Brett Favre has always been the first person to say that you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to his style of quarterbacking.
So it doesn't make Favre red-faced to know as he's closing in on Dan Marino's all-time record of 420 touchdown passes, he's also on the verge of George Blanda's record of 277 interceptions.
Favre enters this week's game with 417 touchdowns and 275 interceptions, and as he stands just 56 pass attempts from surpassing Marino in that category, it only stands to reason to him that he's nearing the top of both the touchdown and interception list.
"You can't have all the good records, that's the way I look at it," Favre said during his Wednesday press conference. "George Blanda was a pretty good player, I think."
With both records about to become his, Favre reflected on Wednesday on the best touchdown of his career as well as the worst interception.
The former was easy for him to recall. It was his first pass in Super Bowl XXXI against New England, a 54-yard TD strike to Andre Rison when he audibled to a play called "Razor."
Favre said that based on his film study and his first look at the line of scrimmage in the game, he was expecting the Patriots to be playing a "Cover Zero" defense, which means there's no deep safety. "Razor" was the best call against that coverage, only there was the possibility of some confusion because the offense normally ran "Razor" in a one-tight end/two-receiver set, with the receiver on the tight end side lined up off the ball running a deep post.
But when Favre audibled to "Razor" in this instance, the offense had two tight ends in the game, meaning both receivers were lined up off the ball, so Favre was hoping they wouldn't both run the same route.
"All that was going through my mind at that particular point, on top of, 'I sure hope they're in the defense I think they are,'" Favre said. "And it just worked out perfectly."
As for the worst interception, there were a few choices in Favre's mind, but the most-discussed was his famous "from the knees" throw in Detroit that was picked off and returned for a touchdown. It happened on Sept. 28, 1997, with the Packers facing third-and-3 near midfield.
Favre tripped on one of his linemen as he dropped back to pass, and he saw his receiver in the flat.
"I do remember he was open, but I was looking at it from a different angle, from right here," Favre said jokingly, placing his hand just a couple of feet above the ground.
"All I was thinking as I was throwing it was, 'This is going to be an unbelievable play. How many guys throw it from their knees?' I really was thinking that at that time."
Only Detroit linebacker Reggie Brown stepped in the path of the throw, picked it off, and returned it 45 yards for a score, a key play in the Packers' 26-15 loss that day.
Favre said he tried to tell head coach Mike Holmgren on the sidelines that he had Sharpe open, but Holmgren wasn't interested in hearing it.
"I could not convince him after that I thought it was going to be a great play," Favre said. "So if you ask Mike, he'd probably say that was one of the worst. If you ask me, it was that close (placing his thumb and forefinger a half-inch apart) to being an unbelievable play."
But attempting plays like that over the last 17 years is just as responsible for his touchdown total as his interception total, according to Favre.
"There have been some bad plays, some bonehead plays, whatever you want to call it," he said. "But a lot of those good ones would not be there if it wasn't for taking a chance, and for me, it has been well worth the risk."
One-on-one
This Sunday's NFL Today show on CBS (11 a.m.-noon CT) will include an interview of Brett Favre conducted by former Miami quarterback and current broadcaster Dan Marino.
Favre is closing in on Marino's all-time record for touchdown passes, as well as his records for pass attempts and passing yardage.
The Packers-Chargers game is being broadcast by CBS on Sunday. Kickoff is at noon.
Health concerns
A total of 15 players are listed on the injury report this week for the Packers, a season high. Head Coach Mike McCarthy said he would have a better idea on Thursday which players might be in jeopardy of missing the game against the Chargers, but the overall health of the team is his top concern right now.
Of those 15, two have been ruled out for Sunday's game - defensive end Michael Montgomery (knee) and offensive lineman Tony Palmer (neck). McCarthy said Palmer will be wearing a neck brace for six weeks to protect the small bone fracture he has, and he will be re-evaluated after that time passes.
Five other players did not participate in practice on Wednesday - tight end Bubba Franks (knee), cornerbacks Al Harris (back) and Charles Woodson (hip), receiver Greg Jennings (hamstring) and defensive tackle Corey Williams (ankle). McCarthy said all those players focused strictly on rehab on Wednesday and would be evaluated again Thursday.
Listed as limited participation in practice were tackle Chad Clifton (ankle), defensive ends Cullen Jenkins (wrist) and Aaron Kampman (rib), defensive tackle Johnny Jolly (heel), offensive linemen Tony Moll (neck) and Jason Spitz (calf), running back Vernand Morency (knee) and safety Aaron Rouse (hamstring).
{sportsad300}Taking a dive
There's a fine line for football players between standing up for your teammates and drawing the officials' ire for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Linebacker Brady Poppinga tried to walk that line in the first quarter last Sunday against the Giants, and he insists he didn't cross it, even though he drew a 15-yard penalty.
On the second play from scrimmage, the Giants' Derrick Ward ripped off a 19-yard run, and right at the end of the play an unsuspecting A.J. Hawk was flattened by New York receiver Plaxico Burress, who hit Hawk legally but unnecessarily as Ward was going out of bounds. Poppinga went up to Burress and shoved him to the ground, drawing the flag. Only Poppinga said on Wednesday it only looked that way.
"I did not push him down," Poppinga said. "He fell down. It looked like I pushed him down, but it was like a charge in basketball. He completely flopped. It was one of those Shaq deals, where people see Shaq and they flop on the ground. That's how it was. A Shaq flop."
Fortunately for the Packers, the Giants missed a field goal on that drive and the penalty was ultimately harmless. But Poppinga said he would stand up for his teammate again in a heartbeat.
"It was clearly behind the ball and A.J. was not looking at him," Poppinga said. "It's like, 'Why don't you just hit him in the back?' It was the same thing in my opinion.
"I was just going to grab him, get in his face and let him know, 'I saw what you did, it's unacceptable, and if you're coming across the middle and the ball is coming to you and it's clearly legal, I'm not going to let up.'"
Sack masters
For the first time in three years on Sunday, the top two sack leaders from the previous season will go head-to-head in the regular season.
San Diego's Shawne Merriman (17 sacks) and Green Bay's Aaron Kampman (15.5) finished 1-2 in the league in sacks in 2006.
The last time such a matchup occurred was in 2004, when the New York Giants' Michael Strahan and the Chicago Bears' Adewale Ogunleye met. In 2003, Ogunleye led the AFC in sacks while playing for the Miami Dolphins.
Since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, Sunday will mark the 11th time the top two sack leaders from the previous season will face each other, and the fourth time that those two players also led their respective conferences in sacks, as Merriman and Kampman did.
The only other time a Green Bay player was involved in such a matchup was in 1990. The previous year, Minnesota's Chris Coleman and the Packers' Tim Harris were the league's sack leaders.
