Monday, November 29, 2004
Brett Favre wants to freeze his bad memories, but he expects a difficult game.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The Green Bay Packers finally have the St. Louis Rams right where they want them: at Lambeau Field, on grass, in freezing weather.
Forgive Brett Favre if he's not jumping for joy.
"Well, I would much rather play them here than at their place. We haven't had much success at their place, and there's no guarantee that we will here," Favre said.
"I think it's going to be a very difficult game. Either way. Here or there."
That might be, but he tied an NFL playoff record by throwing six interceptions at St. Louis 22 months ago, then broke his right thumb there last year.
The desperate Rams (5-5), who have lost three of four games, face the surging Packers (6-4), winners of five straight, tonight in a crucial game for two teams hoping to display some playoff pedigree in the jumbled NFC.
Injuries
The Packers are banged up in both backfields, which might very well negate any home-field advantage -- something that sure was missing the last time they played at home on a Monday night, a 48-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 11.
"We'd like to erase that memory with a special Monday night performance and get rid of some of those ghosts we have from earlier in the season," Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman said.
The problems with the Rams go back to Jan. 20, 2002, when Favre threw those half-dozen interceptions in a 28-point playoff loss.
In October 2003, Favre broke his right thumb in a loss at St. Louis. Because he decided to play the rest of the season with a splint instead of having season-ending surgery, he kept alive his consecutive starts streak, which will reach 200 in the regular season tonight, 219 counting the playoffs.
Few teams have had Favre's number like the Rams, who capitalized on 12 Packers turnovers to outscore Green Bay 79-41 in their last two meetings.
So the Packers have been looking forward to this night ever since the schedule came out.
"They're a different team, as everyone knows, indoors," safety Darren Sharper said.
"The fact that we have them at home hopefully will play into our favor. But we're just happy to see them because they put a whooping on us last year and we'd like to get a little payback."
Favre is 36-1 at home when the temperature at kickoff is 34 degrees or below. It's expected to be 20 degrees with a chance of flurries tonight.