*Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24.
Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com.
A complete edition of the Dope Sheet will be available each week during the season in PDF format, located in the Packers.com Game Centers.*
THIS WEEK'S NOTABLE STORYLINES:
-Two first-year head coaches - Green Bay's Mike McCarthy and Detroit's Rod Marinelli - battle for their first win.
-Brett Favre attempts to become only the second player in NFL history to throw for 400 TDs.
-Green Bay looks to avenge a 17-3 loss at Ford Field that opened the 2005 season.
-The Packers have not lost consecutive games at Detroit since dropping four straight, from 1997-2000, all at the Pontiac Silverdome.
-Several Packers players with Michigan roots return to the state, including Greg Jennings. The rookie wide receiver played at Kalamazoo High School, which also produced Derek Jeter and T.J. Duckett.
-The Packers again square off aginst a "Tampa Two" defense. Each of Green Bay's three division opponents employs the coverage.
TELEVISION: FOX Sports, now in its 13th season as an NFL network television partner, will air the contest to a regional audience. The crew is anchored by play-by-play man Ron Pitts, a second-generation Packer who played 44 games as a defensive back for Green Bay from 1988-90; Pitts' father, Elijah, helped the Packers to five NFL titles under Vince Lombardi in the 1960s. Former UCLA head coach and 49ers general manager Terry Donahue is the color analyst. Producer Ray Smaltz teams up with director Peter Bleckner in the truck.
-The contest also is available to DIRECTV(r) subscribers on Channel 710.
PACKERS RADIO: Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 57-station Packers Radio Network, with versatile Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color). Spanning five states, the network covers 47 markets in six states throughout the upper Midwest.
-The broadcast also is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on packers.com. Those with SIRIUS Satellite Radio can listen to live play-by-play as part of the network's NFL Sunday Drive.
NOTE OF THE WEEK: Through two games, wide receiver Donald Driver (15 receptions) and defensive end Aaron Kampman (four sacks) are off to starts nearly unprecedented in Packers history.
-Since 1932, when the NFL officially began recording receptions, only two players have more receptions in the Packers' first two games of any season: Ken Payne (17 in 1975) and Robert Brooks (16 in 1995). Dorsey Levens also had 15 receptions in his first two games of 1998.
-No other Packers player has had more sacks in the Packers' first two games than Kampman (since 1982, when the NFL began recording sacks). Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila had four sacks over Green Bay's first two games in 2001 (Elias Sports Bureau).
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Detroit Lions/Portsmouth Spartans:
All-time regular season: 80-64-7
Postseason: 2-0, NFC Wild Card wins after 1993 (Silverdome) and 1994 (Lambeau Field) seasons
All-time, in Detroit: 32-40-3 (2-2 at Ford Field)
Streaks: Packers have won nine of last 11 meetings
Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 11, 2005, Lambeau Field; Packers won, 16-13 (OT)
Last meeting, in Detroit: Sept. 11, 2005, at Ford Field; Lions won, 17-3
Playoff meetings (2): Jan. 8, 1994, Silverdome (Packers won, 28-24); Dec. 31, 1994, Lambeau Field (Packers won 16-12).
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 0-2-0, first NFL season
Rod Marinelli: 0-2-0, first NFL season
Head to Head: (first meeting)
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 0-0 vs. Lions; Marinelli 0-0 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY...Is in his first year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
-Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.
-One of those previous 13 years was with the Packers, as quarterbacks coach in 1999.
-Spent the past six seasons as an offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints (2000-04) and San Francisco 49ers (2005).
-Had not been a head coach at any level, having begun his coaching career as a college assistant at Fort Hays State (1987-88) and the University of Pittsburgh (1989-92) before breaking into the NFL as a quality control assistant with the Chiefs in 1993.
ROD MARINELLI...Is in his first year as the Lions' 24th head coach.
-Named Lions head coach on Jan. 19, 2006, after 10 seasons (1996-2005) with Tampa Bay as defensive line coach; additionally was the Bucs' assistant head coach his last four seasons.
-In that 10-year tenure in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers recorded 416 sacks, with 3281/2 coming courtesy of the defensive line, the most among all NFL defensive lines during that span.
-The Bucs' defensive front four garnered Top 5 rankings in sacks during six of the 10 seasons under Marinelli. That line also played a major role in setting an NFL record for consecutive games with a sack (69) from 1999-2003, a streak ended by the Packers on Nov. 16, 2003.
THE PACKERS-LIONS SERIES: No other NFL teams have played every year since 1932, when the Packers first met the Lions, then known as the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans. Including a pair of playoff clashes early in Brett Favre's career, this week marks Game No. 154 in the venerable Detroit-Green Bay series. The Packers have won nine of the last 11.
-The Packers have won 15 consecutive contests over Detroit in Wisconsin, including the '94 playoffs. The streak includes six Lions head coaches: Wayne Fontes (1992-96), Bobby Ross (1997-99), Gary Moeller (2000), Marty Mornhinweg (2001-02), Steve Mariucci (2003-04) and Dick Jauron (2005).
-The Packers have scored more points against the Detroit franchise than any opponent (3,097).
-Before the '03 Thanksgiving loss at Ford Field, the Packers had won six straight over Detroit, the longest series winning streak by either team since the Lions won 11 straight from 1949-54.
-Brett Favre in 28 regular-season games against Detroit is 19-9.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS: Detroit OL Ross Verba (1997-2000) and Barry Stokes (2000-01), LB Paris Lenon (2002-05) and WR Corey Bradford (1998-01) previously played for the Packers...Detroit LB Donté Curry was a member of Green Bay's practice squad in 2001...Detroit RB Brian Calhoun, DB Jamar Fletcher and LB Alex Lewis all played at the University of Wisconsin...Packers DT Cullen Jenkins (Central Michigan), CB Charles Woodson (Michigan), TE Tory Humphrey (Central Michigan), WR Greg Jennings (Western Michigan), WR Ruvell Martin (Saginaw Valley State) and K Dave Rayner (Michigan State) all played collegiately in Michigan...RB Noah Herron is from Mattawan, Mich., while Rayner (Oxford), Humphrey (Saginaw), Jennings (Kalamazoo), Jenkins (Belleville) and Martin (Muskegon) also hail from the state...Green Bay DT Colin Cole spent one week on Detroit's 53-man roster in 2003, and all of the 2004 preseason with the Lions...Detroit offensive line coach Larry Beightol held the same position in Green Bay from 1999-2005, while special teams coach Chuck Priefer held the same job in Green Bay in 1984-85...Receivers coach Kippy Brown was the Packers' running backs coach in 2000...Offensive coordinator Mike Martz was DT Ryan Pickett's head coach in St. Louis.
INDIVIDUALLY VS. DETROIT: Single-game career highs set by Packers players against Detroit include Donald Driver's 11 receptions (tie, Nov. 10, 2002), Bubba Franks' nine catches for 62 yards (Sept. 22, 2002) and David Martin's five catches (Dec. 11, 2005)...For his career, Franks has more catches (40) and yards (376) against Detroit than any other team...Favre's career totals of 624 completions, 1,002 attempts and 7,260 yards against Detroit are his highest against any opponent, and his 19 wins rank second...Ahman Green's 192 carries, 928 rushing yards, 1,176 total yards, and four 100-yard games against the Lions are all second-highest vs. a single opponent...Koren Robinson had an 80-yard TD reception on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage at Detroit last year (Dec. 4), the longest TD catch of his career and second-longest overall.
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON: Dec. 11, 2005, Lambeau Field; Packers won, 16-13 (OT).
-Samkon Gado set a franchise rookie record with 171 yards rushing, including a 64-yard touchdown, and Ryan Longwell kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime for the win.
-With the score tied at 13 midway through the fourth quarter, the Packers made a goal-line stand, as Grady Jackson helped stuff quarterback Jeff Garcia on a fourth-down sneak, putting the ball on the Green Bay 1. It was the fourth time the Lions had driven inside the Packers' 10, but they came away with only one TD.
-On the ensuing possession, Gado was wrapped up in his own end zone but tried to toss the ball forward just as he was being dragged down. Originally ruled intentional grounding and a safety, the officials conferred and said that because Gado was outside the tackle box, it was a legal forward pass and simply incomplete, keeping the score tied at 13.
-Brett Favre surpassed 3,000 yards for an NFL-record 14th season, and his 17-yard completion to Robert Ferguson coupled with a personal foul on Shaun Rogers set up the overtime kick.
-The Lions led 13-3 in the second quarter with the help of a 74-yard kickoff return by R.W. McQuarters that set up a 4-yard TD pass to Roy Williams, the first TD pass allowed by Al Harris all season.
LAST MEETING, DETROIT: Sept. 11, 2005; Lions won, 17-3.
-The Lions capitalized on 14 Packers penalties and three turnovers, and Joey Harrington threw two TD passes in a season-opening win.
-The Packers didn't score a TD for the first time since Sept. 17, 2000, ending a team-record 77-game streak, the NFL's longest at the time.
-Green Bay's offense took a blow when Javon Walker tore an ACL in the third quarter on a 55-yard catch in which he was penalized.
-Among Green Bay's 14 penalties (its most since Nov. 1, 1987), four offensive flags wiped out 75 yards in gains.
