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Sunday, Sep. 26 4:15pm ET
Favre's fabulous finish foils Vikings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Brett Favre never gets tired of making the extraordinary look like child's play.
"Those touchdown passes, I've dreamed about them a million times since I was a kid," he said. "Of course, Corey Bradford wasn't in them." Bradford's catch capped a 77-yard, 104-second drive led by Favre, who beat the Oakland Raiders in Week 1 with a similar last-ditch march. It was Favre's 12th fourth-quarter comeback and the 15th game-winning drive of his career. Favre's final pass came on a fourth-and-1 play, and Green Bay had no timeouts remaining. Favre said he didn't call a play but simply took the snap and threw toward Bradford, who bumped Jimmy Hitchcock at the line of scrimmage and ran on a full sprint toward the end zone. "It was like a dream, and I was hoping I wouldn't wake up," Bradford said. "Basically, it was a man call, and he beat me," Hitchcock said. "I just got beat. I let him in the end zone. I take full responsibility."
Favre was 6-for-7 on the final drive, hitting Bradford twice and running back Dorsey Levens three times as the Packers (2-1) scored their only offensive touchdown of the game against Minnesota's fired-up defense. "I don't even think I saw him catch it," said Favre, who ran and leaped toward the other end of the field with his arms raised. "As I threw it, I knew it was going to be perfect." Randy Moss caught a 10-yard touchdown pass -- just his second reception of the game -- from Randall Cunningham with 1:56 to play, giving Minnesota (1-2) a 20-16 lead. Both teams struggled to mount sustained offensive drives until the game's fabulous finish. Minnesota took one last shot at the end zone, but rookie defensive back Antuan Edwards made his second interception of the game as time ran out. Favre, who wept after the Oakland win, collapsed onto a sideline bench shortly after throwing the final pass and was helped off the field by medical staff. He said he almost hyperventilated and was simply out of breath. "I'm too tired to cry today," he said with a laugh. "Believe me, I would." Favre was 24-for-39 for 304 yards. Green Bay won for the 32nd time in 33 games at Lambeau Field, where Minnesota beat the Packers 37-24 last season.
Moss' catch capped a five-play, 80-yard drive for the Vikings. With 3:40 remaining, Cunningham hit Jake Reed on a short slant at the Minnesota 30, and Reed slipped between rookie defensive backs Edwards and Fred Vinson and ran half the length of the field before Vinson dragged him down. Reed had six catches for 108 yards as the Vikings' passing struggles continued, but Minnesota ran the ball well. After rushing for 71 yards in Minnesota's first two games, Robert Smith had 85 yards on 21 carries, including runs of seven and 11 yards on the Vikings' last scoring drive. Still, Green Bay mostly shut down the Vikings offense that ran up 545 total yards in its victory at Lambeau last season and compelled the Packers to draft three defensive backs, all of whom played extensively Sunday. Facing a variety of coverage schemes, Moss had just one catch for three yards in the game's first 58 minutes. Ryan Longwell kicked three field goals, including a 34-yarder with 4:25 left that gave Green Bay a 16-13 lead. Gary Anderson kicked two field goals for Minnesota. Edwards returned his first NFL interception 26 yards for a touchdown when Cunningham tried to throw to Moss in triple coverage deep in Vikings territory in the second quarter. The rookie was helped along by a massive block from Vonnie Holliday on the return. Minnesota drove 94 yards on its first possession and went up 7-0 on Leroy Hoard's 5-yard run, but only after the drive stayed alive on a personal foul against Packers linebacker George Koonce. Both teams then settled into a pattern of long drives that didn't end up in the end zone.
"That's yesterday's news," Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "They just made a nice play. You can't be surprised about
anything. Brett Favre made the play."
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