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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- It wasn't Green Bay Packers weather. Brett
Favre didn't mind.
|  | | Green Bay's Ahman Green scores the Packers' first touchdown during Sunday's victory. |
Favre finally looked like a three-time NFL MVP as he picked
Arizona apart Sunday, throwing for 277 yards and a touchdown and
directing six other scoring drives as the Packers handed the
Cardinals a 29-3 loss.
The Cardinals (1-2) hoped the heat would be a 12th man, but the
temperature at kickoff was 87 degrees -- the coolest weather of the
four games played on a September afternoon in the desert. Arizona
won the three previous September day games at Sun Devil Stadium.
The Packers shook out of their early slump and played like the
Super Bowl teams of the '90s to win their second straight NFC game
after losing their first two to AFC opponents.
"Before the game, I told them this wasn't a must-win game, but
it was as significant a game as we were going to play in all
year," coach Mike Sherman said. "We had to get on that plane
2-2."
The defense shut down Jake Plummer, who had his best game in a
32-31 win over Dallas two weeks ago before the Cardinals' bye week.
Although Plummer was only sacked once, he threw four interceptions
-- the second setting up the last of Ryan Longwell's five field
goals, and the last two stopping Arizona drives late in the fourth
quarter.
The Cardinals reached the 2-yard line before Darren Sharper made
a diving interception with 5:45 left in the game. LeRoy Butler
pulled down a tipped pass with 16 seconds remaining for the fourth
pickoff.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Brett Favre seems to be improving each week. There were some concerns about the condition of his arm earlier this season, but the last couple of weeks Brett has thrown the ball with great authority.
This game featured lots of offense by the Packers -- 450-plus yards total offense, a good running game and five field goals.
The Packers are starting to get healthy on offense and have been playing great defense all year. One stat that sticks out in this game is that the Packers gave up just 28 yards rushing. Darren Sharper (10 tackles, two interceptions) had a standout individual performance for Green Bay defensively.
This is a disappointing loss for the Cardinals, coming off a big home win (before their bye week) over Dallas.
Until the Cardinals are able to develop a consistent running game, they're not going to be able to take enough pressure off QB Jake Plummer.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director of football operations.
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Plummer was 21-of-43 for 189 yards, and the Cardinals ran for
only 28 yards as the Packers, who beat Philadelphia 6-3 last week,
held opponents without a TD in consecutive games for the first time
since 1936.
"In the final analysis, you've got to come ready to play,"
coach Vince Tobin said. "We're not high school players or college
players out here, we're professionals, and there's no excuse for
not getting ready for a game."
Arizona's Frank Sanders had seven catches for 60 yards _ limited
by tight coverage to two-thirds of his 13.2-yard career average.
"We just didn't execute," Sanders said. "It's not a matter of
game plan, it's not a matter of not having healthy guys. Everyone
was healthy; we got guys back during the bye."
The Packers also got their rushing offense untracked, generating
176 yards on the ground. Ahman Green had 93 yards on 12 carries,
including a 19-yard run for Green Bay's first rushing TD of the
year.
Favre took care of Antonio Freeman's complaint that fellow wide
receiver Bill Schroeder wasn't making enough plays. Schroeder, who
finished with four catches for 94 yards, sent the Packers to a 14-0
lead with a fingertip grab of a 55-yard bomb in the end zone 55
seconds into the second quarter.
Longwell set a personal high and tied the Packers' franchise
record accomplished twice by Chris Jacke.
The only Arizona points came on a 31-yard field goal by Cary
Blanchard with 8:48 left in the second quarter.
Longwell's kicks of 38, 47, 48, 37 and 22 yards -- the latter set
up by Tod McBride's interception and 21-yard return -- finished
Green Bay's scoring.
"Any time you set a record, it's outstanding. I don't do this
for the records, but they told me after the game that I did it, so
that's great," said Longwell, who is 11-for-12 this season.
Green scored with 4:36 left in the first quarter when he burst
off tackle, angled left, stiff-armed safety Pat Tillman and raced
to the end zone.
He had 66 yards in the second half.
"We just wore them down," Green said. "The plays that were
going for 2 or 3 yards in the first half were going for 6 or 7 in
the second."
Favre, sacked five times by Philadelphia, was sacked once this
time and was under little pressure most of the game.
It showed in his accuracy -- 6-of-9 in the first quarter when he
set up Green's TD with a 13-yard throw to Tyrone Davis and a
19-yarder to Dorsey Levens.
Along with Schroeder, Freeman, Davis and Levens, five other
receivers caught at least one pass from Favre.
Game
notes
Jacke had five field goals against the Los Angeles Raiders
in 1990 and San Francisco in 1996. ... Sanders has 5,006 career
yards receiving -- the seventh Cardinals player to top 5,000. ...
David Boston, trying to become the first Arizona player to begin a
season with three 100-yard games, was held to 23 yards. ... Freeman
had one catch and needs six to pass Paul Coffman (322) for sixth in
team history. ... The game was the 16th Cardinals sellout in the
73,014-seat stadium and the 12th game televised locally. The crowd
of 71,801 was the fifth-largest in team history.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Green Bay Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
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