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. h I.- MEMEMEMEMENSI=