Brett Favre led the Packers down the field for a touchdown on their first drive of Saturday night's preseason game versus the Buffalo Bills.
For the Green Bay Packers, it went downhill from there.
The Bills scored 27 unanswered points to win the game 27-7. Their scores came on touchdowns by J.P. Losman, Willis McGahee and Lionel Gates and two Rian Lindell field goals.
Poor special teams' play hurt the Packers and led to two Bills touchdowns.
"It was terrible," head coach Mike Sherman said. "We put our defense in a very difficult situation. We gave (Buffalo) the ball in the red zone twice -- we can't do that."
After Favre's touchdown pass, running back ReShard Lee returned the kickoff 69 yards to the Green Bay 27-yard-line, which set up a J.P. Losman one-yard touchdown. On the play, Losman ran a bootleg before pump faking Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman on his way to the end zone.
The Bills' second touchdown also came on a shortened field. McGahee ran in the end zone from six yards out on a drive set up by Bills wide receiver Drew Haddad's 37-yard punt return. That touchdown made the score 17-7.
The Packers' special teams can take a positive sign from punter B.J. Sander's performance. He punted six times for an average of 44.3 yards. Two punts sailed inside of the 20-yard line. He also tackled former University of Wisconsin safety Jim Leonhard during a fourth quarter punt return.
Sander has now put together back-to-back solid games. His punts averaged 46 yards versus the San Diego Chargers last week.
Favre was another of star of note. One week after posting a 137.9 passing rating, he completed 4-of-6 passes for 41 yards and a touchdown. He converted all three of his third downs before connecting with running back Ahman Green on a 12-yard touchdown pass.
On that play he showed his new trim figure has made him a more mobile quarterback. He scrambled away from Bills linebacker Jeff Posey before completing the pass.
"Well, I've made that play before," Favre said. "The workouts didn't hurt my ability to make it. The defense had it played well, that's for sure."
After Favre directed the offense like clockwork for the second consecutive game, the coaching staff had seen everything they needed from the 15-year-veteran quarterback after one series. Rookie quarterback Aaron Rodgers replaced Favre with 3:02 left in the first quarter.
Rodgers did not encounter the same as adversity as last game, which featured a malfunction in his helmet audio and a rainstorm. He displayed his athleticism, scrambling three times for 31 yards to help account for the Packers' 4.3 rushing yards average on the night.
However, Bills cornerback Jabari Greer intercepted a pass intended for Antonio Chatman. Rodgers finished 4-of-9 for 21 yards and one interception before giving way to Craig Nall, who finished 5-of-13 for 39 yards, with 7:16 left in the third quarter.
Packers quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan did not see any action.
Several Packers made the most of their time. Safety Earl Little started in place of Mark Roman (hamstring) and may have improved his chances of taking Roman's spot on the first team. Little drilled Bills wide receiver Eric Moulds to force a first quarter incompletion. The veteran wisely stayed at home while the Bills attempted a flea flicker between McGahee and Losman and broke up the pass intended for wide receiver Josh Reed.
Undrafted rookie free agent linebacker Roy Manning built on an already impressive training camp. He racked up three tackles, including a sack. Defensive end R-Kal Truluck, who just returned to practice this past week from a hamstring injury, had six tackles.
Injury Note: Tight End Ben Steele left the game with a back and neck injury.
