On pro football.

Green Bay Skill, Chicago Woes Take Punch Out Of Old Rivalry

December 02, 1996|By Don Pierson.

GREEN BAY — Forget about momentum or turning points or fluke plays or anything that has to do with luck, and remember the Green Bay Packers are a lot farther ahead of the Bears than 28-17.

Antonio Freeman has been around this erstwhile rivalry for only four games, but he took newcomer Desmond Howard aside this week for some advice:

"I was telling Desmond all week, `We've always had big days returning kicks and punts against this team.' When it was 7-7, I said, `Desmond, you've got to break one.' "

The Packers expect Bear games to go like this. They have beaten them six times in a row for the longest streak since 1928-30. For Chicagoans, it is a statistic high on coach Dave Wannstedt's resume.

Quarterback Brett Favre keeps wondering exactly what is so heated about this matchup. Is it just the talk?

"It's kind of weird," Favre said. "We're not really a talking team. Whether we're up or down, we don't tick the other team off much. They have a couple players who do like to talk a little bit. I have a lot of respect for them, but I don't think talking a lot is going to get it done."

The Bears are a team that tries hard and doesn't quit. That doesn't get it done either. If Sunday's game looked close, look again. The Bears controled the ball running in the first half, but needed a trick play to score after Dave Krieg missed two big throws to open receivers. The Bears "dominated" the first half in everything except the only thing that counts. The Packers absorbed their best shot and were tied 7-7.

"We knew they were going to run," Packers defensive end Sean Jones said. "They weren't going to put themselves into position to get their quarterback knocked out and have to go to their second or third guy."

The Bears are so limited that coach Mike Holmgren commiserated with Wannstedt before the game.

"His injury situation has been unusual," Holmgren said. "We've had to deal with it with our wide receiver situation and I told him we got a feel for how hard it is."

Holmgren said this in response to a question about the mismatch of fullback William Henderson on middle linebacker Barry Minter, who is subbing for Bryan Cox.

After a three-game road trip, the Packers played like the Bears were a welcome bye. Dorsey Levens' 69 yards rushing and 24-yard run both were career highs. He's a second-stringer, by the way.

Keith Jackson's eighth touchdown catch was a career high.

Eugene Robinson's 47th interception increased his total as the league's leading active interceptor.

Freeman's 10 catches for 156 yards both were career highs.

Howard's second punt return for a touchdown this season matched a Green Bay record.

These are not accidents.

"We were anticipating a lot of things they did," Favre said. "Very rarely did we get caught by surprise on their blitzes."

Howard's return was anticipated by watching video of punter Todd Sauerbrun occasionally boom kicks beyond his coverage. "He's really a strong punter, so you have a chance to at least catch it and start running," Holmgren said.

But this easy?

"Usually you have to make one or two guys miss," Howard admitted.

Favre allowed there is "still a little bit of something" left in the rivalry, but he isn't sure exactly what.

"At one point, the Packers were awful and Chicago was winning the Super Bowl and contending," he said. "Now we're playing well and Chicago is either doing well or struggling. I can't put my finger on it. I think Wannstedt is a great coach. Injuries have played a part.

"It's kind of weird right now. If we were both contending, it would really be something more than Detroit or Minnesota or Tampa Bay. But it's still a good atmosphere."


The Packers set another record Sunday. The crowd of 59,682 was a season low, the 1,108 no-shows a season high. It was a game for Milwaukee season-ticket holders who figured either the winter drive or the Bears weren't worth it. "I was kind of upset with the crowd," Jones said. "It was not as vocal as usual. I guess they were tired coming from Milwaukee."

Or just yawning from boredom.