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| Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 9 pm at Sun Devil Stadium |
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| Packers |
10 |
3 |
16 |
0 |
29 |
| Cardinals |
7 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
21 |
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Packers Player Of The Game:
Finishing the game with three unassisted tackles, linebacker Na'il Diggs forced a crucial fumble when he fought off his block and wrapped-up running back Thomas Jones shy of the line of scrimmage, stripping the ball in the process. Vonnie Holliday covered the Jones fumble and three plays later the Packers had their first touchdown courtesy of a 21-yard pass from Brett Favre to Donald Driver (0:39, 1st quarter).
Cardinals Player Of The Game:
With the game seemingly out of reach, backup wide receiver Jason McAddley caught a Preston Parsons pass near midfield, sliding to the ground in the process. However, while Packers defensive backs George White and Erwin Swiney looked on, McAddley jumped to his feet before he was touched down, polishing off what was a 74-yard touchdown reception and the play of the game for the Cardinals (1:00, 4th quarter). McAddley finished the game with a team-high four receptions and 119 yards.
Stat Of The Game:
The Packers demonstrated that they can pressure opposing quarterbacks, with seven players contributing to the teams' seven sacks. Earning sacks for the Green and Gold were Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Vonnie Holliday, Aaron Kampman, Billy Lyon, Hardy Nickerson, Jared Tomich and Steve Warren.
THEY SAID IT:
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman -
On injuries: "David Martin got poked in the eye in the second quarter, did not return. Paris Lenon had a groin strain and Marcus Wilkins had some leg cramps. Ahman Green tweaked his groin about the fifth carry, which was his last carry, and then just some bumps and bruises, nothing that I know of right now that's significant."
On punt returns: "I thought Darrien (Gordon) did a nice job when called upon. The first one was tough, he didn't get a lot of blocking on that, the gunner was right there on top of him, but the second and third one he had some very nice returns, did a nice job, made someone miss. That's what you need to do in order to be a good return man."
On backup running backs Rondell Mealey and Tony Fisher: "I think they're catching the ball extremely well, particularly Fisher. He made a couple of great catches out of the backfield, one on a swing pass down the near sideline. No, I don't think it's totally played out at all. I think we have to let this thing play out and continue to work them and see where they are. That will be a work in progress the entire preseason in my mind."
On wide receivers: "I thought Donald Driver stepped up and made some plays, as did Charles Lee. (Javon) Walker had a pass, we call it a dagger pass, which is a deep crossing pass, thrown a little bit behind him, we'd like to see him catch that. He had a couple there that he should have caught, possibly, then he came back in the second half and made some nice catches that put him back on board again. So I was pleased with the receivers overall, I thought they did a nice job."
On starting defense: "I'm really proud of our defense, I thought we continued to put pressure on the quarterback. We forced five turnovers and were able to pressure the quarterback with a four-man rush, as well as we also had a six-man now and then. I was pleased with our defensive effort. I thought they did a fine job. I was disappointed on the sudden change on the turnover on the 20 that we allowed them to score that touchdown, but other than that I thought they played very well."
On if he was pleased with effort of backup defense: "Not really, not at the end of the game. We lost the fourth quarter there and gave up some big plays, so no, not really. That screen play it looked like no one was even there and then the pass for the touchdown, he went down to the ground and we went right by and didn't down him, that's really frustrating."
On Terry Glenn not making the trip: "That was my decision . . . If you get better rehab inside and not be at practice, that's been a policy of mine for a long time . . . Same thing with travel, if you can get better rehab at home than here, then we leave guys at home."
Darrien Gordon -
On if he sees himself as the team's No. 1 punt returner: "There's always the need for a punt returner, that's why I thought I was brought in here and I think that the team appreciates what I will be able to do. If I'm not the guy it's going to be somebody else, but I'm going to move my stuff up here. I already have my truck up here . . . (Tonight) the guys did a great job blocking. If the guys block like that all year it doesn't matter who we put back there, we'll be successful."
Torrance Marshall -
On interception return for touchdown: "It was nice to score a touchdown. My mom's watching the game so that's kind of cool, hopefully she got to stay up late, because she's in Miami so hopefully she's happy with that."
Vonnie Holliday -
On playing in his first preseason game: "It was good, it felt good to be out there, it felt good to get a hit on the quarterback, the fumble recovery was big. I'm just excited about this team, we had some key acquisitions in the offseason, signed Joe Johnson and Hardy Nickerson, those guys come out there they fly around, they add energy to our defense. Right now, I'm really looking forward to the regular season."
Darren Sharper -
On potential of defense: "We feel our defense is coming along. I don't think a lot of people know how strong our defense can be -- we might not even know how strong our defense can be. We're going to keep playing, keep flying around. We've got some guys that have the energy, and that's what we need to continue to play at a high level. I tell you what, you look all around, we have experience in the secondary, we've got Hardy in the middle, the two guys outside of him have a lot of experience and then you look at the guys up front . . . I think our front four is really going to take over a lot of games."
Javon Walker -
On reason for his dropped passes: "I don't know, you drop some, you don't catch them all. I'll come back next week and learn and do some of the things that I didn't do right this game and move to another level."
Joe Johnson -
On first unit playing more in second game, compared to six downs at Philadelphia: "It felt pretty good, we got a chance to get out there and bust a good sweat so we got a little lung work today, so it was good. t's something we're going to need when we get into the regular season. Obviously every player is going to play a lot more plays in the regular season so it's good in the preseason just to get enough live snaps to get yourself into shape."
Charles Lee -
On if he pushed-off on the defensive back when his touchdown reception was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty: "I think I did. I pretty much just tried to swat him by because me and Brett, we've been working on that little back-shoulder throw. I'm not as fast as Donald (Driver) and Javon (Walker), they can really get on top of guys, so I was just basically trying to set him up with a swat-by and just catch the ball. The referee talked to me about it, just said use more of your elbow instead of putting your hand on his back, so I think that was an indicator."
On if he feels pressure to prove himself in these preseason games: "The coaching staff and the people upstairs, they're aware of my talents and what I can do. The only thing for me is to keep going out and trying to improve day in and day out. Each day I try to take a different phase of the game and try to focus more on that, that just helps me get along and helps me work a little harder."
GAME NOTES
The announced attendance at Sun Devil Stadium was 35,716.
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Setup by an 18-yard pass to Nathan Poole and a 33-yard pass to Tywan Mitchell, the Cardinals added another late score on a 1-yard run by Damien Anderson through the right side of the line (1:00, 4th quarter). The Cardinals scoring drive was 10 plays, 70 yards. Time of drive was 2:25.
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The Cardinals appeared ready to add another score after a 45-yard reception by Damien Anderson, but an Aaron Kampman sack pushed Arizona back, setting up a sack-and-strip by Jared Tomich. Ken Kocher recovered, returning possession to the Packers (5:13, 4th quarter).
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A Packers miscue let the Cardinals get back on the scoreboard. Wide receiver Jason McAddley fell to the ground while making a reception near midfield, however neither Packers defensive backs George White or Erwin Swiney touched McAddley down, resulting in a 74-yard touchdown (9:41, 4th quarter).
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The Packers defense scored again when McCown fired a pass into the helmet of Aaron Fields, sending the ball skyward and allowing Torrance Marshall to make the deflection-reception and run untouched 18 yards into the end zone (1:35, 3rd quarter).
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One play after Billy Lyon dropped Josh McCown for a sack, Steve Warren wrapped up the backup quarterback in the backfield, forcing a fumble into the end zone. Aaron Fields rolled over top of the ball, allowing McCown to recover his own fumble, resulting in a safety (4:31, 3rd quarter).
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It didn't take long for the Packers to get on the scoreboard in the second half. Doug Pederson found Charles Lee down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown (12:39, 3rd quarter). The Packers scoring drive was 6 plays, 70 yards. Time of the drive was 2:21.
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Halftime.
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The Packers appeared to have their second touchdown of the night when Favre located Charles Lee in the right corner of the end zone, but an offensive pass interference call negated the play and pushed Green Bay back to the 49-yard-line. A Mealey rush and a 30-yard catch-and-run by Javon Walker brought the Packers inside the 10-yard-line.
Green Bay was forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Longwell (3:05, 2nd quarter). Longwell is now 4-of-4 on field goals this preseason, connecting from 23, 25, 41 and 44. The Packers scoring drive was 10 plays, 61 yards. Time of drive was 5:32.
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After Diggs' 9-yard tackle for loss, Hardy Nickerson and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila dropped Arizona quarterback Jake Plummer on successive plays for a pair of sacks to start the second quarter and force a Cardinal punt.
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The fumble by Jones gave the Packers field position at the 24-yard-line. Three plays later, Driver atoned for a drop with a 21-yard touchdown reception (0:39, 1st quarter). The Packers scoring drive was 3 plays, 24 yards. Time of drive was 0:49.
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Na'il Diggs escaped his block to wrap-up Jones for a 3-yard-loss. While on his back, Diggs stripped the ball from Jones – who had yet to touch the ground – and Vonnie Holliday recovered the fumble (1:28, 1st quarter). Arizona challenged the ruling, but instant replay confirmed the call on the field resulting in possession to Green Bay at the Cardinals 24-yard-line.
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After a Donald Driver reception and a Rondell Mealey run helped carry the Packers down the field in their second drive of the night, Green Bay avoided its second turnover when Mark Tauscher recovered a Brett Favre fumble. The Packers then settled for a 44-yard Ryan Longwell field goal to get on the board (6:01, 1st quarter). The Packers scoring drive was 12 plays, 51 yards. Time of drive was 5:56.
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After Ahman Green's fumble gave Arizona possession at the Green Bay 22-yard-line, quarterback Jake Plummer found David Boston across the middle for a 16-yard gain. Arizona's Thomas Jones punched a 2-yard run through the left side of the line for the first score of the game (11:57, 1st quarter). Arizona's scoring drive was 4 plays, 21 yards. Time of drive was 1:31.
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Last week Cletidus Hunt earned the first sack of the game for the Packers. Today he earned the first tackle-for-loss, wrapping up Thomas Jones for a loss of 3.
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Temperature at kickoff is 105 degrees.
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The following players will not play tonight due to injury: Marques Anderson (hamstring), Najeh Davenport (foot), Earl Dotson (knee, hamstring), Antuan Edwards (groin), Robert Ferguson (groin), Mike Flanagan (thumb), Chris Gall (knee), Terry Glenn (knee), Anthony Sessions (shoulder), Keith Thibodeaux and Nate Wayne (knee).
Paris Lenon will start in place of Wayne. Matt Bowen will start in place of Edwards. Charles Lee will start in place of Ferguson. Donald Driver will start in place of Glenn. |
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