PACKERS-GIANTS POST-GAME NOTES
- The Packers have scored a touchdown on their first possession of the second half for four consecutive games.
- The last time the Packers were involved in a scoreless first half was on Oct. 26, 1980 vs. the Minnesota Vikings in Green Bay, an eventual 16-3 Packers win.
- Brett Favre has thrown for a TD in 29 straight games, a franchise record. He is now No. 3 all-time in the category, behind only Johnny Unitas (47) and Dan Marino (30).
- Brett Favre has thrown for a TD in 36 of his last 37 games; the streak began in Week 17, 2001. During the stretch, the only club to hold Favre without a TD pass was Washington, Oct. 20, 2002; during that contest, LaVar Arrington sacked Favre and sprained the quarterback's lateral collateral ligament, forcing him from the game.
- With his first quarter interception, Darren Sharper became fifth on the Packers all-time interception list with 34, passing Irv Comp (33) on the list. He now needs five to surpass No. 4 LeRoy Butler (38) and six to surpass No. 3 Herb Adderley (39).
- Javon Walker has caught at least one pass in 21 straight games and 31 of the last 32. The last time he went without a reception was vs. Buffalo, Dec. 22, 2002, a 10-0 win dominated by defense.
- Ahman Green surpassed John Brockington (1,293) for No 2. on the all-time Packers rushing attempts list. He needed 12 carries coming into the game and now has 1,297 attempts as a Packer.
Post Game Quotes
GM/HEAD COACH MIKE SHERMAN:
(on whether he is surprised where the team stands) "I am very surprised we are in the position we are in. I didn't anticipate that, I don't anticipate it and we need to play better."
(on QB Brett Farve's condition for next week) "I have not talked to the doctors in relation to next week yet."
(on planned attack for Packers offense) "We started with the run and the key passes. The first play was a key pass the second was a run. We wanted to mix it up on them in that way. We weren't as successful on third down as we would have liked to be. We had way too many penalties, not talking about the 5-yarders. We had some penalties on special teams that put us in a hole in a critical situation. We had holding penalties that pushed us back to second-and-20 which caused us a tough hill to climb at times. But the game was to mix it up, play pass movements, like we have done, and drop back a little bit and take shots once in a while, but basically do what we do and that is run the football."
(on whether game plan changed when (Doug) Pederson came into the game) "Well it would change maybe because the different times when Doug was in the game. Obviously score had something to do with it, 'but do we do anything with Doug that we don't do with Brett?' Not normally. He has very good mobility and a good arm. We don't change it a whole lot, there are some throws that we don't ask Doug to make, but he has a grasp of everything we are doing."
(on (Brett) Farve's injury and him not returning) "As anybody with a concussion would demonstrate an inability to communicate in a fashion that would allow you as a doctor to feel like the player was 100 percent and he was less than 100 percent. Certainly as a coach I would have liked to have had him in there but certainly the doctors ruling...as I asked them a number of times how he was doing, they said he just was a little cloudy which is indicative of a concussion."
(on the turnovers battle) "Well the turnovers, as it turned out, I don't think were a factor in the ballgame...usually they are. I don't think they scored any points off of turnovers, I don't believe they did. Usually that is not the case, but you certainly don't want them. You certainly guard against them, but that in itself this week, one of the very few times you lose a turnover battle I don't think that determined the outcome of the ballgame."
(on whether the wind was a factor) "The wind was a factor. They had equal opportunities (both teams), it didn't determine who won or lost the football game, but it was very windy down there."
(on last play with (Craig) Nall in) "He took the best opportunity he had to make a completion. We told him he had to 'clock it' immediately, we would have one chance, one more play. Sometimes you don't have the outside throws. He took what he saw and made a heck of a throw, obviously we ended up one second too short. The clock ran out on us. They (defense) are not going to give you those outside throws to allow you to get the ball out of bounds. You would prefer if you could do that, but that was not the case on that particular play."
Injuries:
DE R-Kal Truluck - stinger pgame; returned.
LB Hannibal Navies - shoulder; did not return.
QB Brett Favre - head injury/concussion; returned for one play (TD pass to Walker), then out for game.
S Darren Sharper - back; returned.
WR/KR Antonio Chatman - ankle; returned.
CB Michael Hawthorne - ankle; returned.
QB Doug Pederson - hit in side; Craig Nall eventually finished game.
Post Game Locker Room Quotes
TACKLE MARK TAUSCHER:
(on playing without Brett Favre) "We know Brett's the guy, but Doug came in and did a nice job for the situations that he was in. We know we need No. 4. Whatever (the injury) is, hopefully it's not too serious."
(on whether seeing Craig Nall play was a silver lining to Favre being injured) "I don't look at silver linings. It's raining as far as I'm concerned. There's no silver lining in any of it."
(on if he heard Favre lobbying to get back in the game) "I wasn't paying any attention to it. I'm sure Brett -being the competitor he is - I'm sure he wanted back in."
(on rebounding from a 1-3 start) "We just have to regroup. And we have to stop talking about it."
(on dealing with losses and injuries) "We're in the dumps right now. We have to come out and do things differently. We are obviously not doing the things we need to do to win football games and that's evident the last three weeks."
QUARTERBACK CRAIG NALL:
(on the game's final play) "I knew (the clock) was winding down pretty close, but I was just trying to make sure everyone was set. If we do get a penalty for not having everyone set, the clock is going to run off anyway. Too little, too late."
(on whether he had enough time to call a play before the game clock expired) "(Quarterbacks) Coach Bevell was telling me to spike it, and I was already running up to the line to try and get the ball down. There's no way I could have called a play in that time."
SAFETY DARREN SHARPER:
(on how to respond after a 1-3 start) "Keep plugging away. There's a fourth of the season down, but you still have a long season to go. You just want to find a way to fix things. Both sides, special teams, everybody is playing hard, but we're just not executing things properly."
(on giving up long plays) "We had different defenses when we were giving up big plays. All of (the plays) could have been stopped."
(on whether the defense played well) "They scored more than we did. We have to hold them to (fewer) points than we did. We didn't do a good job today."
(on whether he is frustrated with the start of the season) "I've never been 1-3 before. I've never been this frustrated."
LINEBACKER NA'IL DIGGS
(on getting pressure on Giants QB Kurt Warner) "Early in the game he ran for a first down. It's good we were getting the pressure and making him scramble, but not good that we weren't sacking him or tackling him for a loss."
(on what he plans to do as a veteran player to help rebound after losses) "I don't know what we have to do right now, honestly. I don't think it's a young players fault that we are in this situation. I think the whole team - if I wanted to talk to someone - it would be the whole team."
(on the performance of Giants RB Tiki Barber) "He had a productive day. He's a very good back. Him and (Ron) Dayne, as a combination, make a pretty good backfield. He gashed us a few times. We've seen it on film - he's done it in other games. We knew he was capable of doing that and it seems like he came away with it a few times."
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN AARON KAMPMAN
(on defending the run) "We worked more this week on our run sets than we ever have. And obviously we need to keep working on it."
(on how to change the team's psyche) "Get a win on Monday Night because that is what it is going to take. We need to prepare extremely hard to get that win. There's no magical formulas. We need to continue to prepare and give extra of ourselves because right now, we're not giving enough."
(on the final outcome) "If we had one more second...you never know. But it shouldn't have come down to that. We shouldn't have let the game get to that point. Defensively, we let them score a touchdown and then that's all we should have given them."
GIANTS POST-GAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN:
(on Tiki Barber's 52-yard touchdown run to tie the game 7-7) "They had been coming up on the outside and dropping out. As they came up to insert for the run we got the key block and everyone was at linebacker depth and before you knew it he was the past the secondary who was up very close trying to defend the run. We got some real good blocks. That was a huge part of the game."
(on if today's win helps the confidence of his young team) "Coming in here against a very good football team and winning is obviously a huge factor. As long as we keep our poise, be humble in victory, and keep our heads on straight will we be fine."
(on Jeremy Shockey's go-ahead touchdown catch) "We were trying to get a matchup that we wanted and we were praying that it would end up being single coverage, and it was. They had done a real good job of mixing the coverages up on us the whole day. That was a play that we had designed to try to create a one on one situation. They didn't put a safety out there and the ball was thrown in an excellent spot."
(on containing Ahman Green) "He is a heck of a back. I don't know if we contained him. In the second half we missed some key tackles on him and also William Henderson. I think our time of possession helped us out in regards to that. We changed up our fronts, we changed our pressure packages, and we came in with an idea that we did have to stop the run."
(on his team's positive turnover margin this season) "That is huge. I think it was three to one today. That is something that has been proven over the years that that is the number one winning statistic in football. We have done a good job of applying that to our players and they believe in it. As long as we can do that and not create opportunities for the opposition then I think we have a chance."
QUARTERBACK KURT WARNER:
(on winning on the road) "I think a lot of the time when you go on the road you have to overcome a lot of stuff, especially in a tough place to win against a good football team, so you take them any way you can get them. This was definitely a team effort, both sides coming up big at different times in the game. I thought the defense played great. The offense left some things out there, we were able to get enough to get a victory."
(on the touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey) "Obviously that was huge after not getting in on the run. That was big. It was nice to get a touchdown pass and to get him involved and get him in the endzone. It was a huge play in the game."
(on the Giants' three and one start) "If you looked at our schedule and said that we would be three and one after four games, I think most people would be happy. We would love to be four and zero, but we are happy at three and one. We just have to keep it going."
DEFENSIVE END MICHAEL STRAHAN:
(on Doug Pederson coming in for the injured Brett Favre) "That is the hardest thing because usually when the backup comes in all of a sudden the guy plays like Hercules because a lot of the time when you are thrown in there, you probably play a lot better than you do when you prepare."
(on the defense continually turning people over) "I think for us it is just everyone hustling and flying to the ball. Like today, guys made plays but you can't really look at one guy and say he was outstanding today. I think that is what we have been trying to get across to our team defense - be where you need to be and be aggressive and everybody get to the ball and make some tackles. So far it has worked."
(on stopping Ahman Green) "That is the first thing that we wanted to do because we realize for any offense to really feel good about themselves, you have to get the running game going. We prepared for that all week because we probably realized that Green Bay has the best offensive line in football, and probably one of the best backs in football. He had some runs a little bit longer than we expected and would like, but at the same time we batted down the hatchet when we had to stop a great offensive team."
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Today's paid attendance was 70,623.
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End of game.
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The Packers were unable to score, however, as Craig Nall replaced Doug Pederson on the drive.
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With :26 remaining in the game, Steve Christie missed another field goal, this time from 33 yards away.
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On 2nd-and-10, Pederson's pass intended for Donald Driver was intercepted by Terry Cousin (2:30, 4th quarter).
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On the 4th-and-1, Steve Christie's field goal from 30 yards away was wide right. The Packers take over at their own 20 yard line (3:50, 4th quarter).
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The Giants opened the 4th quarter with a 38-yard run by Tiki Barber to the Packers' 10 yard line, followed by Warner's scramble to put the Giants inside the 1.
A false start penalty pushed the Giants back to the 6-yard line, but Jeremy Shockey found the end zone as Warner hit him in the corner for a 4-yard score (12:07, 4th quarter).
Tiki Barber rushed 2 times for 40 yards. Warner completed 5-of-6 passes for 54 yards. Jeremy Shockey was penalized 15 yards for taunting following a 26-yard reception during the drive.
The Giants' scoring drive was 9 plays for 73 yards. Time of the drive was 4:21.
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End of 3rd quarter.
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After a Packers punt, Al Harris broke up Warner's pass intended for Amani Toomer from the Giants' 8 yard line.
The Packers take over at their own 38 yard line after Jeff Feagles' 54-yard punt.
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Doug Pederson replaces Brett Favre at quarterback for the second time (9:08, 3rd quarter). Favre will be evaluated by the medical staff on a possession by possession basis.
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The Giants answered the Packers on the ensuing drive when Tiki Barber ran for a 52-yard touchdown (9:13, 3rd quarter).
The Giants' scoring drive was 2 plays for 61 yards. Time of the drive was :50.
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Favre returned to the game three plays later and found Javon Walker for a 28-yard touchdown (10:10, 3rd quarter).
The Packers' scoring drive was 9 plays for 80 yards. Time of the drive was 4:57.
Notes: With the touchdown pass, Favre has now thrown a touchdown in 29 consecutive games, a Packers all-time record and he his now 3rd in NFL history behind only Dan Marino (30) and Johnny Unitas (47).
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On the Packers' opening drive of the second half, Brett Favre was injured when William Joseph and Michael Strahan landed on top of him. Favre went to the sideline after hitting his head on the ground and was replaced by Doug Pederson (11:32, 3rd quarter).
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End of half.
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Brett Favre's pass intended for Javon Walker along the left sideline was intercepted by Will Peterson (0:26, 2nd quarter).
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and R-Kal Truluck sacked Warner for a loss of 12 yards to end the half.
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Following another Packers punt, Aaron Kampman found his way to Kurt Warner on 2nd-and-7, sacking the Giants' quarterback for a 7-yard loss, his first of the season and the Packers' second of the game.
The Giants were again forced to punt. The Packers take over at their own 3 yard line following Jeff Feagles' 53-yard punt.
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On 3rd-and-6 from the Packers' 41 yard line, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila logged his first sack of the year when he forced Kurt Warner out of bounds for no gain.
The Packers take over at the 20-yard line, following Jeff Feagles' punt, which rolled into the end zone.
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The Giants' 39-yard field goal attempt by Steve Christie was wide right. The Packers will take over at their own 39-yard line.
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On the second play of the Packers' drive, Ahman Green fumbled after picking up 19 yards. The Giants recovered and will take over at the Packers' 48 yard line.
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End of 1st quarter.
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After a Packers punt, the Giants took over a their own 20-yard line and were threatening to score after Kurt Warner drove them down to the Packers 2 yard line.
On 3rd-and-goal from the 2 yard line, Darren Sharper intercepted Kurt Warner's pass intended for Amani Toomer at the goal line. Sharper returned the interception 18 yards to the Packers' 18 (0:28, 1st quarter).
On the drive, Mark Roman sacked Warner for a 10-yard loss.
Note: For Sharper, the interception was the 34th of his career, placing him 5th all-time in Packers history.
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After a big gain of 13 yards on a scramble by Kurt Warner and a 15-yard gain on a reverse to Tim Carter, the Packers defense forced the Giants to punt on their opening drive of the game. Al Harris broke up Warner's pass to Amani Toomer on a 3rd-and-13 play.
R-Kal Truluck suffered a stinger on the drive and his return is questionable.
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Temperature at kickoff is 61 degrees (partly cloudy).
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The Giants have won the coin toss and have elected to receive.
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The following Packers players are inactive for today's game: Ahmad Carroll, Najeh Davenport, Grady Jackson, James Lee, Mike McKenzie, Steve Morley, Craig Nall (third quarterback) and B.J. Sander.
Cullen Jenkins will start in place of Kenny Peterson. Grey Ruegamer will start in place of Mike Flanagan, who was placed on injured reserve, Saturday.
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The following Giants players are inactive for today's game: Kenderick Allen, Jim Maxwell, Jesse Palmer (third quarterback), Willie Ponder, Marques Sullivan, Jamaar Taylor, Greg Walker and Shaun Williams. |
