*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.
Here are some highlights from the Packers-Bears Week 5 Dope Sheet:*
PACKERS vs. BEARS - THE RIVALRY CONTINUES
-The NFL's most storied rivalry enjoys its 174th installment Sunday night at historic Lambeau Field. It is the 248th consecutive sellout at the league's longest-tenured stadium.
-The Packers enter the contest at 4-0, their best start since 1998, while the Bears come into the game at 1-3.
-Last Sunday's win at Minnesota was highlighted by one of the greatest records in professional football history as Brett Favre surpassed Dan Marino's NFL record for career touchdown passes. Favre hit Greg Jennings on a 16-yard slant with 4:56 remaining in the first quarter for his 421st career touchdown pass, breaking one of the league's most hallowed records. Earlier this season, Favre surpassed John?Elway to become the winningest quarterback (now 151 wins) in NFL history.
-Only defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis (nine) enters play this weekend with a longer winning streak than Green Bay (eight).
-Green Bay has gotten off to a 4-0 start for the ninth time in team history. Seven of those Packers teams went on to win an NFL championship (1929, '30, '31, '44, '62, '65, and 1966).
GREEN BAY MAKES NATIONAL TV DEBUT
-The Packers play in front of a national audience in a Sunday night contest on NBC. Play-by-play man Al Michaels joins color analyst John Madden in the broadcast booth with Andrea Kremer serving as the sideline reporter. The Packers and Bears met in Week 17 on NBC last season.
-Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 56-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) calling the action. The network covers 47 markets in six states.
-For out-of-town listeners, the broadcast is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on www.packers.com as well as on Sirius Satellite Radio as part of the network's NFL Sunday Drive.
-Westwood One will air the game across the country. Dave Sims (play-by-play) and Bob Trumpy (analyst) will call the action.
NOT SINCE '96 HAS FAVRE PLAYED LIKE THIS
-For the third straight week, quarterback Brett Favre compiled a passer rating over 100.0, something he has not done since the 1996 season.
-In fact, this is only the fifth time in his career that Favre has recorded three straight games with a passer rating over 100.0. He did it twice in 1995 (Nov. 12 - Dec. 3, 4 games; Dec. 16 - Jan. 6, 4 games) and twice again in 1996 (Sept. 1 - Sept. 15, 3 games; Dec. 22 - Sept. 1, 1997, 5 games). Favre was voted the league's MVP in both seasons.
-The last time he accomplished the feat, Favre had five straight games with a passer rating over 100.0 during the team's Super Bowl XXXI run. The streak began with the final regular-season game against Minnesota (Dec. 22, 1996) and culminated in the first regular-season game the following season (vs. Chicago, Sept. 1). It included three playoff victories, most notably a 35-21 victory over New England in the Super Bowl.
-Elias Sports Bureau, the NFL's official statistician for half a century, never intended for the passer rating to reflect efficiency on a game-by-game basis, but rather to measure the effectiveness of a quarterback over an entire season, or an entire career.
-Nonetheless, in games when Favre compiles at least a 100.0 rating, the Packers are 76-7 (.916).
-The Packers are a perfect 41-0 (1.000) at Lambeau Field when Favre hits the century mark. With a win at the Metrodome this past Sunday, the team improved to 35-7 (.829) on the road when Favre eclipses the century mark.
-In the last three games (vs. NYG, SD, MIN), he has completed 89-of-128 attempts (69.5%) for 999 yards and eight touchdowns. His lone interception in those three games came in the second quarter against the Giants. He since has attempted 119 passes without an interception, 8 of which have gone for touchdowns.
-According to Elias Sports Bureau, Favre's current streak of 119 passes without an interception is the fifth-longest of his career.
Attempts (Date Began - Ended)
163 (12/10/1995 - 9/15/1996)
148 (12/16/2001 - 9/15/2002)
126 (12/14/1997 - 9/20/1998)
125 (11/12/1995 - 12/3/1995)
119 (9/16/2007 - current)
THE IMPORTANCE OF A QUICK START
-There's no secret that early success increases an NFL team's chance to earn a playoff berth.
-Maintaining the confidence and momentum built during the four-game win streak to close 2006 has been a major focus of the offseason program for Head Coach Mike McCarthy and his team.
-One of McCarthy's early goals this season - getting off to a quick start - has been accomplished with the 4-0 start.
-Slow starts have plagued the Packers the past three seasons, only one of which resulted in a postseason appearance (2004). That season, the team started 1-4 but won nine of its last 11 games.
-In 2005, injuries contributed to a 1-7 start while a 1-4 start in 2006 proved too much to overcome.
-A look at how important fast starts have become to eventual playoff success in the NFL, compiled from 1990-2006:
Record through 4 games (% of teams in playoffs)
0-4 (1.8%)
1-3 (15.8%)
2-2 (35.6%)
3-1 (65.2%)
4-0 (83.7%)
- Statistics provided by Elias Sports Bureau
**
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Chicago Bears:
All-time regular season: 79-87-6
All-time, at Lambeau Field: 27-21-0
Streaks: The Bears have won the last three meetings in Green Bay.
Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 31, 2006, at Soldier Field; Packers won, 26-7
Last meeting, regular season, at Lambeau Field: Sept. 10, 2006; Bears won, 26-0
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 12-8-0, .600; second NFL season
Lovie Smith: 32-24-0, .571; fourth NFL season
Head to Head: Tied 1-1
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 1-1 vs. Bears; Smith 4-2 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY...In second 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.
-Led the Packers to an 8-8 finish and near playoff berth, losing a tiebreaker with the New York Giants, who also finished 8-8.
-Spent six seasons as an offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints (2000-04) and San Francisco 49ers (2005).
-Began his coaching career as a college assistant at Fort Hays State (1987-88) and at the University of Pittsburgh (1989-92) before breaking into the NFL as a quality control assistant with the Chiefs in 1993.
LOVIE SMITH...In fourth year as the Bears' 13th head coach.
-Has won more games over his first three seasons than any coach in franchise history and guided the team to its first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years in 2006.
-Named the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year in 2005 after he led a worst-to-first revival in the NFC North.
-The Bears' six-win improvement from the previous season was tied for the biggest in the NFL in 2005.
-Came to Chicago from St. Louis, where he served as defensive coordinator from 2001-03, helping the Rams return to the Super Bowl in 2001. Prior to that, coached LBs for Tampa Bay from 1996-2000.
THE BEARS-PACKERS SERIES
-The NFL's most prolific rivalry, no two teams have met on the gridiron more than the Packers and Bears. Sunday they face off for the 174th time.
-The Bears' two wins in 2005 marked the first time Chicago swept the season series since 1991, before Brett Favre became Green Bay's quarterback. With those two wins plus a split last season, the Bears have extended their lead in the NFL's richest rivalry to eight games, 87-79-6. The last time the gap had been as close as seven was the end of World War II and the Don Hutson era, 1945, when the Packers trailed 27-20-5.
-The last time Green Bay led the series? On the heels of its three straight NFL championships, 1932, when the Packers led 11-10-5. Two months after Babe Ruth allegedly called his shot at Wrigley Field in the '32 World Series, the Bears stole from Green Bay a fourth straight title (which at the time was determined by league standings). Chicago barely finished atop the league standings, which unlike today did not count ties. Had the league counted ties in standings, the Packers would have won. The next year, 1933, the NFL began determining its champion with postseason games.
-The Packers meet Lovie Smith for the seventh time as Bears head coach. Smith on Jan. 15, 2004, elevated one of sports' top rivalries to another level, saying his No. 1 goal, ahead of winning the division and Super Bowl, was to beat Green Bay. He won on Sept. 19, 2004. The Packers went 18-2 against Chicago from 1994-2003. On only four occasions in NFL history has a team enjoyed a better 20-game stretch against a single opponent.
-Green Bay against Smith during his career as an NFL coach is 10-9 (all Favre starts).
{sportsad300}NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
-Green Bay running backs coach Edgar Bennett finished his playing career in Chicago (1998-99)...Packers assistant offensive line coach Jerry Fontenot was a third-round draft choice of the Bears in 1989 and was a mainstay at center in his eight seasons (1989-96) in Chicago...Bears running backs coach Tim Spencer played with the late Reggie White, the Packers' all-time sacks leader, with Memphis of the USFL in 1985...Bears defensive quality control coach Gill Byrd served as the Packers executive director/player programs and community affairs from 1999-2001...Lovie Smith was a University of Wisconsin assistant in 1987, while Bears defensive coordinator Bob Babich spent two seasons on the Badgers' staff (1988-89)...Long-snapper Rob Davis held the same role for the Bears in 1996...Bears LB Hunter Hillenmeyer was taken by Green Bay in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft...Packers CB Charles Woodson and Bears QB Brian Griese were teammates on Michigan's 1997 national championship team; Woodson also took home the Heisman Trophy that season...Bears DE Mark Anderson and Packers S Charlie Peprah were teammates at Alabama.
INDIVIDUALLY VS. CHICAGO BEARS
-Quarterback Brett Favre is 22-8 against the Bears, the most wins he has against any single opponent. He also has more TD passes against the Bears than any other opponent, with 52...Donald Driver's career-long catch was an 85-yard TD reception at Chicago (Champaign) on Oct. 7, 2002, on Monday Night Football...Another single-game career high set against the Bears was Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's four sacks (Jan. 2, 2005)...Nick Collins intercepted a career-high two passes against the Bears last December, including a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown...The first two-interception game of Charles Woodson's career, and his only two-INT effort prior to the Seattle game in 2006, came at Chicago on Oct. 5, 2003, while playing for Oakland.
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON
Dec. 31, 2006, at Soldier Field; Packers won 26-7.
-The Packers controlled the game from the outset, using six turnovers and two defensive scores to roll to a 26-7 victory.
-Their playoff hopes dashed the previous night, Green Bay closed the season with a four-game winning streak.
-The Packers marched 75 yards on 11 plays to open the game, and Favre found Driver on a slant route for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
-Green Bay's defense tallied four turnovers in the first half, including three interceptions of Rex Grossman, en route to a 23-0 lead at the break.
LAST MEETING, AT LAMBEAU FIELD
Sept. 10, 2006; Bears won 26-0.
-Grossman began the game with a 49-yard TD pass to Bernard Berrian on the first series and the Bears handed the Packers their first shutout since 1991.
-After the early TD, Chicago added four FGs by Robbie Gould and Devin Hester returned a punt 84 yards for a score.
-Grossman completed 18 of 26 passes for 262 yards, with Muhsin Muhammad catching six for 102 yards and tight end Desmond Clark adding five for 77 yards.
-The lone bright spots for Green Bay were running back Ahman Green (20 carries, 110 yards) and receiver Donald Driver (seven catches, 96 yards), accounting for all but 61 yards of the team's offensive output.
