Posted on 09/16/2007 2:24:44 PM PDT by Kaslin
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Brett Favre picked a near-perfect way to become the winningest quarterback in NFL history.
Favre completed his first 14 passes of the second half and threw three touchdown passes to rally the Green Bay Packers to a 35-13 victory over Eli Manning and the New York Giants on Sunday.
The victory was the 149th of Favre's 17-year career and gave him one more than Hall of Famer John Elway.
It also gave the Packers their first 2-0 start since they won their first three in 2001.
The loss was the second straight for the undisciplined and error-prone Giants, something that hasn't happened at the start of a season since 1996 -- the year Dan Reeves got fired.
Tom Coughlin, who came into the season under pressure to do more than make the playoffs, may now be really under the gun.
Favre threw a go-ahead 2-yard touchdown pass to Bubba Franks on the Packers' opening series of the second half. The eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback added TD tosses of 3-yards to Donald Lee and 10 yards to Donald Driver after New York rookie Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled the ensuing kickoff.
Favre finished 29-of-38 for 286 yards, including 18-of-21 for 147 yards in the second half as he constantly exposed the Giants' suspect defense with short passes.
Rookie DeShawn Wynn added touchdown runs of 6 and 38 yards for Green Bay.
Manning, whose playing status was uncertain all week because of a sprained shoulder, played well, leading New York to scores on three consecutive series bridging the second and third quarters. He threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress and helped set up field goals of 48 and 32 yards by Lawrence Tynes, who also missed a 34-yarder on the opening series of the game.
Manning finished 16-of-29 for 211 yards. He threw a costly interception to defensive tackle Corey Williams with 6:35 to play. Backup Jared Lorenzen replaced Manning after Wynn's long touchdown run gave Green Bay a 35-13 lead.
Down 10-7 at the half, Favre dominated the second half despite getting little help from his rushing attack.
A 42-yard kickoff return by Tramon Williams gave the Packers the ball at their own 49. Favre needed 10 plays to go the 51 yards. He hit fullback Korey Hall for two 10-yard dumpoffs early in the drive and a 17-yarder James Jones before finding the burly Franks for the go-ahead touchdown. Favre completed all five passes on the drive.
After Tynes' 32-yard field goal cut the gap to 14-13, Favre engineered an 80-yard drive on which he hit all nine of his passes. None was longer than 19 yards and six were less than 10 yards, including the 3-yarder to Lee on a pass to the right corner of the end zone.
Favre iced the game after Bradshaw's fumble on the kickoff was recovered by Tracy White at the New York 22. Five plays later, he found Driver in the back of the end zone for a 28-13 lead.
The Giants, who gave up 45 points in a season-opening loss to Dallas, were defenseless in the second half. While Manning played well on offense, New York made a lot of dumb plays.
Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey was called for a delay penalty after a first-down catch at the Packers 16 late in the first half with the score tied at 7. He later dropped a potential first-down pass at the Green Bay 3 just seconds later, forcing Tynes to make a 48-yard field goal and give the Giants a 10-7 lead.
Veteran Amani Toomer also had an embarrassing mistake in the third quarter. He was called for a taunting penalty at the Green Bay 8 a couple of plays before New York had to settle for Tynes' second field goal, cutting the Packers lead to 14-13 with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
Instead of a third-and-goal at the Green Bay 8, New York was pushed back to the 23.
Keep wearing that jersey!
Packers played a pretty good game. Go Pack Go!
Don't take it off until February 4th.
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