NFL Old School Game of the Week: Manning Outguns Favre in Memorable Quarterback Duel

 

Peyton Manning would complete 28 of 40 passes for 393 yards and throw five touchdown passes.

When the Green Bay Packers traveled to Indianapolis to take on the Colts in Week 3 of the 2004 NFL season, many fans were hoping for a shootout as this game would feature two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history in Packers quarterback Brett Favre and Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

The fans at the RCA Dome and the millions of fans who watched on TV would not be disappointed as they would get a quarterback duel for the ages.

Both teams entered the game with a 1-1 record and were considered Super Bowl contenders as the Packers had won the NFC North Division the previous two seasons under head coach Mike Sherman while the Colts had made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game the previous year under head coach Tony Dungy.

Both teams' strengths would be their offenses as the Colts had Manning who was coming his first MVP season in 2003, which he shared with Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, and led an offense that featured running back Edgerrian James and a trio of wide receivers in Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Brandon Stokley.

As for the Packers, Favre still had some juice left entering his 13th season as the Packers' quarterback as he had running back Ahman Green in the backfield, who had run for 1,883 yards in 2003.

With all these explosive offensive players, many fans expected a shootout and would get it.

The Colts got the ball to start the game at their 34-yard-line where Manning came out firing as he would four of five passes on the drive with the last completion being a 36-yard touchdown to Wayne to put Indianapolis on the scoreboard first just 1:45 into the game.

The Packers would get the ball at their 18-yard-line for their first possession of the game which was a little bit more methodically as they mixed passes and runs to drive 82 yards in nine plays with Favre completing all four of his passes on the drive, including hitting Donald Driver for 14 yards on 3rd & 11 from the Green Bay 44-yard-line.

The drive would culminate with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Javon Walker to tie the game at 7 with 8:39 to go in the first quarter.

After James Mungro returned Ryan Longwell's short kick 17 yards to the Colts 40-yard-line, Manning would hit Wayne for 15 yards, then Stokley for 9, then back to Wayne for 8, and then finally hitting Harrison for a 28-yard touchdown as the Colts took a 14-7 with less than seven minutes to go in the opening period.

The Packers would take over at their 21-yard-line when Favre fired a deep pass for Walker, who beat his man to make the catch and run untouched for the 79-yard touchdown to tie the game just 16 seconds after Harrison's touchdown.

The Colts would get the ball back at their 28-yard-line where Manning was able to catch the Packers with 12 men on the field to pick up a 1st down on 3rd & 5 from the Indy 33-yard-line.

Manning would find Harrison for 12 yards, then after Packers defensive back Michael Hawthrone a would-be interception, connected with Wayne for 16 yards, before going back to Stokley, who was wide open for a 34-yard touchdown to put the Colts back on top 21-14 with 4:11 left in the first quarter.

Green Bay took over at its 32-yard-line when a strange thing happened; they went three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Colts, who took over at their six-yard-line.

Manning kept firing as he hit Wayne for eight yards, then found Wayne again for 21 yards for a 1st down at the Colts' 35-yard-line.

Manning would then connect with tight end Marcus Pollard for 11 yards, then Stokley again for an nine-yard gain which became a 24-yard gain as Packers linebacker Na'il Diggs was called for roughing the passer to give the Colts a 1st down at the Green Bay 30-yard-line.

Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne would catch 11 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown.

Manning would complete his fifth pass in a row to Pollard for five yards to bring the first quarter to an end with the Colts on top 21-14.

In all, Manning completed 17 of 22 passes for 247 yards and three touchdown passes in the first quarter alone while Favre completed five of six passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.

To begin the second quarter, the Colts surprised the Packers with their first running play of the game as James ran for six yards and a 1st down at the Green Bay 19-yard-line.

A holding penalty and two incomplete passes forced the Colts into a 3rd & 18 situation when Manning found Stokley again for a 27-yard touchdown to increase the Indianapolis lead to 28-14 with 13:43 left in the second quarter.

The Packers would come right back with a 50-yard kickoff return by Antonio Chatman to the Colts' 41-yard-line as Green would carry the ball three straight times, picking up 16 yards before Favre connected with tight end Bubba Franks for 11 yards and a 1st down at the Indianapolis 14-yard-line.

But a seven-yard loss on a screen pass to Tony Fisher would kill the drive, forcing the Packers to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell to make it a 28-17 game with 9:34 left in the first half.

The Packers defense finally stopped the Colts' offense on their next drive, forcing them to go three-and-out to get the ball back at their 31-yard-line.

Favre decided to do his best Manning impression as he threw the ball on all but two plays as he completed four of seven passes for 35 yards to set up a 52-yard field goal attempt by Longwell.

But Longwell's kick came up short as it hit the crossbar keeping it 28-17 and giving Manning and the Colts the ball at their 43-yard-line.

Manning wasted no time in driving the Colts down the field as he found Wayne for 25 yards to start the drive, then hit Stokley for 11 more yards to the Packers' 22-yard-line.

The drive bogged down a bit as Manning hit Harrison for only three yards, then had a six-yard completion to Wayne called back because of a holding penalty, pushing the Colts back to the Green Bay 28-yard-line when Manning fired a pass for Wayne in the end zone, which fell incomplete but drew a 27-yard pass interference penalty on Packers defensive back Jason Horton to set up 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.

After Dominic Rhodes was stopped for no gain, Manning went back to the air and found Mungro for the one-yard touchdown, his fifth touchdown pass of the first half, to increase the Colts' lead to 35-17 with 57 seconds left before halftime.

Favre was able to complete three passes but only got Green Bay to their 47-yard-line before punting the ball to the Colts who took a knee to run out the clock in the first half as they went into the locker room with a 35-17 lead.

The Packers would get the ball to start the second half as they took over at their 35-yard-line where after Favre threw an incomplete pass to start the drive, completed four in a row for 35 yards before handing the ball off to Green, who ran up the middle for six yards and a 1st down at the Colts' 24-yard-line.

Four plays later, Favre found Walker wide open in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to cut the Indianapolis lead to 35-24 with 9:59 left in the third quarter.

Packers wide receiver Javon Walker would catch 11 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

The Packers would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 16-yard-line when they drove to the Colts' 39 yard-line until a holding penalty on left tackle Chad Clifton helped kill the drive and force a Green Bay punt.

The Colts took over at their 21-yard-line and decided to go to James, who had carried the ball only three times in the first half, as he would carry the ball six times for 27 yards while Manning found Wayne for a 23-yard completion to drive Indianapolis to the Packers' 29-yard-line as the third quarter came to a close.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Colts appeared to have a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line as Manning found Stokley for 28 yards, only to have wiped it out by a holding penalty on left tackle Tarik Glenn pushing the Colts back 10 yards to the Green Bay 39-yard-line, which was followed by a false start penalty on right guard Tupo Peko which cost the Colts another five yards.

Manning would connect with James for 17 yards to set up a 45-yard field goal by Mike Vanderjagt to increase the Colts' lead to 38-24 with 13:34 left in the fourth quarter.

Then on the ensuing kickoff, Robert Ferguson would run it back 71 yards before being stopped by Vanderjagt at the Colts' 22-yard-line, giving Green Bay an excellent opportunity to cut into the lead.

After an incomplete pass and a false start penalty, Favre fired a 27-yard touchdown pass to Driver just 21 seconds after Vanderjagt's field goal to make it a 38-31 game.

Both teams would exchange punts until the Packers got the ball at their 21-yard-line and drove to their 43-yard-line as Favre completed three passes in a row.

Favre would complete his fourth pass in a row, a eight-yard completion to Walker, only to have Colts cornerback Jason David knock the ball loose, causing a fumble that was recovered by the other cornerback,  Nick Harper, whose 15-yard return gave the ball to the Colts at the Packers' 36-yard-line with 6:07 left in the fourth quarter.

From there, Manning decided to use up as much time as he could while leading the Colts for a score that could put the game out of reach.

After James picked up five yards on the first play of the drive, Manning hit Wayne for nine yards and a 1st down at the Green Bay 22-yard-line.

Then after James lost two yards on 1st down, Manning found Wayne again, this time for 15 yards to give the Colts a 1st & goal at the nine-yard-line.

James would pick up five yards on back-to-back carries to set up 3rd & goal where Manning threw an incomplete pass only to have Packers cornerback Al Harris be called for holding, giving the Colts an 1st down at the two-yard-line.

It would take the Colts three tries to punch into the end zone as James ran it from the one-yard-line to increase the Indianapolis lead to 45-31 with 1:49 left in the game.

If the Packers were to pull off a miracle and score two touchdowns in the final 1:49, they would have to do it without Favre, who was pulled from the game because of a charley horse in his left hamstring.

Brett Favre would finish with 360 yards and four touchdowns on 30-of-44 passes.

Future Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson came in at quarterback and completed his first four passes for a total of 34 yards to drive the Packers from their 38-yard-line to the Colts' 28-yard-line.

But that is where the Packers' hopes ended as Pederson would throw an incomplete pass then be intercepted by Colts linebacker David Thornton, allowing for Manning to come onto the field and take a knee to run out the clock as the Colts would come away with the 45-31 win.

In total, Manning and Favre combined to complete 58 of 84 passes for 753 yards and throw nine touchdown passes as the Colts moved to 2-1 while the Packers dropped to 1-2.

The Packers would lose their next two games to fall to 1-4 before going on a 9-2 tear over the rest of the regular season to finish with a 10-6 record and clinch their third straight NFC North Division title, only to be knocked in the Wild Card Round by the Minnesota Vikings 31-17.

The following year, the Packers would fall to 4-12, leading to Sherman's firing as Mike McCarthy was hired in the offseason as two years later the Packers made all the way to the NFC Championship Game before losing in overtime 23-20 to the New York Giants in what would be Favre's final game as a Packer.

As for the Colts, they would go to finish the season with a 12-4 record to win the AFC South for the second year in a row as Manning would break Dan Marino's record of most touchdown passes in a season as he threw 49 touchdown passes to earn his second straight MVP award.

Manning and the Colts would knock off the Denver Broncos 49-24 in the Wild Card round, but would be eliminated again by the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round.

Two year later, the Colts would finally get over the hump as they defated the Patriots 38-34 in the AFC Championship Game after trailing 21-3, then knocked off the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI.

Favre and Manning greet each other after their classic quarterback duel.

NFL Old School Game of the Week: Chiefs Come From Behind To Beat Packers in Shootout

Eddie Kennison scores the game-winning touchdown, a 51-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trent Green. six minutes and eighteen seconds into overtime.

When the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 6 of the 2003 NFL season, many fans were hoping for a shootout between the two teams' high-powered offenses.

Both teams would not disappoint in game which featured over 900 yards of total offense and 74 points combined between the two teams.

The Chiefs entered the game undefeated with a 5-0 record under head coach Dick Vermeil, who had helped built an explosive offense much like the one he had built to win the Super Bowl with the then St. Louis Rams during the 1999 season.

The Chiefs offense was directed by quarterback Trent Green, who was reunited with Vermeil in Kansas City after losing his starting quarterback job in the 1999 preseason when he suffered torn ligaments after a hit by Chargers safety Rodney Harrison, paving the way for Kurt Warner to swoop in and lead the Rams to the Super Bowl title.

Green had a variety of weapons at his disposal including running back Priest Holmes, who lead the league in rushing in 2001 as he ran for 1,555 yards, then followed that season up with a 1,615 yard and 21 touchdown season in 2002, and tight end Tony Gonzalez who had been to the Pro Bowl the past four seasons.

But the Chiefs' ultimate weapon was kick returner Dante Hall, who had begun the 2003 season, by returning either a kickoff or a punt for a touchdown in the previous four games.

Meanwhile, the Packers entered the game with a 3-2 record who were looking for their third straight win.

The Packers were led by quarterback Brett Favre, who was in his 12th season as the Packers' starting quarterback, who had a explosive running back to match Holmes in Ahman Green, who had rushed for over 1,000 yards the last three seasons.

Both Greens, Trent and Ahman, would play a huge factor in the outcome of this Week 6 game.

Chiefs running back Priest Holmes would carry the ball 22 times for 81 yards and catch six passes for 59 yards.

After the Chiefs were forced to punt on their opening possession, the Packers drove 80 yards in 11 plays as Favre was a perfect 6-of-6 for 75 yards on the drive which included completions of 26 yards to Donald Driver and a 23-yarder to Robert Ferguson.

The drive ended with Favre hitting tight end Bubba Franks for a one-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Favre stayed hot on the Packers' ensuing possession as he hit Ahman for 21 yards, then connected with tight end Wesley Walls for 36 yards, to set up Ahman's four-yard touchdown run which increased the Green Bay lead to 14-0 with 2:44 left in the opening quarter.

The Chiefs seemed poised to go three-and-out for the third straight possession as they faced a 3rd & 9 at their 21-yard-line when Green hit Johnnie Morton for 38 yards to give Kansas City its first 1st down of the game at the Packers' 41-yard-line.

This would eventually lead to a 26-yard touchdown pass from Green to Gonzalez to put the Chiefs on the scoreboard as they cut the Packers' lead to 14-7 with just 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

Bolstered the touchdown, the Chiefs defense forced their first three-and-out of the game on the Packers' next possession to get the ball back at their 45-yard-line following a 30-yard return by Hall on the punt.

This would lead to an eight-play, 55-yard drive which culminated with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Green to Morton which tied the game 14-14 with 9:22 to go in the second quarter.

The Packers would respond with a 14-play, 80-yard drive which took seven minutes and ended when Favre connected with Ahman for a 11-yard touchdown to put the Packers back on top at 21-14 with 2:22 to go in the first half.

With time winding down before halftime, the Chiefs tried to drive to get more points on the board but their drive stalled at Green Bay 45-yard-line, forcing a punt back to the Packers, who ran out the clock in the first half as they went into the locker room with a 21-14 lead and would be getting the ball to start the second half.

When Green Bay got the ball to start the second half, Favre went back to being perfect as he completed all five of his passes for 33 yards on an eight-play, 76-yard drive which ended with a 18-yard touchdown run by Najeh Davenport to increase the Packers' lead to 28-14.

The Packers kept the momentum going as they forced the Chiefs to go three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half and got the ball at their 49-yard-line after Jason Baker shanked his punt which went for 28 yards.

After a three-yard loss on 1st down, Favre hit Walls for back-to-back completions totaling 20 yards to give the Packers a 1st down at the Chiefs' 34-yard-line.

That is when the much maligned Chiefs defense rose up and stopped the Packers, allowing only two yards on the next three plays, forcing the Packers to settle for a 50-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell which increased their lead to 31-14 with just over six minutes to go in the third quarter.

Packers quarterback Brett Favre would complete 25 of 36 passes for 272 yards and throw two touchdowns.

Following Longwell's field goal, the defenses would take over as neither team could mount a scoring threat for the rest of the third quarter as the Packers went into the final 15 minutes still holding on to a 31-14 lead.

But things began to change early in the 4th quarter when Hall returned a Packers punt 32 yards to the Green Bay 42-yard-line, setting up a short six-play drive which culminated with an one-yard touchdown run by Holmes which brought the Chiefs to back within 10 points at 31-21 with 12:25 to go in the 4th quarter.

The Packers would get the ball back at their 29-yard-line and proceeded to go their running attack to drive down the field as they ran the ball on four of their next five plays, picking up 30 yards in the process to drive the Packers into Kansas City territory.

But on 3rd & 6 at the Chiefs' 32-yard-line, Favre was picked off by free safety Jerome Woods on a pass intended for Driver, who then ran it back for a 79-yard pick-six that brought the Chiefs to within a field goal at 31-28 with exactly nine minutes to go in the 4th quarter.

The momentum had clearly shifted back to the Chiefs as they forced a three-and-out on the Packers' ensuing possession to get the ball back at their 20-yard-line when Green connected with Gonzalez for a 67-yard completion to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Green Bay 13-yard-line.

However, a false start penalty on Gonzalez and three plays netted only one yard forced the Chiefs to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Morten Andersen which tied the game 31-31 with 5:45 left in regulation.

With their 17-point lead having been evaporated in just a span of six minutes and 40 seconds, the Packers took over at their 29-yard-line looking to break the 31-31 tie and retake the lead.

After Favre connected with Driver for six yards to open the drive, the Packers went Ahman who carried the ball 16 yards to a 1st down at the Kansas City 49-yard-line, then got the ball again and ran for 26 more yards to another 1st down at the Kansas City 23-yard-line.

But the drive would stall at the Chiefs' 23-yard-line and the Packers would settle for a 41-yard field goal by Longwell to give them a 34-31 lead with 2:48 left in regulation.

The Chiefs would take over at their 10-yard-line with two timeouts in their pocket and needing to drive at least into field goal range to give Andersen at a chance of tying the game with a field goal.

The drive would start off with a four-yard run by Green, which became a 19-yard play after Packers defensive tackle Cletidus Hunt was called for grabbing a face mask to give Kansas City a 1st down at their 29-yard-line.

Then after the next two plays picked up only one yard, Green hit Morton for 14 yards and a 1st down at the Chiefs' 44-yard-line.

This was followed by back-to-back 12-yard completions, the first to Gonzalez and the second to Holmes, which put the Chiefs at the Packers' 32-yard-line.

Holmes would carry the ball on the next two plays gaining seven yards to set up 3rd & 3 when Holmes caught a 12-yard screen pass from Green to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Green Bay 13-yard-line with just 13 seconds left in regulation.

Green took two shots at the end zone but both passes fell incomplete forcing Kansas City to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Andersen which tied the game at 34 as time expired in regulation.

Chiefs quarterback Trent Green threw for exactly 400 yards and three touchdowns on 27-of-45 passing.

The Chiefs would win the overtime coin toss and got the ball at their 29-yard-line when they decided to rely on Holmes in hopes of carrying Kansas City down the field in hopes of setting up a game-winning field goal.

Holmes would carry the ball nine straight times, gaining 41 yards to drive Kansas City to the Packers' 30-yard-line where they faced a 3rd & 2.

That is when Green decided to put up in the air, only for his pass to fall incomplete, but still in range for Andersen to come on and kick the game-winning field goal from 48 yards out.

But the future Hall-of-Fame kicker's attempt at a game-winning field goal would be blocked by Hunt, giving the Packers the ball at their 39-yard-line with a chance to drive down the field and kick the game-winning field goal.

On the first play from scrimmage, Favre handed the ball to Ahman, who ran for eight yards, but lost the football when the helmet of Woods knocked the football loose, which was recovered by Chiefs linebacker Mike Maslowski to give Kansas City the ball back at their 49-yard-line.

That is when Green decided to go deep and fire a pass down the right side of the field for Eddie Kennison, who had made only one catch all day long.

Kennison made the catch around the Green Bay 20-yard-line and then proceeded to outrun Packers defensive back Bhawoh Jue for the walk-off 51-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a 40-34 win and keep their undefeated season intact as they moved to 6-0.

The Chiefs would eventually run their record up to 9-0 until they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 24-19 in Week 11 to end Kansas City hopes of an undefeated season.

Kansas City would finish the season with a 13-3 record good enough to earn the #2 seed in the AFC and a first-round-bye.

But the Chiefs would fall to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 38-31 in their divisional playoff, the only time Kansas City made the playoffs under Vermeil who retired after the 2005 season.

As for the Packers, they would continue to struggle for the next few weeks of the season until a four-game winning streak in December, coupled with a 18-17 loss by the Minnesota Vikings on the last play of the game to the Arizona Cardinals in the regular season finale, gave Green Bay the NFC North title and a spot in the playoffs.

The Packers would knock off the Seattle Seahawks 33-27 in overtime of their Wild Card Game, but would fall to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17 in overtime in the Divisional Round after the Eagles converted on 4th & 26 on their final possession of regulation where they were able to kick the game-tying field goal.