AMERICAN FOOTBALL NFL:BRETT FAVRE savoured a triumphant but frosty homecoming, tossing four touchdowns as the Minnesota Vikings (7-1) survived a Green Bay Packers (4-3) comeback to claim a 38-26 win on Sunday. For Green Bay fans, Favre's performance was a bitter reminder of the glory days when the quarterback was leading the Packers to the Super Bowl title in 1997.
Back at Lambeau to face his former team for the first time since a messy split in 2007, Favre was jeered by a Green Bay regular season record crowd of 71,213 from the moment he stepped off the Minnesota team bus. Prior to the kick-off, some Packers fans burnt replicas of his old Green Bay jersey, while entrepreneurs sold T-shirts which included “Traitor 4-Ever” and “Once a Hero, Now a Zero.”
The hostile reception, however, failed to rattle the 40-year-old, who completed 17 of 28 pass attempts for 244 yards, including touchdowns to Visanthe Shiancoe, Percy Harvin, Jeff Dugan and Bernard Berrian.
After Green Bay opened the scoring on a Mason Crosby 37-yard field goal, Minnesota dominated the first half, Adrian Peterson diving over for a one-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a lead they would not surrender.
Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos’ unbeaten start to the season came to an end with a 30-7 defeat at the Baltimore Ravens in the biggest of Sunday’s early games.
Two Steven Hauschka field-goals gave the hosts a 6-0 half-time lead, but Lardarius Webb lit up the contest when he returned the second-half kick-off 95 yards for the opening touchdown.
Knowshon Moreno’s one-yard touchdown run gave the Broncos hope but Hauschka booted the Ravens 16-7 ahead after the third quarter.
And quarterback Joe Flacco connected with Derrick Mason to make it 23-7 before Ray Rice’s seven-yard running score rounded off Baltimore’s victory.
The New York Giants suffered a surprise 40-17 hammering by the Philadelphia Eagles, who scored five touchdowns – four of them in a dominant first half. Leonard Weaver and Brent Celek made it 14-0 after the first period, and the Eagles’ momentum continued with receiving scores from DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin after Kevin Boss had given the Giants hope. The gap narrowed to 33-17 in the third before LeSean McCoy completed the scoring with a late 66-yard running touchdown.
Patrick Crayton’s 82-yard punt return was the highlight of the Dallas Cowboys’ five touchdowns in a 38-17 win over the struggling the Seattle Seahawks, as quarterback Tony Romo threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Ted Ginn burst into life in an extraordinary third quarter to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 30-25 win over the New York Jets.
The wide receiver returned two kick-offs 100 and 101 yards for touchdowns, with linebacker Jason Taylor’s 48-yard fumble return also catching the eye as the bulk of the scoring was concentrated in the 15-minute period.
Ryan Moats ran in three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Houston Texans beat the Buffalo Bills 31-10, while Matt Forte’s two scores helped the Chicago Bears to a 30-6 success against the Cleveland Browns.
Reggie Wayne’s score in the fourth quarter settled a close encounter in favour of the Indianapolis Colts as they beat the San Francisco 49ers 18-14, while Steven Jackson’s first touchdown of the season earned the St Louis Rams a 17-10 win over the Detroit Lions.
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