense could feed off of it."
On playing in renovated Lambeau Field: "It definitely still has that Lambeau mystique. When we came out before the game through the tunnel and you could hear the fans, it might be even more exciting because the tunnel is longer. You have a longer time to get that feeling of hearing the crowd roar because they know you're coming out. I tell you what, I've been missing that feeling for a while and it's good to get back here playing in a home game and playing in front of our fans."
On blocked field goal: "He got an excellent push from Hardy Nickerson and put up his big hand and got a paw on it, similar to the play he made against San Francisco in the playoff game last year. Then I saw the ball fly up in the air and I thought (Erwin) Swiney was going to catch it on the fly, but he dropped it, like most rookies do when they have a chance to make a big play. The ball went right through his hands and I was thinking to myself, watch this ball, it's going to keep spitting out, it's going to keep spitting out. So I just kept trailing the ball, trailing the ball, waiting for my chance to pick it up. Finally it spit off some more and I said, I'm not going to just dive on this thing, I'm going to try to pick it up and score with it. Right when I picked it up, I could have sworn somebody was trying to trip me up because I kept stumbling and I was able to keep my feet and get into the end zone. It was one of the plays that we needed to have happen at that time of the game because it seemed as though Cleveland couldn't do anything wrong."
Javon Walker -
On returning kicks: "We had a couple good returns out there today. You know, anything to help the team in a situation where it can change the point of the game, I want to be a part of it. We had a couple good returns and especially with an offense like ours, if we're starting off with good field position, that's a positive."
On play in end zone: "I thought I was inbounds but when you look at the film I guess it shows I wasn't. That's just a play that you have to try to make, some times you're going to stay in, some times you're going to stay out."
On first Lambeau Field experience: "That was exciting. I wouldn't think of another place I'd rather be as far as and being here in Green Bay. It was a great turnout, and if they turnout like this for a preseason game, it's going to be really exciting how the regular season goes. I was just excited, I was really amped up to see the crowd and they showed good support for us today."
GAME NOTES:
Tonight's attendance in the renovated Lambeau Field was 62,668, eclipsing the previous record of 60,766, set Sept. 1, 1997. Lambeau Field's new capacity is 65,290.
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Backup kicker Jay Taylor brought the Browns closer with a 35-yard field goal (7:13, 4th quarter.) The Browns scoring drive was 7 plays, 33 yards. Time of drive was 3:55.
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Todd Franz jumped on a pass by third-string quarterback Josh Booty and returned it 42 yards to push the Packers' lead to 10 points (14:51, 4th quarter).
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End of 3rd quarter.
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Having just entered the game, Chris Gall caught a short Pederson pass in the flat and charged down the left side of the field for a 32-yard catch-and-run that put the Packers ahead for the first time of the game (0:50, 3rd quarter). The Packers scoring drive was seven plays, 80 yards. Time of drive was 3:30.
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Brett Favre finished his night completing 10-of-14 passes for 63 yards. He had one interception, no touchdowns. Favre was replaced by Doug Pederson in the third quarter (8:45).
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On his third attempt of the night, Browns kicker Phil Dawson finally split the uprights. His 28-yard field goal completed a seven-play, 67-yard drive (9:13, 3rd quarter).
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Ryan Longwell brought the Packers within 1 with his second field goal of the night, connecting this time from 33-yards (11:23, 3rd quarter). Javon Walker was a key component of the drive, from his 35-yard kick return that opened the drive, to his crucial 8-yard fourth-down reception to keep the drive alive. Walker nearly had his first touchdown reception of the preseason when he drifted free in the back of the end zone, but Favre's pass was too high, and Walker's toe came down on the end line. The Packers scoring drive was eight plays, 33 yards. Time of the drive was 3:37.
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End of 2nd quarter. Halftime.
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With just seconds remaining in the second quarter the Browns looked to regain a 14-point advantage with a 50-yard field goal attempt by Dawson. Instead, Packers defensive lineman Cletidus Hunt blocked the field goal attempt. Erwin Swiney pursued the loose ball, punching it away from Dawson and allowing Darren Sharper to recover. Sharper then sprinted 35 yards to the end zone for a Packers touchdown (0:19, 2nd quarter).
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Cleveland starting quarterback Tim Couch finished his night completing 14-of-18 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. Kelly Holcomb replaced Couch in the second quarter.
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On a drive carried by a trio of receptions by Bubba Franks, Ryan Longwell's 28-yard field goal put the Packers on the scoreboard (6:52, 2nd quarter). The Packers scoring drive was 11 plays, 49 yards. Time of the drive was 6:36.
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The Packers avoided falling further behind when Phil Dawson's 51-yard field goal attempt went wide left (13:28, 2nd quarter).
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End of 1st quarter.
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Joe Johnson has a strained left elbow, return is probable.
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On a drive rife with penalties on both sides, the Cleveland Browns added to their lead on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Couch to Quincy Morgan down the right sideline (5:23, 1st quarter). The Browns scoring drive was 13 plays, 77 yards. Time of the drive was 7:50.
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Erwin Swiney, starting in place of the injured Mike McKenzie, didn't waste any time before making a big play, sacking Tim Couch for a loss of 11 yards (11:10, 1st quarter).
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After Green Bay's opening possession netted only 9 yards, Josh Bidwell helped redeem the Packers' special teams with a 57-yard punt. Dennis Northcutt returned the punt only 8 yards before being tackled by Karsten Bailey at the Cleveland 23 yard line (13:13, 1st quarter).
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Andre' Davis returned Ryan Longwell's opening kickoff 93 yards for a Cleveland touchdown (14:49, 1st quarter).
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Temperature at kickoff is 81 degrees.
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The following players will not play tonight due to injury: Earl Dotson (knee), Mike Flanagan (thumb), Herbert Goodman (knee), Darrien Gordon (hamstring), Tod McBride (hamstring), Mike McKenzie (hamstring), Seneca McMillan (groin), Hurley Tarver (hamstring), Keith Thibodeaux (hand), Tyrone Williams (groin).
Donald Driver and Javon Walker will be the starting wide receivers. Terry Glenn is expected to see limited action tonight.
Erwin Swiney will start in place of McKenzie. Bhawoh Jue will start in place of Williams. Robert Ferguson will be the primary punt returner in place of Gordon. |
