Which Brett Will Show?
The Green Bay Packers hope Brett Favre can maintain his perfect record against the Washington Redskins as they look to bounce back from their first loss when two of the NFC’s improving teams meet Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay (4-1) failed to remain undefeated after a 27-20 home loss to Chicago last Sunday night as Favre threw two second-half interceptions and the NFC North-leading Packers blew a 10-point halftime lead.
Oddsmakers from Bodog.com have made Green Bay -3 point spread favorites (View NFL Football odds) for Sunday’s game, the over/under has been set at 40.5 total points (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 66% of bets for this game have been placed on Washington +3 (View NFL Football bet percentages).
The Packers, who had an eight-game winning streak snapped, will try to rebound against Washington (3-1), which rolled to a 34-3 home win over Detroit last Sunday and is second to unbeaten Dallas in the NFC East.
With an emerging Jason Campbell at quarterback, Washington looks to avoid a fourth straight loss to Green Bay dating to a 20-17 victory at Lambeau Field on Oct. 23, 1988.
Favre is 3-0 as a starter against the Redskins with Green Bay outscoring Washington 95-23 in those meetings. The Packers hope that holds up Sunday as they continue to try to prove they are serious contenders despite falling to the rival Bears.
"I fully understand how this works," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "We were glorified for four weeks, and now they get it this week, and they deserve it. But we need to clean our own house right now. It’s sloppy and we need to get it cleaned up."
Favre is 51-for-77 for 614 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions as a starter against Washington. He threw for 289 yards, but also had three interceptions in a 28-14 win over the Redskins on Oct. 31, 2004 in the teams’ most recent meeting.
Though Favre leads the NFL with 1,527 passing yards and has the Packers on the verge of their first 5-1 start since 2002, he’s coming off his worst outing of the season.
He was 29-for-40 for 322 yards, but was 10-for-18 for 79 yards in the second half. His third-quarter interception led to a Bears’ touchdown on the next play as Chicago scored the final 17 points of the game.
"We got out of a rhythm," said Favre, who has 277 career interceptions to tie George Blanda for the most all-time. "It just wasn’t clicking."
Green Bay committed five turnovers and had just 19 of its 121 rushing yards in the second half. Despite that success, Green Bay is averaging 67.6 yards on the ground to rank 31st in the league.
The Packers could face a bigger challenge Sunday against a Washington defense that is third in the NFL, allowing 268.0 yards per contest. The Redskins held Detroit’s high-octane offense to just 142 yards.
Washington also hopes for another strong game from third-year quarterback Campbell.
Last weekend, Campbell, who grew up 100 miles from Favre’s hometown in Mississippi and idolized the future Hall of Famer, finished 23-for-29 with a career-high 248 yards and two touchdowns.
"(Washington is) playing at a high level. They’re playing with a lot of confidence," McCarthy said. "They have a young quarterback that’s getting better week in and week out."
Campbell, who was named the NFC offensive player of the week, has thrown three touchdowns and no interceptions in his last two games.
"He doesn’t want to be a one-week wonder, he wants to do it on a consistent basis," Redskins receiver Keenan McCardell told the team’s official Web site. "Just being around him, I see it in him."
Campbell hopes to have receivers Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El back in the lineup as the Redskins look to start 4-1 for the first time since 1999. Moss missed last week’s game with a groin injury and Randle El could be a longshot since leaving last Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury after catching seven balls for 100 yards.
The Redskins are 4-9-1 all-time at Green Bay.
By: Staff Writers – Email Us
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