Packers Player Of The Game
It seemed that whenever the Packers needed a big play on defense, Vonnie Holliday was there. While the secondary blanketed Bills receivers, Holliday produced a team-record five sacks and forced three fumbles. Holliday's first sack of the day didn't come until the third quarter. With the Bills facing third-and-goal at the Green Bay 5-yard-line, Holliday dropped Drew Bledsoe for a 10-yard loss. The sack not only ended the touchdown threat, it also backed up kicker Mike Hollis, who missed from 33 yards. Sacks No. 2 and 3 were on successive plays in the fourth quarter. Holliday dropped Bledsoe for a loss of 7, then got to the quarterback again and forced a fumble that Cletidus Hunt recovered near midfield, setting up the Packers' only touchdown-scoring drive of the day. His fourth sack occurred with the Bills facing third-and-14, and produced another fumble (recovered by Buffalo). The final sack came with the Bills standing 17 yards away from the end zone, down 10 points with 1:19 to play. Holliday dropped Bledsoe and forced a fumble that Hunt recovered to preserve the Packers' victorious shutout.
Bills Player Of The Game
In difficult gusting winds, both punters were impressive Sunday, but Brian Moorman's first punt of the fourth quarter was one for the record books. With the Bills deep in their own territory, Moorman unleashed a Bills-record 84-yard punt that was downed at the Green Bay 2-yard-line. Although his 47.2 yards-per-punt average was skewed by that record effort, the monstrous boot was just one of three punts Moorman had downed inside the 17-yard-line, including two inside the 11.
Play Of The Game
In a game that saw the Packers earn only one touchdown, twice the Bills were within five yards of the end zone and both times they came up with nothing. The first instance was in the Bills' first possession of the game, when Antuan Edwards deflected a Drew Bledsoe pass that Darren Sharper intercepted. The second was in the third quarter when Vonnie Holliday's 10-yard sack on third down not only thwarted the Bills' touchdown hopes, but elongated the field goal try of Mike Hollis, who missed wide left on his 33-yard attempt.
Stat Of The Game
Vonnie Holliday's team-record five sacks provided the individual stat of the game, while the Bills' six turnovers stood as the most impacting team mark. Also of note, the Packers held the Bills to just 43 yards rushing en route to their first shutout of the season and eighth win at Lambeau Field.
THEY SAID IT:
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman --
On 8-0 at home: "Our team is playing well at home a lot of that has to do with the 64,000 out in that stadium, the people in the parking lot, and the people waiting for them when they come to work on Sunday. We have the best fans in football."
On defense: "Both offenses were struggling and defenses had to step up and our defense rose to the occasion. I don't care what the weather conditions are, when you are able to shut out the Buffalo Bills with Bledsoe, and Henry, and Price, and Moulds and those receivers and tight ends, and Centers at fullback...this was as talented a group as we have faced this year."
On weather: "It was very cold and windy. The conditions were intense to say the least. It was swirling wind, the field was giving ground, and on a regular basis the footing wasn't great. There were a number of reasons why we weren't playing as effective as we'd like to be and I'm sure it affected them as well."
On wind: "The wind would be blowing in your face, you'd look at the flags and the wind would be blowing the other way. It was really swirly -- we should have played better."
On the wind and Brett Favre: "The wind usually doesn't affect his ball. It was the first time in any game of my career-my short career-that the wind has affected his ball."
On adversity: "We've had a lot of adversity this year. We've had it on the field-we've had weather conditions-and we've had it off the field. Kabeer had lost his mom and he come back and played the next week. And last night Vonnie Holliday lost a close cousin, a young 17-year-old boy died tragically at home and that has affected him. It certainly allowed him an opportunity to go out and play the very best game he played this year."
On secondary: "You lose Sharper, your best player right at the beginning of the game, your pro-bowl player on defense and obviously I can't say enough about the guys that stepped in. When you lose a player of that magnitude who just had an interception...and then guys step in and did a hell of a job."
Marques Anderson --
On game: "That was probably one of the best defensive games I've ever been a part of."
On turnovers: "Turnovers are huge. They're the momentum swingers, and once the momentum swung their way we had to get the momentum swinging back our way. Turnovers are game-breakers. We got plenty of them today and that's how you win games and that's how you win championships."
On if he'll cheer for Pittsburgh Monday night: "I'm just worried about us, to be honest with you. It doesn't really matter what everybody else does. Of course we would love to have home-field advantage, but if that's not how it is we're going to have to go do some roadwork."
Na'il Diggs --
On importance of the shutout with playoffs nearing: "A shutout is a shutout no matter when you get it. It's a great accomplishment all around the board, especially in a game like this when we're not scoring too many points ... The offense has done it many a time with us, we stepped up huge and played big in this game."
On first defensive stand: "That first series we came out fired up. Even though they got it on the 9 on a turnover, you kind of could tell with the attitude that we came on the field with that it was going to be a big game. And after the first play, after they stuffed it, it was pretty much downhill from there."
Donald Driver --
On touchdown reception: "It was a choice-route. I could have run either a post or a flag, Brett leaves it up to me. The coverage looked open so I made a move and beat the guy inside. I got inside there and just kind of sat in it. There was a pretty big hole, and (Favre) just threw it in there."
On skipping Lambeau Leap: "My mother-in-law is in town, and my wife told me I had to get the ball to her if I had the opportunity to score. So once I scored, naturally I had to run all the way down to the other side to get her the ball."
On being undefeated at home: "It feels great, I've never been undefeated, not college, not high school, not anything. It's a huge win for us and it really puts some pressure on the other teams we're in contention with. Today's win was a great step for us."
Brett Favre --
On weather: "I threw several balls as hard as I have ever thrown them before and they still didn't get there. I played in some tough conditions before and I've played in colder, but it really makes you appreciate having a nice day. Playing Minnesota a couple of weeks ago was a cakewalk and it was much colder. It was a cakewalk compared to today."
On wind: "There were several throws I wouldn't attempt today just because of the conditions. The short little five-yard passes were extremely difficult. If you just lob it -- you saw some of the snaps on punts -- just lobbing the ball, and it's gone."
Mike Flanagan --
On harsh winds: "I doesn't affect me. It makes the guy around the corner a little bit slower when he's running into the wind, that's about it."
On defense: "I don't know if I've ever seen a better team defensive effort. Vonnie getting five sacks, all those turnovers, I mean everywhere everybody was making a play. The defense, they won that game for us hands down. They did anything and everything we asked them to do and just had a hell of a game."
On finishing regular season undefeated at home: "It's just a great feeling playing in front of these fans here. They're crazy, they're drunk; anyone who takes their shirt off when it's this cold has something wrong in the head. It's just a special place ... This is Lambeau Field. Throughout the history of football, this is the field. We take great pride in being 8-0 at home this year."
Ahman Green --
On 100-yard rushing effort: "It seemed like a basic day, I didn't realize how many yards I had because it came so slowly. If we needed three yards, I'd just barely get it. If we needed a first down, we'd just barely get it. Blocks were key today, and we just got what we needed all the time. It was a definite workhorse day."
On going undefeated at home: "It's a great accomplishment. Naturally our goal was to go undefeated on the road as well, but that's always a little tougher. Our main goal was to go undefeated at home, and then make our opponents come here for the playoffs, to make it easier on us. We're one step closer to that, but we'll still need some help."
Vonnie Holliday --
On performance: "I can't say enough about my teammates today. We got great coverage from our d-backs all day long. They really made Bledsoe hold the ball. All the factors that help us defensive linemen get sacks were happening out there today, and I'm just very fortunate.
"I had a late night last night with my family; we really didn't get much sleep. My little cousin (Marcus Warren), the next superstar, he died tragically last night, and all of this today was for him. God gave me the strength and no doubt he was up there helping. I just have to believe that he was with me. When I was out there everything was happening in slow-motion."
GAME NOTES
With the win, the Packers closed out their home season with an unblemished record (8-0), their first since 1997 and their 11th in team history. Their previous undefeated home records were forged in 1924-25, 1929-32, 1944, 1962, 1996-1997.
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DE Vonnie Holliday notched a career- and franchise-high five sacks today, his first multiple-sack outing since Dec. 16, 2001, at Tennessee, when he posted two. The previous team high was 4.5, registered by Bryce Paup, vs. Tampa Bay, Sept. 15, 1991.
(note: before sacks became an official statistic in 1982, two Packers previously registered 5 sacks in a game - Ezra Johnson on Sept. 3, 1978, at Detroit, and Dave Pureifory on Dec. 14, 1975, at the Los Angeles Rams.)
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RB Ahman Green rushed for 116 yards today, his fourth 100-yard outing of the season. It also marked his 14th such outing as a Packer, passing John Brockington (13) for the second-highest total in team history (Jim Taylor, with 26, has the most). In the process, Green also passed Paul Hornung (3,711) and moved into seventh place on Green Bay's all-time career rushing list with 3,735 yards.
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The shutout by the Packers is their first since Sept. 24, 2001, vs. Washington when the Packers defeated the Redskins 37-0.
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K Ryan Longwell's second quarter field goal was his 16th consecutive success in Lambeau Field.
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LB Na'il Diggs' late first half interception of Drew Bledsoe marked his second theft of the season (and career).
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Brett Favre improved his cold weather home starting record to 35-0 (when game-time temperature is 34 degrees or below).
IN-GAME NOTES
End of 4th quarter. Game over.
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With the Bills at the Green Bay 17-yard-line, Vonnie Holliday came up with his fifth sack of the game, forcing a fumble that Cletidus Hunt recovered (1:13, 4th quarter). Since sacks became an official NFL stat in 1982, that’s the first five-sack performance in team history.
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Vonnie Holliday sacked Drew Bledsoe for the fourth time of the game (5:20, 4th quarter), forcing a fumble that the Bills recovered. That's the first four-sack performance for the Packers since 1991.
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Brett Favre hit Donald Driver for an 11-yard touchdown pass to put the Packers up 10 (7:23, 4th quarter). Ahman Green had a 28-yard run earlier on the drive, which started at the Buffalo 39-yard-line after Reynolds' fumble recovery. The Packers scoring drive was 4 plays, 39 yards. Time of the drive was 1:30.
Green's 28-yard run allowed him to move past Paul Hornung for seventh all-time on the Packers' rushing list.
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One play after he sacked Drew Bledsoe for a loss of 7 yards, Vonnie Holliday again applied pressure on the Bills quarterback, forcing a fumble that Jamal Reynolds recovered at the Buffalo 39-yard-line (8:53, 4th quarter).
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After a three-and-out stop, it seemed the Packers would get favorable field position, but Brian Moorman's punt rode the gusting winds and was downed at the Green Bay 2-yard-line for an 84-yard effort (12:51, 4th quarter). The punt was a Buffalo Bills record.
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One play after the Ferguson recovery, Brett Favre's pass for Donald Driver was intercepted by Nate Clements at the Buffalo 10-yard-line (13:57, 4th quarter).
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Nate Clements called for a fair catch, but mishandled Josh Bidwell's punt, allowing Robert Ferguson to recover at the Buffalo 36-yard-line (14:03, 4th quarter).
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End of 3rd quarter.
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Mike Hollis' 33-yard field goal attempt missed wide left (5:15, 3rd quarter). The Bills had a first down at the Green Bay 8-yard-line, but the Packers' defense held strong. Vonnie Holliday busted through the line for a 10-yard sack of Drew Bledsoe on third-and-goal at the 5-yard-line.
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End of 2nd quarter. Halftime.
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After the offense failed to convert on fourth-and-3, Na'il Diggs got the ball back. Diggs picked off a Drew Bledsoe pass intended for Peerless Price at the Buffalo 45-yard-line (0:23, 2nd quarter).
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Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's 9-yard sack of Drew Bledsoe on third-and-3 forced a Bills punt (2:48, 2nd quarter).
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Ryan Longwell's 33-yard field goal put the Packers on the scoreboard (3:57, 2nd quarter). Donald Driver had a 20-yard catch-and-run on third-and-7 earlier in the drive. The Packers scoring drive was 10 plays, 37 yards. Time of the drive was 4:15.
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End of 1st quarter.
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Na'il Diggs forced Travis Henry into a fumble near midfield. Cletidus Hunt recovered for the Packers at the Buffalo 49-yard-line (6:59, 1st quarter).
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Darren Sharper suffered a sprained right knee while being tackled at the end of his interception return. He will be taken to the locker room for further evaluation. His return is doubtful.
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With third-and-goal at the 4-yard-line, Drew Bledsoe's pass for Peerless Price was deflected by Antuan Edwards and intercepted by Darren Sharper in the end zone (11:52, 1st quarter). Sharper returned the interception to the Green Bay 14-yard-line.
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With the Packers facing third-and-7 on the game's opening possession, Brett Favre's pass for Donald Driver was intercepted by Kevin Thomas and returned 31 yards to the Green Bay 10-yard-line (13:58, 1st quarter).
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Playing in his 174th 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 172. That's the longest active streak among NFL players at any position.
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Game-time temperature is 27 degrees, with a wind-chill of 13 degrees.
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The following Packers players are inactive for today's contest: Karsten Bailey, Earl Dotson, David Martin, Tod McBride, Keith McKenzie, Craig Nall (third quarterback), Steve Warren, Marcus Wilkins.
Kevin Barry will start in place of Earl Dotson.
Rod Walker will start in place of Gilbert Brown. |
