The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday, September 10, 2001-11B
Opening Day: NFL underway
In week one of the NFL, the Detroit Lions run into a tough Green Bay team at Lambeau in 28-6 defeat
GREEN BAY (AP) - You know Brett
Favre's feeling like his old self when he
puts a textbook block on Alonzo Spell-
man with the game already in hand.
"I told Alonzo after I cut him that I
thought he was Terry Fair," Favre said
after the Green Bay Packers' 28-6 vic-
tory over the Detroit Lions on >
yesterday.
Favre blocked Spellman, who's
6 inches taller and 100 pounds .
heavier than Fair, after a shovel
pass to William Henderson on a play that
would go 26 yards in the closing min-
utes.
"I think his knee went all the way
through my back," said Favre, who also
had a great block on linebacker Allen
Aldridge on a reverse in the first half.
And what did Spellman say when he
Baltimore ov
got up? t connecte
"He showed a lot of class. He said, "He's
'You're a great player and I enjoy watch- play ha
ing you and playing against you,' " Favre safety L
recounted. "I was afraid he was going to Batch
say, 'Meet me in the alley out no touch
back.'"kby Darr
But Favre and the Packers times, in
had taken the fight out of the Biamila-
Lions early on as Charlie Batch The P
got a firsthand look at how the West score 21
Coast offense is supposed to work. BillS
Favre threw two touchdown passes and touchdo
Ahman Green had two big touchdown scoring
runs as the Packers spoiled Marty Morn- Green.
hinweg's head coaching debut by scoring "I was
three quick touchdowns. Mornhi
Favre completed 22 of 28 passes - was 21-
and four of those misses were drops - In this4
for 260 yards with no interceptions. He it's whe
ins on high note
ed with eight receivers.
definitely one of the best and his
sn't dropped off at all," Lions
amar Campbell said. "Not at all."
was 20-of-39 for 276 yards and
hdowns. He was intercepted twice
ren Sharper and sacked seven
ncluding three by Kabeer Gbaja-
V.
Packers needed just 10 plays to'
points in the first quarter.
Schroeder grabbed a 23-yard
wn pass from Favre in between
bursts of 31 and 87 yards by
s surprised early how we played,"
nweg said. "All of a sudden it
0. The one thing I told the team:
league, it's not where you start,
re you finish. By all accounts we
can get better in every phase. We will
make some bigplays in the future."
Green carried 17 times for 157 yards, 4
yards .shy of his career high. But his day
wasn't all good. He fumbled three times,
losing one of them, and dropped two
passes.
"If I could just get him to catch those
easy ones, he could be very dominating,"
Favre said.
The Packers led 21-6 at the half after
Batch, learning a new system based on
quick reads and precision timing, threw
an interception in the end zone just
before halftime.
Batch, running the West Coast offense
for the first time with the arrival of
Mornhinweg and team president Matt
Millen, lofted a touch pass from the
Packers 5 toward Herman Moore.
K
in title defending year
K-
BALTIMORE (AP) - So much for balance.
The Baltimore Ravens opened defense of their Super
Bowl title yesterday with a performance reminiscent of last
season, smothering the Chicago Bears' offense and getting
just enough production from a one-dimensional attack in a
17-6 victory.
Operating with little backing from the running game,
newcomer Elvis Grbac threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to
Sam Gash with 1:48 left in the third quarter to give the
Ravens their first lead, 10-6.
Grbac, signed during the offseason to aid an offense that
last season relied heavily on the running game, went 24-for-
30 for 262 yards.
INDIANAPOLIS 45, NEW YoRK JETS 24: Peyton Manning
couldn't wait to get into the NFL season. So he didn't even
bother to huddle.
The Colts, using a hurry-up offense for much of yester-
day's game, routed the Jets 45-24. Manning wasn't at his
sharpest, but he was plenty productive with 22 completions
and two touchdowns, and Edgerrin James rushed for 135
"yards.
OAKLAND 27, KANSAS CITY 24: Even on his bad days,
Rich Gannon beats Kansas City.
Overcoming two fumbles and an interception that was
returned for a touchdown, Oakland's resourceful quarter-
back set up Sebastian Janikowski's 31-yard field goal with
15 seconds left, rallying the Raiders past Kansas City 27-24
yesterday.
The outcome spoiled Dick Vermeil's first game as
Kansas City's coach.
TAMPA BAY 10, DALLAS 6 : The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
changed offensive coordinators for the third time in three
years, spent $28 million on a new quarterback - and still
haven't solved their problems.
Brad Johnson completed plenty of passes and guided lots
of long drives, yet failed to get the Bucs a touchdown until
early in the fourth quarter. As usual, the defense bailed out
the offense for a tougher-than-expected 10-6 victory over
the Dallas Cowboys on yesterday.
Tampa Bay's offensive overhaul gave fans high hopes for
a Super Bowl run. The Bucs seemed primed to take a big
first step against a rebuilding Dallas team it beat handily late
last season.
It never happened. Although the Bucs kept the ball nearly
twice as long as the Cowboys, Dallas led 6-3 when the
fourth quarter began and drove toward a potential go-ahead
touchdown twice in the closing minutes.
CAROLINA 24, MINNESOTA 13: Carolina Panthers quarter-
back Chris Weinke was good enough to win in his first NFL
start - with some help from the mistake-prone Minnesota
Vikings.
Brand new day
All of the Michigan stars made their transition from start-
ing on Saturdays to Sundays yesterday as six of last year's
seniors are now playing for their respective NFL teams. All
four offensive linemen that made up one of the best offen-
sive lines in Michigan history are now starting.
David Terrell (Chicago):
Had two catches for nine yards in 17-6 loss to the Ravens.
Anthony Thomas (Chicago):
Rushed for nine yards on three carries.
Steve Hutchinson (Seattle):
His offensive line allowed Ricky Watters to rush for 97
yards and five sacks in a 9-6 win over Cleveland.
Maurice Williams (Jacksonville):
His line allowed only one sack in a win over Pittsburgh
while starting opposite Tony Boselli.
David Brandt (Washing- . X, <
ton):
Started at right guard
after being signed as a ..
rookie free agent.
Jeff Backus (Detroit):
Allowed a sack in the
fourth quarter while the
team gave up a total of
seven. AP PHOTO
Anthony Thomas with the Bears.
Weinke threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to Muhsin
Muhammad midway through the third quarter and ran for a
score in the fourth, leading the Panthers to a 24-13 victory
yesterday. Carolina's Steve Smith returned the opening
kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown.
The Vikings, playing their first regular-season game since
the heatstroke death of lineman Korey Stringer in training
camp, committed'four turnovers, three on interceptions by
Daunte Culpepper.
AP PHOTO
Former Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac threw for 262 yards
for the Baltimore Ravens in a win over the Chicago Bears.
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