Favre's three TD passes stun Chargers

Sunday, Sep 23, 2007
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

For the second time in two weeks, the Chargers were victimized by a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback as Green Bay's Brett Favre rallied the Packers for a 31-24 win Sunday at Lambeau Field.

A week ago it was the New England Patriots and Tom Brady connecting for big plays early in the game and building a lead en route to handing the Chargers' their first loss after a season-opening win against the Chicago Bears.

This time it was Favre connecting with three difference wide receivers for touchdown passes in a comeback win. Favre's three scoring tosses give him 420 for his career to tie Dan Marino's NFL record. The Packers improved to 3-0 and the Chargers are now 1-2.

"I know what our expectations are for this football team and our coaches and players understand," Chargers head coach Norv Turner said. "We came here with the intention of winning. We didn't get it done. There are a lot of things we did better than in the first two games. I attribute that to continuing to believe in the things we're doing and practicing the way we practiced when we came back from New England."

Earlier in the second half, the Chargers were the side making the comeback as they overcame a 17-7 deficit in the second quarter for a 21-17 lead in the third period.

The Bolts closed the deficit at halftime to 17-14 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Philip Rivers to rookie wide receiver Buster Davis with 32 seconds left in the first half to finish a nine-play, 80-yard drive.

The Chargers opened the third quarter by taking a 21-17 lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rivers to running back LaDainian Tomlinson. The score capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive.

Rivers completed 15 straight passes over the two scoring drives to break the club record of 14 by Dan Fouts. Rivers finished the game completing 27-of-36 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

Tight end Antonio Gates caught 11 passes for 113 yards and wide receiver Vincent Jackson nearly broke the century mark in yards with six catches for 98 yards.

The Packers mixed eight defenders in the box and zone blitzes to defend Tomlinson, who carried 22 times for 62 yards. He also caught three balls for 33 yards and one touchdown.

"We got a better mix," Turner said of running and pass plays. "You can't say we're not going to run the ball on first down. We made some plays; we've got good runners and we've got a good offensive line. We've got to create different looks to run the ball, and I though we did today."

Although the Chargers weren't able to add to their lead with Tomlinson's third-quarter touchdown, they seemed to be in position to preserve the win with a goal-line stand with 5:48 to play.

Green Bay faced a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line when a pass from Favre for tight end Bubba Franks over the middle was broken up by outside linebacker Shaun Phillips.

The Chargers took possession at their own 1-yard line, but they when they managed only one first down to consume time on the clock, the Packers began their go-ahead drive following a punt from the Chargers' 43-yard line.

After a first-down incompletion, Favre's third touchdown pass on the next play was a slant pattern by Greg Jennings for a 57-yard catch-and-run score with 2:03 left in the game.

"This was a heck of football game, and there were a bunch of guys making plays throughout the game," Turner said. "There's a reason Brett Favre has been doing what he's been doing as long as he has. He made plays and we made plays. We moved the ball better and we made some plays defensively that were better than we've played. We've just got to keep moving so we can be that much better and win a game like this."

Favre was 28-of-45 for 369 yards with three touchdown and no interceptions as Green Bay ran the ball only 13 times for 42 yards.

The Chargers, suddenly facing another comeback effort 2:03 left in the game, saw their next possession end in an interception. Nick Barnett picked off the pass at the Bolts' 40-yard line and returned it to the 2-yard line. The Packers scored on a 1-yard run by Brandon Jackson for a 31-21 lead with 1:12 to play.

The Chargers drove for position Green Bay 26-yard line when the Chargers opted to kick a 44-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding with the hopes of subsequently recovering an onside kick and taking another shot at the end zone. Kaedking's kick was good with 25 seconds to pay, but the onside attempt was unsuccessful.

The Bolts opened the game's scoring for a 7-0 lead on a 27-yard pass from quarterback Philip Rivers to wide receiver Vincent Jackson with 7:07 left in the first quarter.

But the Packers scored 17 unanswered points for a 17-7 lead on a 28-yard field goal by Mason Crosby and a pair of 5-yard touchdown passes to wide receiver Donald Driver and to Franks.