-ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE not had overly pleasant experiences in Raymond James Stadium to date, the Packers have held their own on Tampa turf over the history of the rivalry. They posted an 11-7-1 record in the former Tampa Stadium, prior to going 0-4 in Raymond James to date, and thus enter this afternoon's game with an overall, .500 mark (11-11-1) in Tampa.
-BRETT FAVRE CAN MAKE history in yet another major statistical category today by authoring his 20th touchdown pass of the season. It would be the ninth consecutive year he has thrown for 20 or more touchdowns in a season, making him only the second player in NFL history to do so and leaving him only one behind the all-time leader, Dan Marino, who had 10 such consecutive seasons during his NFL career.
-FAVRE TODAY is also playing in his 170th consecutive game, thus extending the second longest such streak in Green Bay annals (behind Forrest Gregg's 187 straight). He likewise will be making his 168th consecutive start, extending his NFL record for quarterbacks. The latter skein also represents the longest active starting streak for any NFL player.
-IF AHMAN GREEN should today match his most recent rushing effort against the Buccaneers, he would become a 1,000-yard rusher for the third consecutive year. Green, who goes into action with 833 yards in 192 carries, gained a career-high 169 yards the last time he saw the Bucs - in Green Bay's Lambeau Field Nov. 4, 2001.
If successful in scaling the "grand" plateau this afternoon, he would become the third player in Packers history to rush for 1,000 yards in three or more consecutive seasons, joining Jim Taylor, who had 5 (1960-64) and John Brockington, who had 3 (1971-73).
-GREEN, WITH 13 100-YARD rushing games, needs 100 yards this afternoon to pass Brockington for the second-most 100-yard games in club annals. Jim Taylor is the team's all-time leader with 26.
-PLACEKICKER RYAN LONGWELL, who has registered 686 points, needs just 14 to become only the fourth player in Packers history to score 700 points in a career. Don Hutson is the all-time leader (823), followed by Chris Jacke (820) and Paul Hornung (760).
-A 'GRAND' OPPORTUNITY?: Split end Donald Driver would need a career-best effort to do so in order to get it done today but, with 838 yards thus far, he soon should become the Packers' first 1,000-yard receiver since 1999, when Antonio Freeman weighed in with 1,074 yards and Bill Schroeder with 1,051. Driver, of course, would be recording the first 1,000-yard season of his four-year NFL career.
-IF DEFENSIVE END KABEER GBAJA-BIAMILA records a sack today, he will become the first Packers defender to post back-to-back, double-digit sack seasons since Reggie White (1997-98). Gbaja-Biamila, who enters this afternoon's game with 9 sacks this season (6 in the last 4 games) tied for fourth place in the NFL in 2001 with 13.5.
In the process, Kabeer has averaged virtually one sack per game, having registered 22.5 in 26 games.
White posted 11 sacks in 1997 and 16 in 1998.
-HAPPY 'ANNIVERSARY:' This afternoon's contest more or less marks the 25th anniversary of the Packers-Bucs rivalry's launching. Today's principals met for the first time - in former Tampa Stadium - on Oct. 23, 1977, The Packers prevailed, 13-0, running back Eric Torkelson scoring the game's only touchdown on a 5-yard run following Jim "Gumbo" Gueno's block of a Tampa Bay punt and Chester Marcol kicking a pair of field goals for Green Bay.
-NEXT WEEK: The Packers begin a two-week "home stand," returning to Lambeau Field Sunday (Dec. 1) to host the Chicago Bears in an NFC North Division rematch, with kickoff set for 12 noon, CST (Wisconsin time).
Fellow NFC North rival Minnesota follows the Bears into "Lambeau" Sunday evening, Dec. 8.
