TONIGHT: Green Bay and Carolina close the NFL's opening weekend on a national stage...The Packers kick off their 84th season in the NFL, their 86th overall.
BRETT FAVRE:
*On the NFL's all-time win list, needs a victory to surpass No. 3 Fran Tarkenton (125-109-6, .533). Favre (125-64-0, .661) enters 2004 tied with Tarkenton.
*Needs four attempts to surpass No. 4 Tarkenton (6,467). Favre enters '04 with 6,464.
*Needs 29 completions to surpass No. 3 Warren Moon (3,988). Favre enters '04 with 3,960.
*Needs one game of at least three TD passes for 50 career. Only Dan Marino (62) has more games throwing for three-or-more touchdowns.
*Needs 40 completions for 4,000 career.
AHMAN GREEN:
*Needs 128 rushing yards to break his own franchise record for ground yards in consecutive games. His record is 345 (Dec. 22-28, 2003). In his last game, he rushed for 218 yards.
*Needs a rushing touchdown to extend his streak to five straight games with a ground TD and tie the No. 3 streaks in Packers history (Tobin Rote, 1956; Jim Taylor 1961 and 1964; and Brent Fullwood, 1988).
*Needs 8 receiving yards to surpass No. 3 Edgar Bennett (1,920) and 167 to surpass No. 2 Dorsey Levens (2,079) on the team's all-time offensive backs list. Green enters 2004 with 1,913. William Henderson enters 2004 with 1,844.
*Needs five receptions for 200 career.
*Needs 85 receiving yards for 2,000 career.
DARREN SHARPER:
*On the team's all-time list, needs one interception to tie No. 5 Irv Comp (33). Sharper enters 2004 with 32.
*Needs one touchdown to tie both Bobby Dillon and Doug Hart (four) for second on the team's defensive TD list. Herb Adderley leads with seven defensive TDs. Sharper enters 2004 with three.
RYAN LONGWELL:
*On the team's all-time list, needs six PAT attempts to surpass No. 1 Chris Jacke (306). Longwell enters with 301.
u Needs four PAT to surpass No. 1 Jacke (301). Longwell enters with 298.
*Needs three field-goal attempts to surpass No. 1 Jacke (224). Longwell enters with 222.
*Needs two PAT for 300 career.
IN ROAD OPENERS: The Packers have won three of their last four road games that launched their season, including at Tampa Bay in 1996, the last time they opened on the road, when they won their last Super Bowl.
LUCKY NO. 13?: Mike Sherman is the 13th head coach in Packers history. Brett Favre is in his 13th season with the Packers. The Packers are seeking their 13th NFL championship. And, the Packers open tonight, Sept. 13.
THE AVERAGE PACKERS PLAYER: The Packers' 52-man roster (as of Sunday) averages 6-foot-2 1/5 and 252.2 pounds, 4.8 years experience in the NFL and 26.9 years of age. The 22 Packers starters average 26.7 years of age.
THIRD OLDEST PLAYER: Bryan Barker, 40 years, two months and 16 days old, is believed to be the third-oldest player in Packers history. The two oldest were kickers, 42-year-old Ben Agajanian in 1961 and 41-year-old Jan Stenerud in 1983. Vince Lombardi signed Agajanian after Paul Hornung left for the U.S. Army. Quarterback Zeke Bratkowski was 40 years, one month and eight days on Nov. 28, 1971, when he played in his final Packers (and NFL) contest.
KEY MATCHUP: Pro Bowl center Mike Flanagan and All Pro tackle Kris Jenkins square off in the trenches. The players could've been teammates, though. In 1998, Ron Wolf dealt Flanagan to the Panthers for a draft choice, but after Flanagan failed a physical, Carolina returned him to Green Bay. Two years earlier, Flanagan broke his leg in two places, an injury that wiped out his first two NFL seasons and ultimately voided the trade. Eight years after the preseason injury, Flanagan - no stranger to adversity - faces perhaps his toughest test in Jenkins.
WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Several active games-played streaks can resume tonight.
Brett Favre, 191
Ryan Longwell, 112
Rob Davis, 103
Al Harris, 96 (including 80 with Eagles)
Marco Rivera, 83
Mike Wahle, 81
Mike Flanagan, 79
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
"As we wait for the game on Monday, I usually take them somewhere to do a walkthrough on some high-school field or some park, just to get them out of the hotel and walk them through some things. Mainly, it's to get them out of the hotel so they're not sitting there watching Days of Our Lives." - GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman on preparations for a Monday night game
"I want to play a junior-high or high-school girls' team, just an easy one you can coast through. Hey, it cuts to it and finds out what you're made of." - C Mike Flanagan, joking Wednesday on playing the defending NFC champion Panthers out of the box
POOL REPORTERS: Joe Menzer (primary) of the Winston-Salem Journal and Charles Chandler (alternate) of the Charlotte Observer are home pool reporters.
NEXT WEEK: The Packers and Bears on Sunday renew the NFL's richest rivalry, their 167th meeting overall and the 19th time the Packers have kicked off their home schedule against Chicago...Carolina travels to Kansas City in a matchup of defending division champions, Sunday.
