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| Monday, November 4, 2002 - 8 pm at Lambeau Field |
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| Dolphins |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
10 |
| Packers |
0 |
14 |
10 |
0 |
24 |
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Packers Player Of The Game
Nate Wayne was the defense's leading playmaker on a night when the defense stole the show. In addition to his nine tackles, Wayne forced and recovered a fumble and came up with an interception. He also had two additional passes defensed.
Dolphins Player Of The Game
Although held in check by the Packers' defense, Ricky Williams was still the Dolphins' offensive force, tallying 47 yards on the ground in 14 carries and 23 yards through the air on four receptions.
Stat Of The Game
Causing four turnovers, the Packers increased their season total in takeaways to 27. The Packers lead the NFL in that category, followed next by Tampa Bay at 22. Monday night, the Packers forced two turnovers and two interceptions.
Play Of The Game
With time winding down in the third quarter, the Dolphins' seemed poised to cut the Packers' 17-0 lead down to just seven points. Having driven from their own 11-yard-line, the Dolphins faced first-and-10 at the Packers 14-yard-line. But when Ray Lucas attempted to hit Ed Perry near the 10-yard-line, Packers safety Darren Sharper pounced on the pass for an interception and 81-yard return to the end zone. Perhaps a 14-point swing, Sharper's interception and return gave the Packers a comfortable 24-point cushion going into the final quarter of play.
THEY SAID IT:
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman --
On Brett Favre's condition after the game: "He came out quite well. He was limping right at the end of the half, but a lot of that had to do with when you play with a brace. The knee cramped up on him just a little bit. But it didn't seem like he was any worse off at the end of the game than he was at the beginning of the game so I'd say he came out in pretty good shape."
On the hit that Favre took on the sack: "Well obviously there was some concern there, but he jumped up and I asked him how he was. He said he was fine so we went on with him. Really the only significance, I think it stiffened up a little bit at the end of the game. He had a little cramp at the end of the half, but other than that I thought he held up quite well."
On performance of defense: "Well the defense, I believe, has only allowed one touchdown in two ballgames. I thought they played an outstanding football game. They applied pressure on the quarterback, I thought they did a great job of stifling their running game. They have a great running attack and we held in there pretty good."
Defensive Coordinator Ed Donatell --
On causing turnovers: "We had a really good practice week, our preparation was great in taking the ball away. We demonstrated it in practice, so it doesn't surprise us when it shows up in the game. We have a great team mindset in that area right now, and we will continue to do that in the second half (of the season)."
On win: "We really like that we won this football game, but there's still room to improve. We look at every football game and say, what if that would have been a playoff game? Are you playing to that level? And there's still a lot of areas to improve. We're still a work in progress. We love the energy that our guys are playing with, we love the takeaways because it's a great advantage for our football team."
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila --
On pressuring quarterback: "I don't go in there and say I'm going to predict three sacks, I go in there saying I'm going to do everything in my power to put pressure on the quarterback. I may not sometimes put pressure on the quarterback, but I may cause double-teams, triple-teams, whatever it may be, as long as I'm making myself a force, eventually those pressures will turn into sacks. Sacks is not what wins games, it's putting pressure on the quarterback, getting them to throw out of rhythm, to throw early, to do things that he doesn't necessarily want to do."
On Coach Sherman's 'one-day-at-a-time' approach: "It's not that he's just saying it, we believe it I think. I think that we believe that we need to take it one day at a time. We're still a work in progress, we still have so much work. Coach Sherman is treating it like that. When we come in here, we come in as if we lost. The same way as when we lost to the Saints, we come in here and we know we have to come back and work again hard, watch film, stay in for special teams . . . We're practicing like we're losing. We still have that urgency to keep pushing forward."
William Henderson --
On Ahman Green: "It's always important to establish a run and Coach (Sherman) said that from the beginning of the year. We want to establish a run and make teams react to our passing game. Ahman is a great back, without a doubt. He makes things happen. He can turn a small play into a huge play. He's one of the defense's biggest nightmares because he's a back who can run with power, but he's also got the ability to adjust his weight and move laterally. It's a linebacker's nightmare to try and tackle a guy like that."
On how this team compares to others he's played on: "Let's wait until the end of the year and then we'll do some comparisons. Right now we'll say this team is a very talented team, a very hungry bunch of young guys, we want to go out there and make plays. The great thing is, I think we have a lot of depth. When guys went down, the other guys were able to fill in and do what they do, make things happen and help the team not miss a beat. That's the most important thing. I'm very happy with the way this team is playing so far, but I know we've left a lot of yards on the field. I know the defense can do an even better job than they've done so far. We can be a lot better."
Vonnie Holliday --
On play of defense: "Things are just coming together. When guys got hurt and some new guys had to step in, we built depth. We grew as a team. Guys stepped in and started playing and playing well. Once the starters got back, we had to turn our game up to another level because the young guys came in and were playing good football. It just all came together tonight."
On strength of team: "It's too early to tell. No one is going to write about the Packers being 7-1 November 4. It's about how we finish. We are in a great situation right now, we've really positioned ourselves well, but we have to go out and finish this thing off."
On forcing turnovers: "To see Nate (Wayne) and Kabeer (Gbaja-Biamila) and all those guys digging at the ball like that, we see that every day in practice and it's certainly carrying over to the game. It's such an emphasis placed on that in practice and in our meeting rooms. It's really amazing to see it carry over to the field and see it play out. On that play with Nate Wayne, that's a play that we've seen so many times in practice. It's coached and it's drilled and that was just an instance it happened."
On playing with protective harness: "The harness was really restricting. In practice all week I was thinking maybe on game day we'll be able to loosen it up a little bit. I went out for warm-ups and it was fairly loose and I was feeling good about it and I could get into my stance. Once I came in (the locker room) and (Dr. Patrick McKenzie) checked me out, he made a big stink that he wanted me to keep that thing even tighter, so he tied me down even more. At times it feels like you're playing with one arm. I'm used to bench pressing guys off of me and throwing them around a little bit, but was unable to do that tonight. I'm going to have to come up with new, creative ways to play the game. In one aspect, it's kind of fun doing that. But my rugged style of play that I'm used to, I can't get away with that right now."
Darren Sharper --
On interception: "I saw him looking that way and just trusted my instincts. I was lucky to hold on to the ball, and lucky again to get into the end zone."
On limitations of hamstring injury: "I'm not as fast as I could be. You could probably see that on the return. But I was fast enough to get in the end zone. I'm glad none of the running backs or receivers were chasing me, let me put it that way."
Nate Wayne --
On success of defense: "It comes down to the defensive coaching staff. They're putting in a lot of hours coming up with good schemes. They're doing a great job and then it's up to us to go out and execute."
On forcing turnovers: "We look to try and give the ball back to our offense. We feel if we give the ball to our offense, our chances of winning are 100 percent."
Tyrone Williams --
On if Packers are team to beat: "Our record says that. It still has to be played on the football field, that's the bottom line. We like our chances against anybody. We have a big ballgame coming up this week, so we're trying to get that ballgame so to even make us a little better in the position of the league."
On forcing turnovers: "That's just something we do. We practice it every day. This is not some fluke, because we practice that on a consistent basis and the coaches stress it every day."
On Brett Favre: "Right now it ain't really hit me who I'm playing with and who I've played with. It won't hit me until I retire and I'm home somewhere, got a little fat or something, and then it'll hit me, I played with maybe the best quarterback to ever play. A guy who never misses work, he comes to play every day. He puts up 300 yards like it's nothing. It really ain't hit me. But one day I'll be back in Florida sitting around and it'll hit me and I'm going to call him and say, 'Man, let me get a jersey signed.'"
GAME NOTES:
By quarterbacking the Packers to a victory tonight, Brett Favre improved his 'home-in-the-cold' record (below 35 degrees) to 32-0 (26-0 regular season, 6-0 playoffs). Temperature at kickoff was 30 degrees.
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The official attendance at Lambeau Field was 63,284
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End of 4th quarter. Game over.
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Ray Lucas' 1-yard quarterback sneak earned the Dolphins their first touchdown of the game (1:31, 4th quarter). That's the first touchdown the Packers have allowed in eight quarters, and the second touchdown allowed in 12 quarters. The Dolphins scoring drive was 9 plays, 73 yards. Time of the drive was 1:53.
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Doug Pederson replaced Brett Favre at quarterback (7:30, 4th quarter). On the night, Favre completed 16 of 25 passes for 187 yards, one touchdown, one interception. He had two passes dropped.
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Olindo Mare's 46-yard field goal snapped a streak of four scoreless quarters enforced by the Packers defense (8:20, 4th quarter). The Dolphins scoring drive was 9 plays, 24 yards. Time of the drive was 3:59.
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End of 3rd quarter.
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Darren Sharper put a stop to a potential Dolphins scoring drive with an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown to close out the third quarter (0:00, 3rd quarter). Sharper's interception return is the fifth-longest in team history, providing Sharper with the fourth touchdown of his career, but first since his rookie season.
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The Packers' defense struck again. Tyrone Williams deflected a Ray Lucas pass, which was intercepted by Nate Wayne and returned to the Packers 42-yard-line (7:28, 3rd quarter).
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Ryan Longwell's 27-yard field goal increased the Packers' lead (9:52, 3rd quarter). Donald Driver led the drive with a 50-yard tackle-breaking catch-and-run. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 58 yards. Time of the drive was 3:58.
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Ray Lucas is back at quarterback for the Dolphins to start the second half.
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End of 2nd quarter. Halftime.
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Ahman Green followed a caravan of blockers en route to a 23-yard touchdown catch-and-run (0:46, 2nd quarter). The Packers started their possession at the Dolphins 44-yard-line. Favre completed four passes on the drive, dishing twice to Green and once each to Terry Glenn and Javon Walker. The Packers scoring drive was 4 plays, 44 yards. Time of the drive was 1:00.
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Dolphins quarterback Ray Lucas was injured after a hit by Vonnie Holliday. Lucas was replaced by Sage Rosenfels (2:43, 2nd quarter).
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After a pass interference penalty gave the Packers first-and-goal at the 1-yard-line, Ahman Green plowed through the line for the first touchdown of the night (10:25, 2nd quarter). The Packers drive started near midfield after McBride's fumble return. Donald Driver made an impressive leaping catch for a 27-yard-gain to start things off. Green made an 18-yard catch-and-run on third-and-long to keep the drive alive. The Packers scoring drive was 8 plays, 52 yards. Time of the drive was 4:27.
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The Dolphins' Cris Carter made an 11-yard reception for a Miami first down, but Tyrone Williams' hit forced a fumble that was recovered by Tod McBride. McBride returned the fumble 5 yards to the Packers 48-yard-line (14:52, 2nd quarter).
That's the 25th takeaway of the season for the Packers, the best in the NFL at present.
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End of 1st quarter.
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After a 19-yard run by Robert Edwards helped bring the Dolphins to midfield, Nate Wayne stripped Robert Edwards at the end of his 2-yard run. Wayne recovered the fumble at the Packers 46-yard-line (7:15, 1st quarter).
The fumble recovery by Wayne marked the Packers' 24th takeaway of the season, the best in the NFL thus far. Tampa Bay is second with 22.
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On their opening drive, the Packers drove 66 yards and faced second-and-goal at the 4-yard-line before Patrick Surtain's interception gave possession to Miami (8:50, 1st quarter). Surtain first tipped, then kicked a Favre pass before corralling it in the end zone. Favre had completed six of seven passes earlier on the drive, three them to Bubba Franks for a total of 29 yards. The interception was Favre's first in 87 pass attempts.
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Playing in his 167th consecutive regular season game tonight, Brett Favre moves past Willie Wood for the second-longest games-played streak in Packers history. Only Forrest Gregg played in more consecutive regular season games for the Packers, holding the record at 187. Also today, Favre extends his NFL record for consecutive regular season starts by a quarterback to 165. That's the longest active streak among NFL players at any position.
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Temperature at kickoff is 30 degrees.
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The following Packers players are inactive for tonight's contest: Karsten Bailey, Barrett Brooks, Tyrone Davis, Craig Nall (third quarterback), Jamal Reynolds, Steve Warren, Bryant Westbrook.
Vonnie Holliday, who missed the last four games with a torn pectoral muscle, will return to the starting lineup at 'power' defensive end, replacing Aaron Kampman.
Mike Flanagan will start in place of Chad Clifton at left tackle. Clifton (injured knee) is expected to play in a backup role.
Frank Winters will start at center in place of Flanagan. |
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