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The Green Bay Packers will try to hold on to their top seed in the NFC this week when they take on the Minnesota Vikings in a week 17 matchup on the schedule. We’ll throw it back a decade or so for our Throwback Thursday feature, to November 1, 2009. That’s the day when the Packers’ prodigal son, Brett Favre, returned to Lambeau Field as a member of the enemy squad, the Vikings, to try to extract some revenge on his former team. Favre, a Packer legend who had guided the team to a pair of Super Bowls, winning one, was unceremoniously traded to the New York Jets in 2008. Coach Mike McCarthy made the decision to move on from him at that time and hand the quarterback reins to young Aaron Rodgers, who had sat patiently for 3 seasons behind Favre waiting for his opportunity. So this was billed as a showdown between the old hero turned villain and the fresh new young gun. Favre had already beaten the Packers earlier in the season in Minnesota in a game in which he threw 3 touchdown passes, and the Vikings entered this rematch at 6-1 and leading the NFC North, with Green Bay right behind them at 4-2.

Packer fans booed their former idol heartily when he came out of the tunnel and throughout the game. After all, playing for the Jets was acceptable, but Favre had retired, then came out of retirement to sign with the Packers’ hated division rival. Mason Crosby opened the scoring with a field goal for Green Bay, but the Vikings, behind Favre, took control after that. Adrian Peterson, who rushed for 97 yards on the day, scored from a yard out. Favre followed that up with a 12 yard TD toss to Visanthe Shiancoe, and when Ryan Longwell booted a 41 yard field goal, Minnesota went into the half with a 17-3 lead. Favre continued the onslaught with a 51 yard heave to Percy Harvin to extend the Viking lead to 24-3, but the Packers and Rodgers gathered themselves and began to close the gap. Crosby hit another three pointer, then Rodgers connected twice with his tight end, Spencer Havner, on short scoring throws. Green Bay had now shortened the lead to 24-20 going into the final quarter.

The two gunslinging signal callers continued their battle as the game wound down. Favre flipped a short 2 yard touchdown toss to Jeff Dugan, and Rodgers matched that by finding Greg Jennings for six from 10 yards out. Green Bay failed on a two point attempt, so the Vikings now led 31-26. It was a valiant comeback, but Favre and his new team would have the last laugh. Green Bay’s prodigal son hit Bernard Berrian with a 16 yard throw for his fourth touchdown pass of the day, cementing Minnesota’s 38-26 win. The Viking defense, and their offensive line, were the difference in the game. Favre threw from a clean pocket all day, while Rodgers, despite passing for more yardage than Favre, was sacked 6 times. It turned out to be a pretty good move by Minnesota in signing the aging Favre. The club continued on it’s winning ways, clinching the division title with a 12-4 record and advancing all the way to the NFC Championship, where they lost a heartbreaker 31-28 to the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

Brett Favre celebrates beating his old team

A pair of AFC East contenders square off for the second time in a month this Sunday on the NFL’s schedule – the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. Our Throwback Thursday feature this week highlights a game played between these 2 teams on opening day of the 1973 season. It was played at New England’s old Shaefer Stadium on September 16 of that year. Both clubs had shown promise in the 1972 season that they might be able to find the promised land of fielding winning teams in this new year. The Bills brought back their old coach from the AFL days, Lou Saban, in ’72 to try to salvage the career of young running back O.J. Simpson, who had languished in his first couple of seasons under coach John Rauch. Rauch came up with the foolish idea of using Simpson as a decoy instead of featuring his talent in the offensive scheme, and even toyed with the idea of switching him to wide receiver. Saban changed all that, building the club around Simpson’s talent to feature the running game. The Bills were also set to move out of their old stadium, the decrepit War Memorial Stadium, into their shiny new home, Rich Stadium.

The Patriots also entered the ’73 season with high hopes, as new coach Chuck Fairbanks attempted to improve the club with young quarterback Jim Plunkett being fortified with an influx of new talent that included Sam Cunningham, Darryl Stingley, John Hannah and Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton. That new talent paid immediate dividends as Cunningham scored the game’s first touchdown on a 7 yard run. The Pats missed the extra point, taking a 6-0 lead. It didn’t last long, as a portent of things to come was about to happen. The Bills took the field with a revamped offense designed to feature Simpson’s ability. Three draft picks became immediate starters. A pair of first rounders, Paul Seymour and Joe DeLamielleure, manned the tight end and guard spots, and Joe Ferguson took over for Dennis Shaw at quarterback. Seymour’s role was basically an extra tackle on the line to help Simpson, and when “The Juice” broke off an 80 yard touchdown run to give the Bills a 7-6 lead, Buffalo was off and literally running. Buffalo’s rebuilt line also added center Mike Montler in a trade to go with Reggie McKenzie, Donnie Green and Dave Foley, forming what would be nicknamed the “Electric Company” as they turned on “The Juice”. John Leypoldt added a field goal and Larry Watkins, O.J.’s backfield mate, scored on a 4 yard run to boost the Bills to a 17-6 lead before New England pulled to within 17-13 on a 10 yard Mack Herron run. Then Simpson scored again on a 22 yard scamper. Watkins again joined in the fun, rambling 15 yards to close out the scoring and give Buffalo a resounding 31-13 victory.

When the final gun sounded, Simpson had accumulated 250 yards rushing on 29 carries with his pair of touchdowns, setting a new single-game record for ground yards. Watkins added another 105 yards on 18 carries and his 2 TDs as the Bills racked up an impressive 360 yards on the ground in the game. Simpson’s performance wasn’t a one time deal. He would go on to break Jim Brown’s single season rushing yards record and become the first player in history to break the 2,000 yard barrier as he finished with 2,003 for the year. He is still the only back to achieve the feat in 14 games. Simpson’s personal life has turned tragic and he has frittered away any good will he may have earned in his playing days and broadcasting and acting careers afterwards, but he was a dynamic athlete at one time.

O.J. Simpson shredded the Pats for 250 yards on opening day

We’re headed into the home stretch of the NFL season, and one of this week’s games matches the team with the best record, the Arizona Cardinals, against the club with the worst mark, the Detroit Lions. These 2 teams met in a game played on October 1, 1967 at St.Louis’ Busch Stadium, when the Cardinals were located in the Gateway To The West city. Both of these teams were perennial also-rans in the 1960s, but it didn’t keep them from providing fans with some exciting games during the decade. This game veered from the usual “three yards and a cloud of dust” style of 1960s NFL football. It turned into what qualified as a shootout in that era between Detroit veteran signal caller Milt Plum and the Cardinals’ young second year gunslinger, Jim Hart.

The Lions came out swinging and took an early 7-0 lead with a drive that ended on a one yard scoring plunge by Mel Farr. Detroit then pinned the Cards deep in their own territory, and when Hart tried to throw out of his own end zone Larry Hand picked it off at the 2 yard line and walked into the end zone to up the lead to 14-0. St. Louis finally found their bearings in the second quarter and Hart guided them to a couple of scores, with halfback Johnny Roland finding paydirt from a yard out and Jim Bakken booting a 39 yard field goal to put the game within striking distance at 14-10. Plum took to the air and found his favorite target, Pat Studstill, on a 37 yard touchdown throw to extend the lead to 21-10. When Roland found the end zone again for the Cards, on another 1 yard run, the gap was closed to 21-17 at the half.

The Cardinals came out of the locker room rejuvenated in the second half, and took the lead when Hart hit his tight end, Jackie Smith, with a 57 yard touchdown bomb. Roland scored his third rushing touchdown, from 6 yards out, to end the third quarter scoring, and St. Louis suddenly found themselves up 28-17. The Lions fought back in the final quarter, and Plum and Studstill connected again, on a 23 yard scoring pass. Plum finished with 206 yards passing for the day, a sizable amount for a game in those days, with Studstill amassing 107 of those yards on 5 catches. Hart had a favorite target that day also in split end Billy Gambrell, who also had 5 receptions, for 117 yards. The biggest of the connections for the Cardinal duo resulted in a 48 yard touchdown that completed the scoring. When the final gun sounded, St. Louis had themselves a hard-fought 38-28 victory.

Johnny Roland stopped by the Lions’ defense

Both clubs settled into their usual mediocrity as the season wore on, with the Cardinals finishing third in the league’s Century Division at 6-7-1, and Detroit also winding up third in the Central Division at 5-7-2. There was at least a hint of hope in Detroit in the ’67 season as the Lions boasted both the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookies of The Year in Farr and Lem Barney.

Cards vs. Lions game program