 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, December 1, 2002 - 12 noon at Lambeau Field |
|
|
 |
 |
| |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| Bears |
7 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
20 |
| Packers |
3 |
3 |
10 |
14 |
30 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Packers Player Of The Game
After Ahman Green went down with a knee injury early in the third quarter, rookie running back Tony Fisher stepped in and carried the load. He finished the game with 17 carries for 91 yards (5.4 avg.) and one touchdown. They weren't all easy yards. After Rod Walker recovered a Bears fumble at the 2-yard-line, it was Fisher who got the offense moving. He carried the ball on the first three plays of the drive, totaling 21 yards. Later he added a 15-yard run. The Packers would eventually complete the 90-yard drive with a Ryan Longwell field goal that earned Green Bay its first lead of the game.
Bears Player Of The Game
Tight end Dustin Lyman was the Bears' key target on offensive, making seven receptions for 58 yards. He also had two touchdowns. The first was made in the opening quarter when he took a shovel pass from holder Brad Maynard and scrambled 12 yards into the end zone on a Chicago fake field goal attempt. The second came in the second quarter when Jim Miller hit him on an 8-yard strike.
Stat Of The Game
After two games in which they struggled to run the football, the Packers averaged 5.7 yards a carry against the Bears. That's especially impressive considering that Ahman Green's 29-yard scamper in the third quarter stood as the longest run of the game. The Packers' 181 yards rushing was the most since tallying 211 yards against the Atlanta Falcons in the season opener.
Play Of The Game
The Packers were trailing 14-6 and stood at the Chicago 34-yard-line with 5 seconds left in the first half. Hoping for a jump-ball in the end zone that might result in a Packers score, Brett Favre threw to Donald Driver down the left sideline, but his pass was picked off by Chicago's Damon Moore. Moore then returned the pick 35 yards before fumbling at the Chicago 40-yard-line. Packers tackle Mike Flanagan recovered and looked to pitch it to Brett Favre, but his lateral was caught by Chicago's Roosevelt Williams, who had nothing between him and the end zone except open real estate. Had he scored, the Bears could have gone into halftime with a 21-6 advantage. But the hustle of rookie wide receiver Javon Walker saved the day. Although he'd been mixing it up near the goal line, Walker ran almost the length of the field to chase down Williams and make a touchdown-saving tackle at the 13-yard-line.
Another play not to be ignored was Rod Walker's fumble recovery at the 1-yard-line in the third quarter.
THEY SAID IT
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman
On injuries: "Darien Gordon bruised his sternum on a punt return, but was able to return to the ballgame. Terry Glenn made a great diving catch for us, but had the wind knocked out of him on that diving catch and returned to the game as well. Tyrone Williams did not finish the game with an aggravated hamstring. Ahman Green, thought it was a quad contusion...looked like a knee cap bruise. He returned briefly but showed no strength in the leg, so we took him out."
On Tony Fisher's success: "As much as we like to say this is a perfect science, it certainly isn't. I'm glad that we were able to get him to come to us. We recognized his talents at the beginning of the season to keep him on our roster. It is not a perfect science and that is evident by the fact that we have three rookie undrafted free agents on our team."
On DT Rod Walker's fumble recovery: "That's a significant play. That's a 10-point swing there because they were in fact going in to score seven. We're able to get it (the ball) and drive it 90 yards and kick a field goal. Our offense responded to that turnover. We've been very good in short yardage situations."
On Javon Waker's touchdown-saving tackle: "I think it was maybe the biggest play of the game. That would have been devastating going into halftime with them getting those seven points. Walker chasing him down and making that play was very significant to this football game."
On the way the Packers started the game: "We certainly didn't execute the way we need to execute. I don't think we were flat - we have nothing to be flat about. You're trying to win the division, you're playing the Bears, you're playing at home...there is absolutely, positively no reason to be flat today. We just didn't perform very well in the first half."
On the division title: "It's certainly one of the goals we set out to achieve this season. It's very significant, but it's certainly not the ultimate goal that we set for ourselves. If we want to achieve that we have to make some improvements on how we played in the first half of this football game."
Offensive Coordinator Tom Rossley --
On playing without Ahman Green: "We wanted to get him back in there. He went out and he just couldn't explode off of it. I just talked to him. I think he's going to be fine, he just wasn't feeling up to complete 100 percent so we stayed with Fish (Tony Fisher)."
On Fisher's strong performance: "Where'd that come from? That was huge, that was really good. Lit up the guys too, because he's such a good guy."
On Fisher: "He's just gotten better from training camp. We always knew he had skills, ball skills and speed and change-of-direction, but the running skills and finding holes, we found that out today. He's getting better and better. We're just getting more and more confidence with him."
On Javon Walker's tackle to end the first half: "Huge play by Javon Walker, just a great play to come back. That was the last play of the half and we were just trying to throw a vertical ball, trying to get a jump-ball in the end zone. They happened to pick it off and a wild play came out of it."
Brett Favre --
On the way the Packers started the game: "We can't come out flat like this. I don't know if I would call it flat, but it would appear that way from the outside looking in. I think everyone on this team knew what was at stake. How can you not get up for the Bears? Division title? At home? And after losing two in a row? I think the weather affected some of our guys."
On Bears defense: "Up to that last drive they played hard. They played good football. They came in like an 8-3 team. We struggled to run the football. Their linebackers are real fast. Once we got up on them, we could stay there and take the speed part out of it."
On Terry Glenn: "Unbelievable catches. Unbelievable catches. People watching, people at home, maybe even Terry at some point in the game were like 'Where's Terry Glenn? Is he going to show up?' I think if anybody was questioning that, after those catches...Aside from the first Chicago game he really had a background type performance all year. Donald (Driver) has some big plays and Terry has one big catch. But it seems like every catch he has is dramatic."
On his health: "I'm sick right now. I've been sick for a week. Everybody, when I walked in today before the game said 'It must be cold if Brett's wearing jeans.' I don't know if it's a sinus infection or what."
Mike Flanagan --
On comfort at tackle, versus center: "I would obviously rather be inside because that's where I'm more comfortable. But the more reps I can get out there, the better I feel, the more confident I feel."
On success of running game: "It didn't matter who was back there. We were executing what we were trying to do and Fish was breaking some tackles. We have a feeling when we're going to do well and we thought we were close, just missing some here, not staying on a guy long enough, whatever it was. ... Tom (Rossley) kept calling the run and it turned out to be a good day for us on the ground."
On game: "We didn't play a good first half, but we rebounded and played a good second half and we ran the ball at the end of the game and that's what we should feel good about."
Bubba Franks --
On Mike Sherman's message to team at halftime: "Pretty much we knew what we had to do. He did a little firing up, but that was something we needed. Guys just had to come back out, refocus and get the ball moving."
On clinching NFC North title: "It's big, it's big to win the division this early in the season. It takes a little stress up off your back, but at the same time, now we're fighting for something else. We're fighting for home-field advantage now. We've just got to take each game one game at a time."
On success of offensive line despite injuries: "We have a solid offensive line and when guys get hurt, we have a solid second group. Those guys know their responsibility when they come in so there's not really a big drop."
Keith McKenzie --
On playing Bears: "I have nothing but respect for the Bears, they did a great thing by bringing me in and helping me get through my injury with rehab and treatment. But it was great to beat them, because we needed this victory. I'm a Packer at heart - I've always been a Packer at heart. It was great to come back home and get a win against my former team, and clinch the division."
Marco Rivera --
On feeling of securing NFC North: "All right I guess. We won it, that secures a playoff spot, but we're not done yet. One thing about this team, we know what it feels like to go to a playoff game and play away; it is impossible. It is a different kind of atmosphere, a different game. You look back at that game with the Rams last year -- that was a tough game. We don't want to be in that situation again. We know we have a shot to kind of control or do something to help up out later on. We're trying to focus in on that."
On success of running game even in Ahman Green's absence: "That's nice. I'm happy for Fisher, he did a great job. My hat goes off to him, he ran hard. We were all supportive of him. 'Fisher, hey, if Ahman can't go, you've got to run hard, hold the ball, we'll be there for you.' He responded great."
Javon Walker --
On touchdown-saving tackle: "I just didn't want (the Bears) to get a lead. I felt like I could catch him and so I just took off. It was a huge point in the game if he scored for them; it ended up a big play for us. It really motivated us going in to the half.
"I knew I wasn't going to get the pitch so I was working my way back upfield when I saw they got it. I took off after them."
Rod Walker --
On forcing fumble at 1-yard-line: "I just went directly for the ball. I wasn't concentrating on nothing but the ball ... When he tried to snap it I grabbed it by the back and pulled it in to me ... They had a motion and he was snapping the ball and I just grabbed it from him."
Tyrone Williams --
On interception: "It was big, for the team most of all. It really turned the game around for us and that's what is important. I was man to man and I feel as though any time I'm man to man I can make plays. I jammed my side, cut him off, and went after the ball. They gave me a good ball to catch."
On forced fumble: "It was a route we looked at during the week, and when I got there I felt I was in a good enough position to swat at the ball and knock it lose."
Frank Winters --
On game: "We didn't do much in the first half, we just tried to make things happen in the second half. We knew we had to come back out in the second half and get things going. I think coming out and taking the ball driving down the field and scoring was a big swing for us."
On development of running game: "Tom (Rossley) called three running plays in a row and we started to run the ball. We finally got some good field position and opened it up a little bit. Sometimes it doesn't work like that. A lot of guys deserve a lot of credit. A lot of guys went out there played hard today and got us the win."
On combined running success of Green and Fisher: "It's always gratifying when you rush for 100 yards in this league because it's tough to do. (Fisher) did a great job, you have to give him a lot of credit. He ran hard and found the holes and hit them and really showed he was a great player today."
GAME NOTES
The Green Bay Packers clinched the NFC's North division with today's win and four games remaining, making it the earliest such occasion the Packers have wrapped up the title since the NFL implemented division play in 1933. Ironically, the earliest Green Bay clinched its division prior to today was with three games remaining, in 1967, when the Packers beat the eventual second-place Bears Nov. 26 to capture the Central division crown.
**
With 5 catches today, Ahman Green moved into 20th place on the Packers' all-time receivers list. He now has 184 receptions in his career with the Packers. Next up: Jim Taylor with 187 receptions in 19th place.
**
Brett Favre is now 33-0 at home (27-0 regular season, 6-0 playoffs) in games when the temperature at kickoff is 34-degrees or below. Sunday's temperature at kickoff was 23 degrees.
**
Tony Fisher's 91 yards rushing today (on 17 carries) marked a career high for the rookie from Notre Dame. Including 15 yards receiving, he accounted for 106 total yards, also a career high.
**
Today's attendance, 64,196, set a new Lambeau Field record, surpassing the previous mark, 63,363, set at the Oct. 20 contest vs. Washington.
IN-GAME NOTES
End of 4th quarter. Game over.
**
Henry Burris' 45-yard bomb was tipped by Darrien Gordon and caught by Marcus Robinson for a late Bears touchdown (0:10, 4th quarter). The two-point conversion failed. The Bears scoring drive was 4 plays, 68 yards. Time of the drive was 1:00.
**
Tony Fisher earned his first Lambeau Leap with a 2-yard touchdown run (1:10, 4th quarter). Fisher had six carries for 35 yards on the drive. The Bears were penalized 15 yards for a late hit out of bounds. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 58 yards. Time of the drive was 2:11.
**
Paul Edinger missed wide-left on a 52-yard field goal attempt (3:21, 4th quarter). Hardy Nickerson sacked Jim Miller on the previous play to push the Bears backward. The Packers took over at the Green Bay 41-yard-line.
**
William Henderson caught a Brett Favre pass and fought through a defender for a 1-yard touchdown (8:09, 4th quarter). The Packers started the drive with favorable field position after Tyrone Williams' forced fumble. Terry Glenn left his feet to make a 16-yard reception on third-and-3. Robert Ferguson had a 6-yard grab and Tony Fisher had an 11-yard run. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 35 yards. Time of the drive was 3:39.
**
On third-and-4, Jim Miller completed to Dez White for a loss of a yard, but Tyrone Williams forced a fumble that was recovered by Antuan Edwards at the Chicago 35-yard-line (11:48, 4th quarter).
**
End of 3rd quarter.
**
Tyrone Williams intercepted Jim Miller's pass intended for Marcus Robinson at the Green Bay 45-yard-line (0:47, third quarter).
**
Ryan Longwell gave the Packers the lead with a 27-yard field goal (1:05, 3rd quarter). In for an injured Ahman Green, Tony Fisher had four carries for 36 yards on the drive. Terry Glenn laid out for an impressive 23-yard reception. Bubba Franks had a 16-yard grab. The Packers scoring drive was 14 plays, 90 yards, having started near the goal line after Chicago's fumble. Time of the drive was 6:21.
**
After a pass interference penalty put the ball at the 1-yard-line, the Bears looked ready to score. But on first down, the Bears fumbled the snap and Rod Walker recovered at the 2-yard-line (7:26, 3rd quarter).
**
With William Henderson drawing the defense to the left, Bubba Franks was wide open in the middle of the end zone for Brett Favre's 6-yard touchdown pass (11:43, 3rd quarter). On the previous play, Javon Walker made a 12-yard reception to help the Packers convert on third-and-7. Ahman Green had runs of 7-yards and 29-yards on the drive, but had to leave with an injured knee (questionable return). The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 62 yards. Time of the drive was 3:17.
Brett Favre has now thrown a touchdown pass in 22 straight games against the Bears. That's the second longest such streak in NFL history, behind only Dan Marino's streak of 24-straight games with TD passes against the New York Jets.
**
End of second quarter. Halftime.
The final play of the first half started at the Chicago 34-yard-line. Brett Favre looked for Donald Driver in the end zone but the pass was picked off by Damon Moore. Moore started his return down the right sideline, but fumbled as he approached midfield. Mike Flanagan recovered the fumble and looked to return it the other way. His lateral pitch to Brett Favre was caught by Chicago's Roosevelt Williams, who raced toward the Packers end zone before being caught and tackled by Javon Walker at the 14-yard-line to end the quarter (0:00, 2nd quarter).
**
With time winding down in the second quarter, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila forced a Leon Johnson fumble that the Packers recovered at midfield (0:21, 2nd quarter).
**
Ryan Longwell put a 31-yard field goal through the uprights to shorten the scoring gap late in the first half (1:03, 2nd quarter). Ahman Green had three carries worth 24 yards on the drive. Donald Driver had two receptions worth 13 yards. The Packers scoring drive was 11 plays, 52 yards. Time of the drive was 4:17.
**
Dustin Lyman made his second touchdown reception of the afternoon, but this one was more conventional. Jim Miller found Lyman open in the right side of the end zone for an 8-yard completion to increase the Chicago lead (5:20, 2nd quarter). The Bears twice converted on third-and-5 and once on fourth-and-1 on the 12-play, 72-yard drive. Time of the drive was 6:04.
**
Ahman Green had a pair of runs worth 29 yards to help the Packers get as close as the 28-yard-line. But on fourth-and-6, Favre's pass for Donald Driver was deflected incomplete. The Bears took over at their own 28-yard-line (11:24, 2nd quarter).
**
End of 1st quarter.
**
Ryan Longwell's 21-yard field goal put the Packers on the scoreboard (2:31, 1st quarter). The Packers started with a fresh set of downs at the Chicago 4-yard-line, but couldn't get into the end zone. Keith Traylor brought down Ahman Green for a loss to help force the field goal. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 46 yards. Time of the drive was 3:15.
The Packers owed their field position to Donald Driver's 42-yard catch-and-run. Facing third-and-6, Brett Favre found Driver open in the middle of the field. Driver made the catch, broke a tackle, used a Javon Walker block and ran to the Chicago 4-yard-line before being pushed out of bounds.
**
The Packers went three-and-out on their second possession, but the defense returned the favor. Nate Wayne had a 5-yard sack of Jim Miller to help force a punt. The Packers took over at the Chicago 49-yard-line (5:46, 1st quarter).
**
After the Brett Favre fumble deep in Bears territory, it appeared the Packers defense had held Chicago to a field goal. Paul Edinger lined up for a 30-yard attempt, but holder Brad Maynard took the snap and shoveled it forward to Dustin Lyman, who ran for a 12-yard touchdown (9:16, 1st quarter). The Bears scoring drive was 4 plays, 18 yards. Time of the drive was 1:14.
**
Facing third-and-8 on their opening set of downs, Packers quarterback Brett Favre was sacked by Rosevelt Colvin, forcing a fumble. The Bears recovered at the Green Bay 18-yard-line (10:31, 1st quarter).
**
Playing in his 171st consecutive regular season game today, Brett Favre extends the second-longest such streak in team history. Only Forrest Gregg played in more consecutive regular season games for the Packers, holding the record at 187. Also today, Favre extends his NFL record for consecutive regular season starts by a quarterback to 169. That's the longest active streak among NFL players at any position.
**
A 26-yard run by Anthony Thomas brought the Bears near midfield, but a false-start penalty and two Packers stops for negative yardage helped force a punt. The Packers opened their first possession at the Green Bay 22-yard-line (11:18, 1st quarter).
**
The following Packers players are inactive for today's contest: Karsten Bailey, Gilbert Brown, Chad Clifton, David Martin, Craig Nall (third quarterback), Jamal Reynolds, Bryant Westbrook, Marcus Wilkins
Rod Walker will start in place of Gilbert Brown. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
