Favre looks to lift Packers out of 0-3 hole

10-03-2005, 08:13 PM

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QB not used to struggling, but Green Bay needs him to step up vs. Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The last time Green Bay opened a season 0-3 was 1988 and Brett Favre was a sophomore in college. Four seasons later, the Packers’ made him their starting quarterback and never looked back.

Until now.

Green Bay is once again 0-3 and it will be Favre’s job to stop the slide Monday night against the Carolina Panthers (1-2). He’s not used to losing and has little experience dealing with slow starts, but the Packers are leaning on Favre to pull them out of this one.

“For a guy who’s been in the league for 15 years, I think your character has to come into play as a player,” coach Mike Sherman said. “Anybody can run out of the tunnel when you are in the Super Bowl, but it’s a little more difficult when you are 0-3.

“He’s bound and determined to get us back on track. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him work harder or be more determined to help us win.”

In 13 years as Green Bay’s starter, the Packers have only had one four-game losing streak. It came last year, after they won the season opener in Carolina, then lost the next four.

But Favre helped stop the skid and the Packers reeled off six straight victories en route to the NFC North title.

Even with that recent experience, Favre is still figuring out how to rally the troops again and get Green Bay its first win of the season.

“If you play long enough, you suffer bad games, a bad stretch, maybe even a bad season,” Favre said. “I’ve been fortunate throughout my career to be on the good side, so to speak — always in the hunt for the playoffs. Being 0-3 is new to me and to this team since I’ve been here.”

It helps the Packers that their next game is against the Panthers, a team they have beaten in six of their eight meetings. Four of those wins have come at Bank of America Stadium, including last year’s 24-14 season opener.

And Favre has a reputation of big-time play in Monday night games, which Carolina guard Mike Wahle has spent ample time trying to impress upon the Panthers this week.

Wahle spent seven seasons protecting Favre on Green Bay’s line before signing with Carolina as a free agent. He’s become extremely popular this week — defensive tackle Brentson Buckner was seen huddling with him in a discussion about Favre’s snap count tendencies — and knows the Panthers will have to shut down Favre to beat the Packers.

“The thing about Brett is he is such a talent and such a competitor that he is going to do everything within the framework of an offense — and sometimes out of it — to win a game, especially on a Monday night,” said Wahle. “I can’t remember the last time he had a bad Monday night game. You are going to have to force him to have a bad game in the national spotlight.”

The Panthers will also have to key on running back Ahman Green, who sapped the energy out of Carolina’s defensive line last season with 33 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Wahle said the Packers entered the game with one plan: “We were going to come in here and run the football and if we didn’t run it, we were going to lose,” he said.

It worked, and it demoralized Carolina’s line, which prides itself on stopping the run. A year removed, the line has convinced itself Green had to work hard for every yard. His longest run went for 12 yards.

“All those carries, you are going to get those yards one, two, three at a time,” said defensive end Mike Rucker. “It’s not like it was a couple big runs. He chipped away at us by running the ball over 30 times. If we stop him early this time, he won’t be able to do that again.”

The Panthers will also need Julius Peppers to pressure Favre into making mistakes. Peppers has yet to register a sack this season, but Favre hasn’t exactly been difficult to bring down in 2005 — he’s been sacked seven times and also thrown seven interceptions.

Favre’s struggles have Carolina cornerback Ken Lucas chomping at the bit. Confident the line will force Favre to hurry, Lucas thinks this could be his breakout game.

“He hasn’t thrown me a pick yet, but hopefully I can get one because I know he loves to give them out,” Lucas said. “When you watch any other game they play it seems like he’s just throwing them up there for grabs. Hopefully, he’ll do that this week.”

The game will be a milestone for Carolina receiver Steve Smith, who broke his leg in the final minutes of last year’s matchup with the Packers. He missed 15 games with the injury, and is eager to get back on the field against Green Bay.

Smith is coming off the best game of his career, catching 11 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns.

But it’s also become clear he is quarterback Jake Delhomme’s go-to guy at the expense of the rest of Carolina’s receivers. Smith has 23 catches this season, while the rest of the receivers combined for just six grabs.

Smith doesn’t know why there is such a discrepancy.

“I can’t speak for other guys, I won’t,” he said. “But I know those guys are working hard. Sometimes it’s not as pretty as you’d like it to be.”