*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:
-Green Bay looks to rebound from a disappointing loss to Chicago in its season opener last week.
-Two of the game's youngest coaches square off. Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy bids for his first NFL win.
-McCarthy faces the organization for which he built his reputation as a respected offensive coach. The most successful offensive coordinator (2000-04) in Saints history, McCarthy helped the organization collect 10 team records and 10 Pro Bowl selections.
-Less than a year after the Packers' 52-3 triumph over New Orleans at Lambeau Field, each club enters 2006 with a very different roster and coaching staff.
-Brett Favre, one of Archie Manning's biggest fans as a youngster in Kiln, Miss., is 3-1 with a 108.1 passer rating in four career starts against the Saints. Devastating the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the boyhood home in which Favre followed Manning. Much of Mississippi remains slow to recover.
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: First-year coaches Sean Payton (New Orleans) and Mike McCarthy (Green Bay) have combined for two games as an NFL head coach. The last time coaches met with fewer combined games coached was Sept. 23, 2001, when Butch Davis (Cleveland) faced off with Marty Mornhinweg (Detroit) (Elias Sports Bureau).
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. New Orleans Saints:
All-time regular season: 14-5-0 (no postseason meetings)
All-time, Lambeau Field: 2-0-0
Streaks: The Packers have won four of the last five
Last meeting: Oct. 9, 2005, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 52-3
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 0-1-0, .000; first NFL season
Sean Payton: 1-0-0, 1.000, first NFL season
Head to Head: (first meeting)
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 0-0 vs. Saints; Payton 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).
-Has never 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.
SEAN PAYTON...Is in his first year as the Saints' 14th head coach.
-In his 10th season in the NFL, having served as Bill Parcells' Dallas assistant head coach/passing game coordinator in 2005 after two seasons as assistant head coach/quarterbacks.
-Also worked as an assistant with New York Giants (1999-2002), spending the last three years there as offensive coordinator, and Philadelphia Eagles (1997-98) as quarterbacks coach.
-Played quarterback at Eastern Illinois and was a three-time AP All-America selection in Division I-AA. Had brief pro stints with Chicago of the Arena Football League, Ottawa of the CFL, and the Chicago Bears in 1987.
-Has had every quarterback under his tutelage since 2000 throw for at least 3,000 yards.
THE PACKERS-SAINTS SERIES: These teams meet for the second time in two seasons after having met only once in the previous nine years.
-New Orleans is making just its third trip to Lambeau Field. The team's other visits were in 1989 and 2005. The first seven meetings between these two teams in Wisconsin were played in Milwaukee.
-That 1989 contest marked one of the most exciting games in Packers history. Down 24-7 at half, the Packers rebounded to beat New Orleans 35-34.
-Last year's 52-3 Green Bay victory was the most lopsided in the series history, eclipsing the Packers' 35-7 victory in New Orleans on Dec. 13, 1981.
-These clubs launched their series in 1968, when former Vince Lombardi assistants Phil Bengston (Packers) and Tom Fears (Saints) met in Milwaukee. The Packers, one year after winning Super Bowl I, defeated the second-year Saints 27-7. Fears, who coached Super Bowl I hero Max McGee with the Packers from 1962-65, was New Orleans' first head coach.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS: McCarthy served as the Saints offensive coordinator from 2000-04...Other members of the Packers staff who coached in New Orleans include Tom Clements (1997-99), Ty Knott (2003-05), Ben McAdoo (2004), Winston Moss (2000-05) and Jimmy Robinson (2004-05)...Payton was one of the finalists and was interviewed for the Packers head coaching job this past offseason...Saints special teams coordinator John Bonamengo held the same position in Green Bay from 2003-05...Saints assistant head coach/linebackers Joe Vitt coached the defensive backs in Green Bay in 1999, the same year McCarthy was quarterbacks coach...Saints DB Mike McKenzie was drafted by the Packers in 1999 and played in Green Bay until his trade to New Orleans two years ago...Saints RB Aaron Stecker, a Green Bay native, is a product of Ashwaubenon High School, just blocks from Lambeau Field...Saints WR Jamal Jones spent parts of the 2004-05 seasons on Green Bay's practice squad and was active for two games in 2005, returning kickoffs...Jones and Junius Coston (North Carolina A&T), Mark Campbell and Charles Woodson (Michigan), and Keith Joseph and Michael Montgomery (Texas A&M) were college teammates.
INDIVIDUALLY VS. NEW ORLEANS: CB Al Harris had the lone two-interception game of his career against the Saints last year, with both picks coming on consecutive possessions in the first quarter. He returned the first one 22 yards for a TD. Harris also had his first NFL sack in last year's game...In that same game, LB Nick Barnett scored his lone NFL TD on a 95-yard interception return, and WR Robert Ferguson snagged his career-long 51-yard catch...QB Brett Favre is 3-1 against the Saints and has a 108.1 career QB rating in those games, the second-highest he has against any opponent (Indianapolis, 115.7). Favre posted a 142.8 rating on Dec. 16, 1995, in New Orleans, the fourth-highest of his career (21 of 30, 308 yards, 4 TD). Last year he posted a 130.9 rating, a season-high...DT Corey Williams posted a career-best two sacks vs. New Orleans last season.
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON: Oct. 9, 2005, at Lambeau Field; Packers won, 52-3.
-After the Saints kicked a field goal midway through the first quarter, the Packers scored 52 unanswered points to post their first win of the season after an 0-4 start.
-Favre threw TD passes to Ferguson, David Martin and Donald Lee, finishing 19 of 27 for 215 yards.
-RB Najeh Davenport rushed for 54 yards and two TDs before suffering a season-ending broken ankle.
-Saints RB Deuce McAllister also was lost for the season to a knee injury.
-CB Al Harris had a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown, and LB Nick Barnett capped the rout with a 95-yard interception return for a score midway through the fourth quarter. The Packers' defense had five turnovers in all.
-The 53 points scored were the most for the Packers since scoring 55 against Tampa Bay on Oct. 2, 1983.
-The 35 points in the first half was their biggest one-half output since Dec. 6, 1992, vs. Detroit.
