Packers in Pain After Another Loss to Favre, Vikings

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It was mesmerizing, tantalizing for the fans, the 71,213 of them who filled Lambeau Field -- the most ever in this 52-year-old building. Maybe that was why, late in the fourth quarter, camera bulbs were flashing high and low as if it were the kickoff. Or why Packers fans were still on edge at that point, even though their team was cooked.

Yes, Brett Favre rolled them twice -- once in his new dome in Minnesota, and now here on Sunday on hallowed football ground. The Packers half expected him to show up and play the game in flip-flops to match his mental trickery. You know, this Packers legend, this turncoat in purple -- he had punched them in the gut before.

And after Minnesota's 38-26 win, after Favre had thrown four touchdown passes to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' three, and after the Vikings swept the season series between these long-time rivals, Favre had earned the bragging rights.

Rodgers had to slip away into the night.

Actually, it was more like he had to limp into the night after the pounding he took. Rodgers endured six more sacks on Sunday, which came on top of the eight he absorbed in Minnesota's Week 4 win over Green Bay.

Favre was not sacked -- in either game.

What does it mean for Rodgers, for the Packers?

"It hurts,'' Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said.

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What exactly hurts, Woodson was asked. "Losing,'' he answered.

Losing to the Vikings hurts. Losing to Favre doubles the pain.

Rodgers tried to explain that without bashing Favre or being swallowed by the big picture. That picture reveals that the Packers ditched Favre for Rodgers.

"You always want to win the home division games,'' Rodgers said. "It's tough to take that many shots, for sure, but you've got to give them credit. I hate losing to the Vikings, especially. They are division rivals and we don't like those losses at home.

"It doesn't matter who you play, though, it's tough to lose."

So was ditching Favre for Rodgers a smart move and who is the better quarterback?

Well, let's see: Rodgers is 10-13 as a starter since Green Bay moved him in, and Favre is 16-8 as an NFL starter since Green Bay moved him out.

Favre is 2-0 vs. Rodgers and the Packers. Minnesota (7-1) is in first place in the NFC North division. Green Bay (4-3) trails.

It could eventually prove a good move for the Packers. But right now, Favre is the better quarterback.

And here is the hammer: The Vikings have a better team than the Packers.

Three different Vikings defensive linemen (Ray Edwards, Jared Allen and Pat Williams) chased down Rodgers in the backfield for first-half sacks that crushed the Packers. Seldom do you see NFL quarterbacks caught from behind like that, simply run down and snuffed out.

This is an explosive Vikings defense.

Rodgers was working with a line that protected from average to poor. He finally began to complement its strengths by massaging the pocket, by creating new passing lanes, by scooting when required. Those types of moves and decisions took a game that Green Bay trailed 24-3 at one point, and turned it into a 24-20 scrap heading to the fourth quarter.

But Favre had more in store. He had two scoring passes left. He kept topping Rodgers by making quicker and stronger choices.

That is a discernible difference between the quarterbacks -- Favre gets the ball out of the pocket quicker.

"He gets the ball out of there with something on it, quick, right now,'' Woodson said of Favre. "That makes him tough to play for any defense.''

Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said he saw fans who wore Favre's old Green Bay jersey upside down and others who wore it backward. He said he felt the electric crowd and the playoff atmosphere. He saw Favre enjoying it, too, and said that Favre and his teammates "approached it like a late playoff game.''

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson loved the atmosphere, too, loved coming "with Brett to the place that Brett built.'' Peterson was in awe of his quarterback's "leadership and confidence'' all week long, and especially in this game.

All around him, Favre enjoys a variety of playmakers and difference-makers -- none more than rookie receiver/returner Percy Harvin (84 receiving yards, a 51-yard scoring catch, 175 kickoff return yards).

This is an explosive Vikings offense.

But Rodgers and the Packers offense showed it can produce a pop as well. The Packers defense produced moments similar to the ones Minnesota's defense came up with.

In neither game between the two teams were those things enough to win against Favre.

"Our quarterback has the will to change things and he takes the position that he is not going to let his teammates down,'' Packers receiver Greg Jennings said. "He is not going to lay flat from adversity or because of a stumble. This is a 'We' situation. It is our team, our ownership, our loss.''

You heard the Packers afterward grumbling about how the defensive schemes do not fit the defensive personnel and how the offensive line too frequently folds. But more of them spoke like middle linebacker Nick Barnett, who said his team started slowly in this game, made a strong run, got close, but "could never get home.''

The Packers put so much into this game -- divisional battle, a huge rival. A victory meant evening things in the loss column with the Vikings. It meant ruining a crucial head-to-head tiebreaker that Minnesota could earn.

Now what?

It hurts, losing. The Packers have the ingredients -- a streaky team of great highs and miserable lows -- to duplicate that nasty, late, five-game losing streak that earned them a lousy 6-10 record a year ago.

They were very clear on what a victory would have meant. They seemed uncertain about what their loss would do.

"I'll tell you exactly what I told them,'' Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "I told them at halftime that the second half was going to be a turning point in our season. It was important for us to go out there and turn this game around and make a run and win this game.''

A curious thing about Lambeau Field is that there is only one entrance from the locker rooms onto the field. It also serves as the only exit. Brett Favre, kicked aside here, strolled back in through the out door.

One tunnel, two teams -- two quarterbacks going different places.

"It's kind of odd how you mingle going through that tunnel,'' Peterson said. "I say hello to the guys over there I'm friendly with. The ones I'm not, I give that look. That in-game, serious, I'm-out-to-win, get-out-of-my-way look that turns into something back on the field.''

The one Brett Favre put on the Packers.

The one Aaron Rodgers, like his team, is still crafting.