TODAY: Two of the most prominent members of the Mike Holmgren coaching tree, good friends Andy Reid and Mike Sherman, square off for the fifth time. Sherman earned his first NFL victory by beating Reid in 2000, but the Eagles' coach has secured the last three games. Sherman and Reid are the NFL's only coaches with active streaks of five consecutive winning seasons...Green Bay bids for its first win in Philadelphia since Nov. 11, 1962. Including the 2003 playoffs, the Packers have lost seven straight in the City of Brotherly Love...The Packers look to rebound from a pair of tough losses in their intial two trips to Lincoln Financial Field...The teams are meeting in Philadelphia for a third straight season because both teams won their divisions last year. Had Green Bay or Philadelphia finished in a different standing (first, second, etc.), the Packers would be traveling to meet a different NFC East foe in 2005...Mike Sherman has knocked off the defending NFC champion on the road each of the last two years (wins at Tampa Bay in 2003 and at Carolina in 2004). In fact, Sherman is 6-0 against teams that played in the Super Bowl the previous season.
WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Packers today will seek to avoid their ninth loss. That not-so-magic number would ensure Green Bay's first losing season since 1991 and its first in the Brett Favre era. Plus, a ninth loss would end the NFL's longest streak, a stretch that's tied for eighth in league history. From 1992-2004, the Packers' lowest winning percentage was .500, an 8-8 finish in 1999.
-To put the Packers' 13-year streak in perspective during the current era of parity, unrestricted free agency and the salary cap, consider the two teams waiting in the wings. If the Packers lose a ninth game this season, Philadelphia and Denver would inherit the NFL's longest active streak, five seasons (2000-04). Denver clinched a sixth straight winning season with its ninth win on Thanksgiving at Dallas.
Longest stretches without a losing season in NFL history:
21 - Dallas Cowboys, 1965-85
16 - San Francisco 49ers, 1983-98
Oakland Raiders, 1965-80
15 - Miami Dolphins, 1989-2003
Baltimore Colts, 1957-71
Chicago Bears, 1930-44
14 - Green Bay Packers, 1934-47
13 - Pittsburgh Steelers, 1972-84
Green Bay Packers (current), 1992-2004
12 - Green Bay Packers, 1921-32
WHAT TO LOOK FOR TODAY & IN COMING WEEKS -
NICK BARNETT:
-With 132 tackles in just nine games, is on pace for 211. The team record since coaches first began recording tackles in 1975 is 180 by Mike Douglass in 1981. From 1984-2004, the two highest totals for the club's leading tackler were 162 by Barnett in 2004 and 145 by Johnny Holland in 1993.
ANTONIO CHATMAN:
-Needs 56 punt-return yards to surpass No. 4 Phillip Epps (819) on the all-time list. Chatman enters with 764.
DONALD DRIVER:
-With a catch, can extend his streak of games with a reception to 59 and surpass the third-longest stretch in Packers history (Hall of Famer James Lofton). Next up would be current running backs coach Edgar Bennett (60) and all-time leader Sterling Sharpe (103).
-Needs one reception for 300 career.
BRETT FAVRE:
-Needs two TD passes to extend his NFL-record streak of at least 20 TD passes to 12.
-Needs six touchdown passes to become the second in NFL history with 400, joining Dan Marino (420). Favre enters with 394 in 219 NFL games. Marino reached the landmark in his 227th contest.
-Including playoffs, Favre has 47 career 300-yard passing games and needs three for 50.
-Needs one rushing attempt for 500 career.
BUBBA FRANKS:
-Needs 64 receiving yards for 2,000 career.
KABEER GBAJA-BIAMILA:
-On Green Bay's all-time sacks list, needs one to surpass No. 2 Tim Harris (55). Gbaja-Biamila enters with 541/2 career sacks, 14 shy of Reggie White's franchise record, 681/2.
GRADY JACKSON:
-With 42 stops through 10 games this year, Jackson is on pace for 67, which would mark his highest total since his 2001 career best, 69 with Oakland.
AL HARRIS:
-Needs four passes defensed for 100 career. Harris, who owns a team-leading 11 on the year, enters with 96.
PACKER AVENUE: A short distance north of the Eagles' NovaCare Complex and their gameday home, Lincoln Financial Field, is a street named Packer Avenue. Just outside the stadium on I-95, a large green sign directs drivers to the exit.
-Not knowing that more than a century-and-a-half later, their hometown football team would battle a conference rival named "Packers," the city of Philadelphia named the street after William Fisher Packer, a former newspaper publisher, railroad president, canal commissioner and governor of Pennsylvania.
-Mr. Packer, whose ancestors were Quakers, denounced the secession of South Carolina in his final address as governor in 1861.
-In 1865, another Packer - Asa Packer - founded Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., the Eagles' summer training-camp home for several years.
SHORT WEEK: Green Bay has won 10 of its last 12 games after playing Monday night, including Oct. 9 vs. New Orleans, a 52-3 win.
-Under Mike Sherman (2000-05), the Packers are 10-3, their only losses a 2000 setback at Tampa Bay, and 2004 decisions vs. Chicago and at Philadelphia.
-Brett Favre (1992-2005) is 21-7, including an 11-2 mark at home, the week after playing Monday night.
POOL REPORTERS: Appointed by the Pro Football Writers of America, Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times is the primary pool reporter for today's matchup. Reuben Frank of the Burlington County Times is the alternate.
NEXT WEEK: Green Bay squares off with the NFL's top-ranked defense, its first look at division rival Chicago and the Packers' final noon kickoff of 2005, Sunday at Soldier Field...Then, on a very special Monday night, former Packers head coaches Mike Holmgren and Ray Rhodes take the Seahawks to Philadelphia on a night that will honor Reggie White, when the Eagles retire his number at halftime.
