While Ahman Green's major gains weren't enough to make up
for the Packers’ major gaffes in Monday night’s loss to the Eagles, he did
recover from a shaky start to post a record-setting night.
Green's 192 yards were more than enough to make him just
the second man in Packer history to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive
seasons. He joins Jim Taylor (1960-64) as the only man to accomplish the feat
four times, as well as consecutively. Taylor went on to a fifth consecutive
1,000 yard season. Green passes John Brockington, which looked inevitable as
Green needed only 129 yards coming into Week 10.
Green's Packer milestones reached Monday night:
- He set the single-game rushing record, surpassing Dorsey Levens' 187 yards (set in a 45-17 win over Dallas Nov. 23, 1997 at Lambeau
Field).
- He became first running back in team history to catch a
touchdown pass in four consecutive game.
- Monday's game was Green's 21st career 100-yard game and
his 20th with the Packers. Taylor is the Packers' all-time leader with 26
100-yard rushing game.
- Now with six 100 yard games this season, Green needs just
two more to break his own tie with Taylor and hold the mark all alone with
eight.
- Green’s 224 yards from scrimmage ranks third on GB’s
all-time list. Billy Howton set the standard with 257 yards vs. the Los Angeles
Rams Oct. 21, 1956, followed by Don Hutson’s 237 yards vs. Brooklyn on Nov. 21,
1943.
- Green’s 1,376 total yards from scrimmage so far this
season put him ahead of the pace to break his own team mark of 1,981 set in 2001
(1,387 rushing, 594 receiving).
Green said the loss definitely cancels out the excitement
of engraving his name in the Packer record books:
“I’ve been like this since grade school,” Green said. “I
don’t care if I have negative-1 yards and no touchdowns as long as my team
wins.”
More Monday milestones:
Brett Favre's 24-yard touchdown pass to Green ran the QB's
streak to 18 in a row with a touchdown pass. The skein dates back to Oct. 20,
2002 when Favre did not have a touchdown toss in the Packers' 30-9 win over
Washington. The current 18-game streak ties Favre's own mark which ranks second
in the Packer record books. That one was bridged the 1997 and 1998 campaigns,
ending Oct. 5, 1998 in a loss to Minnesota that also ended the Packers' home
winning streak. Favre needs four more games to tie record-holder Cecil Isbell,
who established his streak from 1941-42.
Monday's loss broke Green Bay's three-game Monday Night
Football winning streak at Lambeau Field. The skein began on a similarly rainy
night three years ago when the Packers beat Minnesota 26-20 in OT on Nov. 6,
2000. En route to Monday's game, Green Bay beat the Washington Redskins 37-0 on
Sept. 24, 2001, then topped the Dolphins 24-10 on Nov. 4, 2002.
Monday night's loss also ended the Pack's prime-time streak
to 9. The Eagles secured their ninth consecutive November road victory.
Here’s a dubious distinction: With seven punts each, Josh Bidwell and Dirk Johnson combined to tie the Packer mark for most punts in a
game by both teams, becoming the first to reach the high-punt mark in nearly 70
years. The 14-punt mark was reached three times before to Monday night’s game,
but not since Nov. 17, 1935 at Detroit. The Packers were part of a 14-punt game
twice during the 1933 season, once against each Chicago teams (Bears and
Cardinals).