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Green Bay vs. San Diego
10/15/96 - Packers Win 42-10
Box Score
Despite some involuntary largesse early in the fourth quarter, in the form of two turnovers, the Packers were largely in control throughout in dispatching the Chargers, an assessment graphically borne out by the final figures.
Consider the following: The Green and Gold out-gained their guests, 349 yards to 141; out-rushed them, 132 yards to 33; had 217 yards passing to the Californians' 108; ran off 71 plays to the visitors' 53; and, finally, controlled the football for 38 minutes and 38 seconds to San Diego's 21 minutes, 22 seconds.
Reggie White leaps over Terrell Fletcher |
It was, in fact, every bit as dominant a performance as they put on in their first two victories of 1996, which saw them subdue the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (34-3) and the Philadelphia Eagles (39-13).
En route, the Packers mounted a substantial 28-3 lead in the third quarter before permitting the Chargers a touchdown-only the second scored against Green Bay's defense thus far this season.
Establishing their intentions from the outset, they held San Diego without a first down following the opening kickoff, then promptly drove 55 yards in 6 plays to mount a 7-0 lead, Edgar Bennett bolting around left end for the score on a 10-yard run behind incisive blocks by left guard Aaron Taylor and fullback William Henderson.
Three possessions later, the Chargers ended their drought with a 43-yard field goal by John Carney, reducing the Packers' margin to 7-3...the closest it was to be during the afternoon.
The Packers, determined this state of affairs was not going to continue, retaliated with a 6-play 80-yard drive, a march which included a 19-yard run by Bennett and a 28-yard Brett Favre strike to Don Beebe. Favre completed the project with a 19-yard bullseye to split end Antonio Freeman and, with Chris Jacke's conversion, Green Bay was out front, 14-3.
The next Green Bay possession was a thing of beauty. Favre presided over an 88-yard, 17-play, 9-minute and 24-second drive which he culminated by hitting Henderson with an 8-yard throw for the score. It subsequently sent the Packers into the intermission with a 21-3 lead.
In the third quarter, Favre engineered another scoring drive - this one a 9-play 50-yard effort he finished off with a 7-yard strike to tight end Keith Jackson in the heart of the south end zone.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Chargers found some consolation when cornerback Willie Clark picked off a Favre pass at the Green Bay 35-yard line and, 5 plays later, quarterback Stan Humphries fired a 9-yard scoring pass to wideout Tony Martin.
There was a modicum of concern when the invariably reliable Bennett fumbled on first down following the kickoff and linebacker Lewis Bush recovered at the Green Bay 34-yard line. But strong safety LeRoy Butler spared the Packers any further embarrassment, waylaying a Humphries pass on the fifth play of the San Diego series and veering to his left down the west sideline, cantered all the way into the end zone-90 yards distant.
If there were any lingering doubts concerning the outcome, Desmond Howard laid to those to rest by shortly returning a San Diego punt 65 yards for a the game's final touchdown with just under 5 minutes remaining in the game.
Favre, the league's leading passer entering week three, completed 22 of 34 passes for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns, the latter swelling his TD total to 10 for the season and 81 in his past 35 games.
Reggie, Gilbert, and Sean gang up on the Chargers' running game |
He utilized 8 receivers in the process, with flanker Robert Brooks his most frequent target. Brooks closed out the afternoon with 8 receptions for 108 yards - the 12th regular-season 100-yard receiving game of his career and his second in succession, following a 130-yard effort against Philadelphia six days earlier.
Bennett had another productive rushing performance, gaining 65 yards in 13 plays for an impressive 5.0-yard average per carry. He did, however, see his streak of 726 consecutive carries without a fumble end when he lost the football on his last attempt of the day.
The defense, continuing its aggressive modus operandi, registered 3 more takeaways, intercepting Humphries twice and recovering a San Diego fumble. The new "acquisitions" padded their season total to 13 in just 3 games.
The defensive line also put heavy pressure on Humphries, "book ends" Reggie White and Sean Jones each sacking him twice for a total of 31 yards in losses. White, pro football's "official" all-time sack leader, swelled his career total to 159.5 in 171 games while Jones upped his aggregate to 110 in 189 games. |
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