Coming off two losses and seven interceptions against Minnesota and Tampa Bay–his worst back-to-back games for interceptions ever–Brett Favre must think a visit from the Bears on Sunday looks like the arrival of the Red Cross.
A doctor couldn’t prescribe better medicine for what ails Favre and the Packers. The Bears are his second-favorite team in all the world, his record against them 17-4.
But if Favre is spending Thanksgiving praising the schedule-makers, there will be no photo opportunities. It’s also unlikely Favre will be drowning his sorrow over his slump in his cranberry sauce.
What the Bears will get Sunday is the same Favre they always get–undaunted by interceptions, uninhibited by expectations, undefeated by failure. Asked Wednesday if he thinks the last two weeks have cost him a shot at a fourth Most Valuable Player Award, he said: “Don’t care. Really. I know one thing. You better be careful playing real good because as soon as you run off the road just a little bit, they’ll say, `What the heck is wrong with him?'”
The answer, sad for the Bears, is nothing that can’t be fixed in an end zone in 60 minutes.
“I don’t think anyone around here is pushing the panic button,” Favre said.
Coach Mike Sherman and Favre pointed out that the Packers were also 8-3 coming off two losses at this point in the 1996 season and went on to win the Super Bowl. If it’s rationalization, it’s good rationalization, necessary to smooth the inevitable bumps in a marathon season.
Favre said he would be amused by the analysis around him if he weren’t so ticked off about losing. Last week in Tampa, Fox TV commentators Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth suggested Favre looked “not as intense or enthusiastic” as usual. A week earlier in Minnesota, Favre was criticized for getting into the face of defensive tackle Chris Hovan and drawing a personal foul for hitting one of his interceptors out of bounds.
“I’m so confused I need to lie on the couch,” Favre said with a laugh.
He related a recent conversation with his younger brother, Jeff.
“What happened to y’all the other day?” Jeff asked.
“What do you think happened? We got the stuffing kicked out of us. Played like crud,” Favre said.
“What’s wrong with you?” his brother asked.
“I’m terrible. What the heck do you want me to say? It’s everybody else’s fault?”
Then his brother told Favre that some guy he befriended in Texas who didn’t know anything about football until he met Jeff was watching the Minnesota game.
“He said the guy had been watching me for a couple years, and against Minnesota he saw a look on my face he’d never seen before,” Favre said. “That’s how my brother left it. So I’m thinking, `What the heck does that mean? Is that good? Is that bad? Neither? What am I supposed to think here?'”
What Favre thinks is he’ll come out chucking against the Bears, surprise, surprise.
“One thing over my 11 years that hasn’t really changed is the way I play,” Favre said. “For the most part, you go, `Wow, how did he do that?’ Or, `Oh my God, is that terrible!’
“I say the same thing, but it’s the way I play.”
Before the Tampa Bay game, Buccaneers safety John Lynch revealed the universal game plan against Favre.
“We just have to make sure we catch the ones he throws to us,” Lynch said.
Two weeks ago Favre was leading the league in passer efficiency rating with 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
“I told him he was so hot for a while no one can stay as hot as he was,” Sherman said.
With 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions now, Favre feels more like 2001 (24-13), 2000 (14-10) and 1999 (16-15) after 11 games.
“It’s back to where it is at this point every year,” Favre said. “Not that I was planning that. It’s sort of like our record. We were 8-1 and everyone is sending us to the Super Bowl. Now we’re 8-3 and everyone is wondering what’s wrong.”
The running game is one thing. The Vikings and Buccaneers have contained Ahman Green. The Packers also are playing without either starting tackle, Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton, both out for the season. Their center, Mike Flanagan, has moved to left tackle, and right guard Marco Rivera is playing with a torn knee ligament.
Four of Favre’s seven interceptions the last two weeks have been on passes intended for Terry Glenn, still learning the nuances of the system and Favre after coming from New England. Glenn’s best game of the season came on a Monday night against the Bears–eight catches for 154 yards.
After Favre threw six interceptions against St. Louis in last year’s playoff loss, the Packers revamped their entire receiving corps. The last two weeks revealed growing pains in the new passing game.
“I don’t think it was ever as far advanced as people might have thought,” Favre said. “We still have a ways to go. It’s proof we have to run the ball. In the last two weeks we haven’t run the ball at all.”
The Packers hadn’t lost two games in a row since October of 2000. And Favre usually follows one bad game with a good one. Does this mean the Bears get a double dose of wrath?
“Heck if I know,” Favre said. “I have no idea. They say, `Boy he bounces back after a tough game.’ Well, I didn’t. Now they say, `Well, they better look out now because it’s been two.’ I don’t know.
“I could throw four interceptions every week this season–I probably wouldn’t be playing the whole season–but I could do that and my confidence wouldn’t . . . maybe from the outside it might look shattered some, but from the inside, I’d keep shooting ’em.”
