Taking a final look back at the 2004 season for the Green Bay Packers, Packers.com brings you the first installment in a four-part series recapping the Pack's run for their third straight NFC North Division title. Here's a game-by-game look at the first quarter of the 2004 season.
**Green Bay Packers 24, Carolina Panthers 14
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Monday, September 13, 2004
Packers.com Fan Poll Player of the Game: Ahman Green**
The Packers kicked off the 2004 season in a nationally televised prime time game, taking on the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football. The visiting team dominated the game through a ball-control attack, racking up over 38 minutes in time of possession.
Ahman Green was the star of the night, picking up where he left off in 2003 - a season that saw the running back find the end zone 20 times. Green scored all three Green Bay touchdowns at Carolina, two on the ground with a six-yard run and a three-yard plunge on his way to a 119-yard performance. He also caught a three-yard TD pass from Brett Favre in the third quarter which pinned the Pack to a 17-point lead.
Favre led an efficient passing game, completing nearly 70% of his throws on 15-of-22 passing for 143 yards and a touchdown. Donald Driver was the top receiver on the night, catching three balls for 39 yards.
The defense had showed off a pressure scheme, hurrying many of quarterback Jake Delhomme's throws and sacking him twice. Nick Barnett was the defensive star of the game, recording one of the sacks and also picking off a Delhomme pass inside the red zone to kill a third quarter Panther drive.
Aaron Kampman produced the first turnover of the season for the Green and Gold, alertly pouncing on a botched handoff on the first possession of the second half. The Packers would go on to convert the fumble recovery into seven points on Green's second score of the evening.
**Chicago Bears 21, Green Bay Packers 10
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Packers.com Fan Poll Player of the Game: Javon Walker**
The 2004 Lambeau Field regular season opener saw the opening of a new chapter in one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. Mike Sherman led his Packers against the Chicago Bears, whose new head coach Lovie Smith stated that his number one goal was not to win the Super Bowl, but to beat the Green Bay Packers.
The 167th regular season meeting between the storied franchises turned out to be one that was defined by one huge play that occurred just before halftime.
The Packers trailed 7-3 at the two-minute warning but were just two yards away from taking the lead with first-and-goal. Ahman Green took a handoff from Brett Favre and looked to sweep around the right end, but perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher broke through the line and stripped the ball away from the running back. Safety Mike Green scooped up the loose ball and raced 95 yards in the opposite direction for a Chicago touchdown.
Instead of heading to halftime with the expected 10-7 lead, the 14-point swing gave the visitors an 11-point advantage at 14-3. The Packers weren't able to recover in the second half, and could only muster an 18-yard TD pass from Favre to Robert Ferguson to give the game its final score of 21-10.
**Indianapolis Colts 45, Green Bay Packers 31
RCA Dome, Indianapolis, IN
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Packers.com Fan Poll Player of the Game: Brett Favre**
Week 3's game at Indianapolis was billed as a shootout between two of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL, and Brett Favre and Peyton Manning surely did nothing to disappoint anyone who tuned in for this one.
Favre, the Packers' passer who earned three consecutive league MVP honors (1995-97), and Manning, who himself would go on to win his second straight MVP in 2004, combined to burn up the RCA Dome turf with 753 combined passing yards and nine touchdowns with neither QB throwing an interception.
The two teams traded touchdowns in one of the highest-scoring quarters in Packer history, with the Colts holding a 21-14 lead after 15 minutes of action. Favre threw two scoring passes to Javon Walker, the first a 36-yarder and the second for a season-long 79-yard connection.
Walker would set a career-high with his third TD catch of the day when he hauled in a 12-yard toss in the third quarter. The third-year wideout set the stage for his Pro Bowl season in this game, catching 11 passes for 200 yards, just the 10th 200-yard receiving game in all the years of Packer football.
Donald Driver caught Favre's fourth touchdown pass of the afternoon, tightroping along the right sideline to reach the end zone on a 27-yard pass. Favre wound completing 30-of-44 passes for 360 yards and four scores, but was forced out of the game in the fourth quarter with a bruised hamstring.
Despite the offensive prowess shown by the Packers throughout the day, the defense - like most of the rest of the league in 2004 - couldn't find a way to slow down the Colts' aerial attack, as Manning threw for 393 yards and five scores on the way to a 45-31 victory.
**New York Giants 14, Green Bay Packers 7
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Sunday, October 3, 2004
Packers.com Fan Poll Player of the Game: Javon Walker**
Fresh off the heels of an offensive explosion seven days previous in Indianapolis, the Packers and New York Giants struggled on offense throughout this low-scoring affair at Lambeau Field. The two teams failed to score in the first half, producing the first 0-0 halftime score in a Packers game since October of 1980.
Darren Sharper helped to keep the game's first 30 minutes scoreless by intercepting a Kurt Warner pass at the goal line late in the first quarter. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila would add to the defensive highlights later in the game, collecting a sack and a half, the first of his eventual 13.5 on the season.
The story of the day from the Green and Gold perspective would unfold in the third quarter when Favre, already slowed by the previous week's hamstring bruise, was flushed out of the pocket and hit by defensive lineman William Joseph as he got rid of the ball. The quarterback hit his head hard on the ground and suffered a concussion.
Favre put himself back in the game after just two plays on the sideline and hooked up with Javon Walker on a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-five. Walker made a nice play to come back for the ball just in front of the goal line to catch his fourth TD in two games.
The Giants answered just two plays later on a Tiki Barber 52-yard touchdown run and would go on to win the game with a Warner four-yard pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey in the fourth quarter.
Favre's TD pass was the last snap he would take on the afternoon, as the medical staff held him out for the rest of the game. Doug Pederson came on in relief but was unable to lead a rally, and in fact suffered a season-ending hit in the fourth quarter that landed him on injured reserve.
