Minnesota 7 3 0 0--10 Green Bay 7 3 14 14--38
GREEN BAY, Wis. (Dec 22, 1996 - 20:18 EST) -- If it's cold, Brett Favre wins. And as Green Bay rolls into the playoffs, the Packers have the chance to use their frigid home field to propel themselves into the Super Bowl.
Favre's three touchdown passes broke his own NFC record and sparked the Packers to a 38-10 rout of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
While NFC Central champion Green Bay has a first-round bye, the wild-card Vikings (9-7) open the playoffs at Dallas.
The Packers (13-3), who have watched their season end at Dallas three consecutive years, will get all their playoff games at Lambeau, where they've won 26 of their last 27.
"I think everyone is scared to death to come in here and play, and that is the way we want it," Packers general manager Ron Wolf said.
"It's great. We earned it," Favre said. "We know how tough it is to go on the road. We know as well as anyone, going to San Francisco and Dallas. We'll probably end up playing both of them here, if my guesses are correct.
"And I like those chances better than I like going out there to play them."
But coach Mike Holmgren was sounding the alarms after the Packers finished 8-0 at home for the first time since 1931.
"The only thing home field guarantees is that you have your people yelling for you," Holmgren said.
Well, in Green Bay another given is the cold, and that's when Favre is at his best.
Game-time temperature Sunday was 30 degrees, but the wind chill was in the single digits and snow swirled around the stadium in the second half, just as the Packers got hot.
Improving to 17-0 in cold-weather games, Favre gave Green Bay its 16th straight victory at Lambeau Field, where the Packers have never lost a playoff game.
Favre's three TD throws gave him 39, one more than he threw last year, when he won the MVP award. He broke a 10-10 halftime tie with a 13-yard screen to Dorsey Levens, then added a 22-yard strike to Andre Rison and a 23-yarder to Keith Jackson.
In winning its fifth straight, Green Bay set several team and league standards. The Packers tied the 1962 club for most victories in a regular season and became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to lead the NFL in both total points (456) and fewest points allowed (210).
The Packers also surrendered just 19 touchdowns in 1996. No team had ever allowed fewer than 20 since the 16-game schedule was instituted in 1978.
Cris Carter hauled in Brad Johnson's pass for a 43-yard TD in the first period for Minnesota's only TD.
Against the Vikings, the pass-oriented Packers rushed for 233 yards while throwing for 212. Edgar Bennett's 109 yards on 18 carries marked the first time all year that a Green Bay player topped the 100-yard mark. Dorsey Levens got 73 yards on 11 carries. Each ran for one touchdown.
Bruce Wilkerson replaced rookie John Michels at left tackle, and helped neutralize Minnesota's John Randle. The Vikings, who sacked Favre a career-high seven times in their first meeting back in September, got two sacks Sunday.
"The biggest thing today was Green Bay's offensive line did a good job scheme blocking," Vikings linebacker Jeff Brady said. "Sometimes we were there to make plays and we got ran over and sometimes we didn't get there. They kept our defense off-balance all day."
The Packers broke a 10-10 halftime tie on Favre's TD to Levens.
Favre, who completed just six of 12 passes for 81 yards in the first half, opened the third period with a 22-yard strike to Antonio Freeman after Desmond Howard, who set the NFL record last week for punt-return yards in a season, took the second-half kickoff 40 yards to the Packers 45.
Favre's 22-yard TD to Rison made it 24-10. It was Rison's first since joining the Packers a month ago following his release from Jacksonville.
Favre set the record with 23-yard TD pass to Jackson on the first play of the fourth quarter, making it 31-10. He finished 15-of-23 for 202 yards.
"The third quarter has been their best quarter and it's been our worst quarter," Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "That mismatch really caught up to us."
Levens capped the scoring with an 11-yard run with 5:57 left, set up by Howard's 47-yard punt return.
The teams were tied after a first half that was marked by several scuffles, including one in which Vikings cornerback Corey Fuller poked Packers center Frank Winters in the left eye as they jawed at each other after a play.
Favre said the best thing about earning the home field was getting three days off this week.
"We're going home for Christmas and that's a great feeling," he said. "I don't care who we play. Someone will be here two weeks from today."
"We're not through yet," Packers defensive end Reggie White said. "We get three more under our belt, we can celebrate for the rest of our lives."
A--59,306. No-shows--1,484.
Minnesota 7 3 0 0--10
Green Bay 7 3 14 14--38
Min GB
FIRST DOWNS 12 29
Rushing 2 18
Passing 9 11
Penalty 1 0
THIRD DOWN EFF 3-12 5-11
FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 252 440
Total Plays 53 68
Avg Gain 4.8 6.5
NET YARDS RUSHING 49 233
Rushes 17 41
Avg per rush 2.9 5.7
NET YARDS PASSING 203 207
Sacked-Yds lost 2-8 2-5
Gross-Yds passing 211 212
Completed-Att. 17-34 16-25
Had Intercepted 1 0
Yards-Pass Play 5.6 7.7
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 2-0-0 7-3-1
PUNTS-Avg. 8-41.9 3-41.0
Punts blocked 0 0
FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 118 174
Punts Returns 1-0 4-84
Kickoffs Returns 6-118 2-70
Interceptions 0-0 1-20
PENALTIES-Yds 5-25 2-10
FUMBLES-Lost 1-1 3-2
TIME OF POSSESSION 22:50 37:10
RUSHING--Minnesota, Hoard 13-41, Lee 2-6, Graham 1-2, B.Johnson 1-1. Green Bay, Bennett 18-109, Levens 11-73, Jervey 5-35, Favre 2-10, Henderson 3-5, McMahon 2-1.
PASSING--Minnesota, B.Johnson 17-34-1-211. Green Bay, Favre 15-23-0-202, McMahon 1-2-0-10.
RECEIVING--Minnesota, Reed 5-74, Hoard 4-46, Carter 3-46, C.Evans 2-22, Lee 2-20, Frisch 1-3. Green Bay, Chmura 4-43, Freeman 3-61, Rison 3-46, Jackson 2-33, Henderson 2-21, Levens 2-8.
PUNT RETURNS--Minnesota, Lee 1-0. Green Bay, Howard 4-84.
KICKOFF RETURNS--Minnesota, Morrow 4-83, Ismail 1-22, Gerak 1-14. Green Bay, HOward 1-40, Beebe 1-30.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS--Minnesota, Bercich 7-0-0, Griffith 6-0-0, Thomas 5-3-0, Fuller 5-0-0, Talley 4-2-0, Alexander 4-0-2, Barnett 4-0-0, Tuaolo 4-0-0, Brady 3-1-0, Fisk 3-1-0, Harrison 3-1-0, Washington 3-1-0, Smith 2-1-0, Garnett 1-1-0, C.Johnson 1-1-0, Berger 1-0-0, Christy 1-0-0, A.Prior 1-0-0, team 1-0-0. Green Bay, Simmons 6-1-0, Koonce 5-2-0, Jones 4-1-1, White 4-0-1, Brown 3-2-0, D.Evans 3-0-0, E.Robinson 2-2-0, T.Williams 1-2-0, Harris 1-1-0, McKenzie 1-1-0, M.Robinson 1-1-0, Cox 1-0-0, S.Dotson 1-0-0, Holland 1-0-0, Newsome 1-0-0, Hayes 1-0-0, Thomason 1-0-0, B.Williams 0-4-0, Hollinquest 0-1-0, Mickens 0-1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS--Minnesota, None. Green Bay, Newsome 1-20.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--None.
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