CAN anyone stop the Green Bay Packers? That is the question reverberating around the NFL as the Packers demolished another good team on Sunday.
This time it was the turn of the San Diego Chargers to be crunched up in the Green Bay machine, just like the Philadelphia Eagles the previous Monday. The Packers were many people's pre season Super Bowl pick and they have done nothing to dispel that notion yet. For now, the Packers are the best team in the league, certainly better than the wobbly Dallas Cowboys, who blew an 18 point lead to lose to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Packers showed no such charity as they crushed the Chargers 42-10. Brett Favre, the NFL's most valuable player last year, did throw two interceptions to break his streak of 163 unintercepted regular season passes, but he also threw three touchdowns. Favre underwent rehabilitation for his addiction to pain killers in the off season and has returned as potent a passer as last season, showing great touch as well as a powerful arm.
Favre helped the Packers open a 28-3 lead in the third quarter with his third touchdown pass, a seven yard pass to the tight end, Keith Jackson. Earlier, he threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Antonio Freeman and eight yards to full back William Henderson. Egard Bennett drew first blood with a 10 yard touchdown surge in the first quarter.,
"Every team we've played so far is pretty darn good," said Favre. But when we play the way we can play, when we execute the offence the way we can and our defence gets turnovers, we can beat anybody."
The Packers' defence, led by the veteran Reggie White - a preacher off the field also made its mark. White and Scan Jones each sacked Stan Humphries twice as the Packers shut down the Chargers offence. When the Chargers threatened to come back after Bennett's fumble in the fourth quarter, the Packers defence pitched in.
The Green Bay safety, Leroy Butler, snared a pass intended for Terrel Fletcher and shot off down the left sideline for a 90 yard touchdown and a 35-10 lead. He vaulted into the stands in the now customary celebration - at Lambeau Field, where the Packers have won 15 out of their last 16 games. Just 92 seconds later, Desmond Howard returned a punt for 55 yards for the Packers' final touchdown.
"There's not really not much that I can say, other than the fact that we took the old butt kicking. It started early and it didn't really stop," said Bobby Ross, the Chargers' coach.
The win gives the Packers their first 3-0 start since 1982 and sets up an early NFC Central showdown next Sunday with the similarly undefeated Minnesota Vikings, who beat the Chicago Bears 20-14.
Unlike the Packers, the Cowboys have made a shaky start. After losing their season opener to the Chicago Bears, the Cowboys played sloppy football to allow the injury ridden Colts to storm back for a memorable win in Texas Stadium. It looked like a rout after the Cowboys raced to an 18-3 lead in the second quarter, but the Colts refused to panic. They overtook the Cowboys when Jim Harbaugh found the tight end Ken Dilger for an eight yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and hung on 25-24, when Chris Boniol's 57 yard field goal attempt for Dallas bounced off the crossbar.
