DETROIT - Quarterback Brett Favre's big day at Ford Field on Sunday included not only a major career milestone but also a touchdown drive on which he showed Packers fans some vintage Favre.
Favre's 400th career TD pass came on just his fifth pass of the game, a 75-yard catch-and-run by rookie Greg Jennings to give the Packers an early 7-0 lead.
But it was on a third-quarter scoring drive when Favre showed some of his best stuff.
On the Packers' first possession of the second half, Favre drove the offense 80 yards in 10 plays to give Green Bay a 24-14 lead. Three times on that drive, Favre scrambled to his right to buy some time when no one was open initially, and each time he was able to complete a difficult pass to keep the offense moving.
"That's Brett," fullback William Henderson said. "When we give him time, he can make things happen."
Early on that drive with the Packers facing third-and-10 from their own 32, Favre rolled to his right and waited as long as he could as he neared the sideline. At the last possible moment, he zipped a pass to Ahman Green for 13 yards, and a late hit on Favre by Kalimba Edwards added another 15 yards to the gain.
Three plays later, facing third-and-7, Favre scrambled to his right and found Koren Robinson open downfield for a 24-yard completion to the Detroit 13.
Then two plays after that, another roll to the right bought enough time for Donald Driver to sneak open just across the goal line, and Favre's bullet was between the numbers for a 5-yard TD pass.
"He was getting out of the pocket and making some plays and looking like Brett Favre of old," Lions linebacker Boss Bailey said.
Opposing defenders talk all the time about how Favre can make plays not a lot of other quarterbacks can make, and all three of those in the third quarter were prime examples.
"Brett's still a top-tier quarterback," offensive tackle Mark Tauscher said. "I don't know where people get ideas that he's not up to par or as good as he used to be. On any given Sunday that guy can win a game for you, and today he stepped up. The last two weeks he's played great football."
Favre passed for exactly 340 yards and three TDs for the second consecutive week, and he's thrown just one interception in that time.
Favre also could be seen raucously celebrating each of the three TD passes and having the kind of fun that probably convinced him to keep playing after contemplating retirement in the offseason.
"He was enjoying himself, and when he's enjoying himself he plays well," Driver said. "When he's trying to make everything happen, that's when everything seems to go downhill. But he played well today, he was excited, he was having fun. He was kind of pumping guys up as we were driving the ball down the field."
Favre now has 402 touchdown passes for his career, 18 shy of the NFL record of 420 set by Dan Marino. Three per week may be a difficult pace to maintain, but if he does he could be going for that record by mid-November.
"The crazy thing about Brett Favre is he's not done," Henderson said. "He can do as much as he wants. There will be time for him to have several more touchdown passes."
