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| Friday, August 30, 2002 - 7 pm at Lambeau Field |
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| Titans |
0 |
0 |
7 |
13 |
20 |
| Packers |
0 |
3 |
3 |
15 |
21 |
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Packers Player Of The Game
Rookie quarterback Craig Nall played even better than his numbers on the evening would indicate. Nall completed 12-of-19 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns, but even more impressive, Nall twice rallied the Packers to a lead, and converted on a crucial 2-point conversion even after his team was pushed back by a penalty. With seven of his completions going for more than 10 yards, Nall carried the Packers' offensive load.
Titans Player Of The Game
Although he failed to bring in what would have been the game-winning reception on the Titans' conversion attempt, wide receiver Eddie Berlin led Tennessee with four receptions for 64 yards and one touchdown.
Stat Of The Game
While the Packers' defense allowed only 80 yards on the ground, the Titans' defense was even tougher, holding the Packers to just 46 yards rushing. Even more telling is that 21 of the Packers' 46 ground yards came on Rondell Mealey's third-quarter scamper.
Play Of The Game
Facing second-and-10 from their own 18-yard-line, the Packers received a big boost when rookie quarterback Craig Nall found Javon Walker open down the seam for a 44-yard gain. Walker's reception brought the ball across midfield and setup the Packers' final touchdown of the game. Nall would later admit that when he released the pass, he thought he'd overthrown Walker.
THEY SAID IT:
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman --
On Brett Favre's game: "I thought Brett Favre had an outstanding day. We dropped two passes on him, but he was very efficient. I was really impressed with (him). I thought he put the ball on the money every single time, I was really impressed."
On kickoff coverage: "I was very frustrated with the kickoff return for a touchdown for a second week in a row. It was not our starting kickoff team, but still, you would hope that, especially after last week you would have that fixed regardless of who was out there."
On Craig Nall's game: "I thought Craig Nall stepped up. I thought he did a marvelous job, he was very efficient, had a couple blocked at the line of scrimmage, had a drop, threw one out of bounds, but I thought he played extremely well."
On Terry Glenn's debut: "I think Terry Glenn wanted to see Terry Glenn. I think he wanted to prove (himself) to his teammates more than anybody. I have a lot of confidence in Terry's ability but I think he wanted to demonstrate that he could do some things, and he did. Other than his dropped catch on the sidelines that he should've caught, I thought he made a huge play beating a guy underneath in the seam down in the red zone. So, I thought he did a nice job."
Terry Glenn --
On his Packers debut: "It felt pretty good. It's always good to get out there and get a couple practice plays in, a couple catches, get a couple hits, you know, get knocked around a little bit. It was great to make a catch from a Hall-of-Famer and have the fans behind me like they were, it was really pleasing."
On his sore knee: "I took a few shots on it. I really felt it was a test for me to see where I was at. I felt great, I'm ready to go. I could've played the full game tonight, but it felt good to only play the first half. By next week, I'll be ready to play the whole game."
Vonnie Holliday --
On defense: "I had no questions about our first-team once we got everybody there, what I'm most excited about right now is our second-team defense. Our organization and our staff, they have a big job ahead of them this weekend when they go in there to make those cuts because we've got a lot of young guys that can play. They might not make it here, but they're going to go somewhere and be impact players."
On importance of preseason wins: "Like Coach said, we're practicing winning, especially at home. We pride ourselves on our tradition here of winning and making it hard for teams to come in here and play. I think we've established that in the preseason and it's a catapult for us into the regular season."
On feeling going into the season: "I feel very comfortable about our team. I feel comfortable about our offense. We got Terry Glenn back in there today, mixing it up, making some big catches. Javon Walker, this guy, he just plays with a lot of confidence and right now we need that on our receiving corps . . . There's no question our offense is going to put up points, these guys are going to go out there and make it real hard for defenses. What we have to do as a defense is go out and get the ball for these guys and give them a chance to put the points up. We have a lot of guys who are flying around and having a lot of fun and can make those plays, make those things happen."
On the team's question marks: "Early on I would have had to say it was our receiving corps, but these guys aren't a question mark any more. These guys week in and week out have come to play, tonight was no exception, these guys came out fired up and made a lot of big plays for us. Right now it would just have to be our chemistry. You keep working on that and training camp is a big time to get that down. We get everybody on board and all looking at the prize, and of course that's San Diego, because we have the talent. The sky is the limit."
Ryan Longwell --
On improving kickoff coverage: "As guys get used to each other and guys get used to playing next to the guy next to them, it kind of solves problems. There's fundamentals that if you're on kickoff team you need to know, no matter what and those are the fundamentals that kind of let us down."
Rondell Mealey --
On game: "That was a big time win at home, even though it's preseason it's a good win and we just have to keep it going in the regular season. . . . It's always a good boost when you get a win. We did some good things with the passing game and hopefully we can keep it going."
Craig Nall --
On regaining confidence: "I've really got to credit Coach (Darrell) Bevell. He stuck with me, really preaching confidence. They knew I could play and I know I can play, it's just a matter of getting out there and doing it. Some of the other guys like Nate Wayne and Darren Sharper have talked to me on the sidelines, you know, 'You go out there and do it, complete some balls, we know
Darren Sharper --
On Javon Walker: "He's the real deal, he really is...All through the preseason, he's kind of been our main go-to guy, and as a rookie, that's impressive. If he keeps the attitude that he has now, the work ethic that he has . . . and the attitude that he's a playmaker, he's going to be one of the best to put on a Packers uniform in the receiver spot."
On defense: "We knew coming into the game they were going to try and run the ball. We were able to control them with their running game, especially the second unit when they came into the game and played against the first-team for a couple of quarters, they played extremely well. . . We did bounce back this week, and it's good that we did so we can go into the regular season on an upslope."
Javon Walker --
On game: "I think it was a good motivating factor having Terry (Glenn) back. He brought a lot of positives to our game today. Guys made plays when their number was called and that's all that we ask for as far as going into the season. We just want to get better."
On his preseason: "I hope I've turned a lot of heads, opened up a lot of eyes. The only think I know is, I'd rather not talk about it and just go out there and show it, but I know I can get a lot better."
On 44-yard reception from Nall: "It was exciting. I'm the type of person who works hard. Those plays, those are the plays that should be made. People were like, 'Good catch,' and, yeah, it was a good catch, but those are the type of plays I can make in my sleep. I'm looking for the plays that are going to be against some of the best defensive backs and I have to go up and make a great plays."
GAME NOTES:
Tonight's paid attendance at Lambeau Field was 62,485.
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End of 4th quarter. Game over.
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With a short field ahead of them, the Titans got within 1 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Volek to Eddie Berlin. The 2-point conversion attempt failed when Berlin couldn’t bring in Volek's pass. The Titans scoring drive was 5 plays, 38 yards. Time of drive was 0:44 (0:08, 4th quarter).
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With Packers fans on their feet and the Titans facing fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard-line, Billy Volek's pass intended for Chris Coleman fell incomplete. Rob Holmberg applied the coverage on Coleman (1:13, 4th quarter).
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For the second time of the quarter, Craig Nall found Charles Lee down the right sideline for a Packers' go-ahead touchdown (6:20, 4th quarter). Earlier in the scoring drive, Nall hooked up with fellow rookie Javon Walker for a 44-yard gain and got a key 9-yard catch-and-run from Tony Fisher. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 82 yards. Time of the drive was 3:00.
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Robert Holcombe's 23-yard tackle-breaking run brought the Titans to the Green Bay 15-yard line, but on the following play, Jamal Reynolds forced a Holcombe fumble that was recovered by John Gilmore.
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The Titans didn't wait long to tie it up. Justin McCareins was credited with a touchdown when he recovered Robert Holcombe's fumble in the end zone. Holcombe had taken a Billy Volek pass 25 yards to the goal line before fumbling (12:19, 4th quarter). The Titans scoring drive, which benefited from a Packers penalty, was 4 plays, 71 yards. Time of the drive was 1:32.
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Craig Nall made good on Anderson's fumble recovery, moving down the field with a 16-yard pass to Robert Ferguson, a 14-yard pass to Karsten Bailey and then a 16-yard touchdown pass to Charles Lee. After a false start pushed them back, Nall connected with Ferguson for the 2-point conversion to give the Packers a 7-point lead (14:07, 4th quarter). The Packers scoring drive was 5 plays, 46 yards. Time of the drive was 1:42. At the conclusion of the drive, Nall was 8-of-11 passing on the day for 96 yards.
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End of 3rd quarter.
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Neil O'Donnell's fumble dropping back from center was recovered by Marques Anderson at the Titans' 46-yard-line (0:49, 3rd quarter).
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Ryan Longwell's 27-yard field goal brought the Packers within 1 (4:48, 3rd quarter). Nall carried the load early, completing two passes to David Martin (17, 7 yards) and one apiece to Robert Ferguson (6) and Javon Walker (15) before Rondell Mealey broke loose for a 21-yard rush that brought the ball to the Titans' 15-yard-line. Nall added a 5-yard pass to Walker to set up the field goal. The Packers scoring drive was 12 plays, 73 yards. Time of the drive was 6:45.
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Craig Nall replaced Doug Pederson at quarterback (11:33, 3rd quarter).
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Erwin Swiney suffered a lower-rib injury making a tackle. His return is questionable.
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For the second game in a row the Packers gave up a touchdown on a kickoff return. This time it was John Simon going untouched from goal line to goal line to open the second half (14:46, 3rd quarter).
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End of 2nd quarter. Halftime.
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With the Titans trying to at least get into field goal range in the final seconds of the first half, linebacker Rob Holmberg found a gap in the Titans' offensive line and forced quarterback Steve McNair into defensive back Marques Anderson for a sack (0:28, 2nd quarter). After an incomplete pass on third down, the Titans were forced to punt.
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Continuing to stay perfect in the preseason, Ryan Longwell put the Packers on the scoreboard first with a 30-yard field goal (12:33, 2nd quarter). After taking over on a McNair fumble, the Packers' scoring drive was 5 plays, 26 yards. Time of the drive was 1:38.
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Doug Pederson's first pass of the game found Terry Glenn down the middle for a 25-yard gain that brought the ball to the Titans' 13-yard-line (13:50, 2nd quarter).
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Brett Favre was replaced by Doug Pederson (14:11, 2nd quarter).
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Titans quarterback Steve McNair lost control of the football while standing in the pocket and Joe Johnson recovered the fumble. The Titans challenged the play, but the replay official concluded that the ruling on the field should stand. The Packers took over at the Titans' 38-yard-line (14:11, 2nd quarter).
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End of 1st quarter.
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Vonnie Holliday, who had already made a 2-yard tackle for loss on running back Eddie George during the Titans' opening possession, came up with another stop for minus-2 when quarterback Steve McNair attempted to scramble out of the pocket in the Titans' second possession (1:54, 1st quarter). Shortly thereafter, Joe Johnson stopped George for a loss of 4 (0:25, 1st quarter).
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With the running game stagnant, the Packers moved the ball through the air on their second possession. Donald Driver found an opening for a 16-yard reception, before Javon Walker made a 21-yard grab across the middle of the field. Later in the drive, Terry Glenn had a drop, and Donald Driver failed to haul in a Brett Favre pass down the left sideline. Once again, the Packers were forced to punt.
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Terry Glenn earned his first reception of the preseason on an 8-yard grab near the right sideline (12:45, 1st quarter).
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Terry Glenn got the start at wide receiver, his first appearance this preseason.
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The following players will not play tonight due to injury: Earl Dotson (knee), Mike Flanagan (thumb), Herbert Goodman (knee), Tod McBride (hamstring), Hurley Tarver (hamstring), Keith Thibodeaux (hand), Tyrone Williams (groin).
Donald Driver will start in place of Robert Ferguson at wide receiver. |
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