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Green
Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) gets taken down
by Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams (93)
during the first half of an NFL football game on Sunday in
Green Bay
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GREEN BAY -
The hits just keep on coming for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron
Rodgers, who has experienced a season's worth of sacks in seven
games. All that punishment is beginning to take its toll.
Rodgers limped away from Sunday's
loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a sprained toe on one foot and a
nagging sprain on the other. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said
Rodgers could miss time in practice this week but is expected to
play Sunday at Tampa Bay without losing mobility.
Rodgers has been sacked a
league-worst 31 times this season, including six by Minnesota on
Sunday.
"Our sack numbers are clearly
out of balance," McCarthy said. "That's something we'll
continue to work through."
But Rodgers' inability to stay
upright is only one of the glaring problems facing the Packers
(4-3), who were put in their place — a distant second place in the
NFC North — by their former quarterback, Brett Favre.
"Their quarterback has made a
big impact," McCarthy said of Favre. "That's something,
that quarterback productivity, they haven't had in the last three
years that we have played them."
Meanwhile, the Packers keep showing
they're not quite ready for prime time.
They're smarting from yet another
round of costly, preventable penalties and trying to quell criticism
of Dom Capers' new 3-4 defense from yet another veteran player.
Beyond that, McCarthy said linebacker
Brandon Chillar has a broken hand and was scheduled to have surgery
Monday. He is expected to miss at least two weeks before returning
to play with a club cast, and his role will be filled by A.J. Hawk
or Desmond Bishop. The so-called "Big Okie" package, where
Chillar plays in place of a safety, is on the shelf for now.
McCarthy was typically measured in
his assessment of the Packers' play Monday, but had sharp words for
defensive lineman Johnny Jolly, whose personal foul head-butting
penalty wiped out a third-down stop and set up the Vikings' first
touchdown of the game.
Jolly didn't seem particularly
repentant Sunday night.
"It is what it is," Jolly
said. "That didn't cause (us to lose) the game."
Jolly's comments didn't sit well with
McCarthy, who has drawn some criticism for his team's penchant for
penalties over the last two-plus seasons.
"There's no reason for it,
there's no explanation for it," McCarthy said. "He needs
to be more accountable for that."
McCarthy said he planned to have
discussions with Jolly and fellow defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins,
who said after Sunday's game that the defense — which failed to
sack Favre in two games — was "in handcuffs" in Capers'
scheme.
"It's tough," Jenkins said.
"You come into the season with new stuff and you're told we're
going to give you opportunities to do this and do opportunities to
do that, and then you're not given them."
McCarthy seemed to suggest that
Jenkins' comments sounded selfish.
"I'm not interested in having
Pro Bowl players and having a 27th-ranked defense," McCarthy
said. "Our interest and our focus is on being a top-three
defense in the league. It's utilizing all of our players. Sometimes
players are asked to do things, to sacrifice so someone else can
benefit from it, and that's part of the deal. That's the way we
operate. We have a lot of good players on defense. It's not about
one guy getting his."
Cornerback Charles Woodson took issue
with Capers' play selection after the Packers' first loss to the
Vikings Oct. 5, earning him a talking-to. Woodson didn't speak out
after Sunday's game.
Capers said he had spoken with
Jenkins, and was confident that everyone was on the "same
page."
As for not putting enough pressure on
Favre, McCarthy said a team's defensive scheme or game plan doesn't
matter if players aren't consistently beating the guy in front of
them.
"It's about winning one-on-ones,
whether you are run blocking or you're in a pass rush,"
McCarthy said. "That's football."
Meanwhile, McCarthy did not commit to
a starting offensive line, saying he would take the week to examine
his options.
McCarthy had veteran tackles Chad
Clifton and Mark Tauscher active on Sunday, but chose not to replace
rookie left tackle T.J. Lang or third-year right tackle Allen Barbre.
Vikings defensive ends Jared Allen and Ray Edwards combined for five
sacks on Sunday.
In all, McCarthy said the season
isn't lost but the Packers must improve.
"We're 4-3 for good
reason," he said. "I think we have not handled two
prime-time games very well. I'm confident that we'll learn from
these experiences. I thought we would have learned more from the
first game (in Minnesota) to this one. We had some repeated
mistakes. That's frustrating, and something that we take with full
accountability as coaches."
GREEN BAY -
Brett Favre's nerves were diminished playing against his former team
this time. His resolve to beat the Packers again wasn't.
"We played about as good as we
could have played," said Favre, who threw four TD passes to
lead Minnesota to a 38-26 win over the Packers on Sunday.
Favre turned in another memorable
performance at Lambeau Field — his first as a visitor — against
the franchise he helped resurrect and restore to its Titletown
moniker in the 1990s. He's now thrown seven TDs and no interceptions
in two wins against them this season.
Favre's consistency has propelled the
Vikings to a 7-1 mark, and at the season's halfway point, Minnesota
has a 2½-game advantage in the NFC North.
"We have had some tough tests,
and we have responded very well," said Favre, who finished 17
of 28 for 244 yards. "We are 7-1, and granted, that is very
good, but we haven't done anything yet."
Favre's TD binge tied Dan Marino for
one of the few records the former Dolphins quarterback still holds
with 21 career games of at least four TD tosses.
Just two years ago, Favre led Green
Bay to a 7-1 start, too. But he failed to add to his only Super Bowl
title in 1997 and the Packers lost in overtime in the NFC
Championship to the New York Giants in what appeared to be his final
game at Lambeau in January 2008.
He turned 40 last month but has
flourished in his return to an offensive system he thrived in for 16
years with Green Bay.
"There is no such thing as too
many good players or too many tools in the tool box," said
Vikings coach Brad Childress, who was criticized for his decision to
bring Favre in. "I don't know about vindication ... I didn't
bring him in to compete. That's what he was going to do at Green
Bay. He was going to come in and start, and rightfully so. He's done
a great job."
Favre's numbers don't lie.
He now has 16 TD passes against just
three interceptions, completing 67.9 percent of his throws. He's on
pace to have the fewest interceptions in his career. The all-time
leader never threw fewer than 13 in his 16 years with the Packers.
The Vikings' biggest offseason
acquisition also got plenty of help from his crew — first-round
pick Percy Harvin had 84 yards receiving and a touchdown on five
catches and added 175 return yards.
"The big thing is just hitting
the hole and not do a whole lot of dancing," said Harvin, who
had a 51-yard TD reception and a 77-yard kick return to keep giving
Minnesota a short field to work with. "I just tell them —
give me a hole and I'm going to hit it 100 miles per hour."
Adrian Peterson added several big
hits, too, bowling over Packers defenders and contributing 97 yards
rushing and a touchdown. But the focus — and circus — was
centered squarely on No. 4.
A camera followed him the entire game
that fans could watch on a Webcast. A huge crowd of journalists
crowded him on the field just after time expired and fans showed
their support, or disgust, with his decision to don Vikings purple.
"Hey Favre Halloween is over!
Take off that silly purple costume," read one sign held by a
man in an Aaron Rodgers' jersey.
But Rodgers, Favre's replacement,
could do little to stop the tide despite rallying the Packers with
17 straight points to close the deficit to 24-20 in the second half
and later 31-26. Rodgers threw for 287 yards and three TD passes
himself, but Green Bay again failed to protect their new franchise
quarterback.
Rodgers was sacked six times in the
rematch after taking eight sacks in Minnesota's 30-23 win on Oct. 5.
Jared Allen tormented Rodgers again with three more sacks. The
defensive end has all but three of his 10½ sacks this season
against Green Bay.
"It's tough to take that many
shots," Rodgers said.
While Rodgers danced and darted to
try to buy time, his counterpart was given plenty of time to look
downfield.
Just how good was Favre?
He silenced a record regular-season
crowd of 71,213 that primarily booed him throughout, distributed 17
receptions to seven different receivers and was not sacked. Favre
even bent over to make sure Greg Jennings wasn't seriously hurt
after the Packers wide receiver was slow to get up after a play late
in the fourth quarter near the Vikings' sideline.
Favre's presence now has the Vikings
on the path to a special season.
"We're exactly where we want to
be," Allen said. "This is a team that continues to learn
from our victories and from our losses."
Or loss.
"It's been amazing,"
Peterson said. "Going into the bye, we're in a comfortable
position. We get time to relax now with our families, come back for
the second half and continue it."
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