Packers Take Another Leap

Green Bay Packer rapper-receiver Robert Brooks followed his own advice one week after giving President Clinton his debut CD titled “Jump Into The Stands.”

Brooks caught five passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers routed the dazed and outmatched Philadelphia Eagles, 39-13, in the first Monday Night Football game at Lambeau Field in 10 years.

Brooks vaulted himself into the end zone seats packed with delirious fans after touchdown receptions of 25 and 20 yards from Brett Favre, who overcame a rough start to throw three touchdowns.

Dorsey Levens even got into the act, doing his version of the Lambeau Leap after a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

A Lambeau Field record 60,666 watched their Packers go 2-0 for the first time since the strike-shortened 1982 season, when they won their first three. Philadelphia fell to 1-1.

“Early in the week, I asked for a little extra from our fans,” Green Bay Coach Mike Holmgren said. “They certainly did that. I wanted it to be a celebration and to have a great evening here in Green Bay.

“It was our first Monday night game in a long time. It was all of those things, and then we won the game to boot. It was a great evening for us.”

All the way around.

Brooks had four catches for 116 yards in the first half as the Packers built an astonishing 30-7 lead against an Eagles team that thinks it can unseat Dallas in the NFC East.

“We were physically dominated on both sides of the ball tonight,” Philadelphia Coach Ray Rhodes said. “The Packers show you exactly where you are as a team. Turnovers killed us.”

Packer defensive end Reggie White said he wasn’t surprised at the blowout, which followed Green Bay’s 34-3 thrashing of Tampa Bay last week.

“We thought we were better than them,” White said. “We didn’t want to in any kind of way show them disrespect, but with the way we played last week, we figured if we played the same way, we could do this.”

Edgar Bennett gained 93 yards in 17 carries and also scored on a 25-yard reception when he grabbed Favre’s pass for a 37-7 lead with six minutes left in the third period.

The blowout capped an exhilarating week in Green Bay, which began with President Clinton visiting the Packers at Lambeau Field on Labor Day.

In two weeks, Favre, who was 17 for 31 for 261 yards after overthrowing his first five passes, has seven touchdowns and no interceptions as the Packers have outscored their opponents, 73-16.

But it was the Packers’ defense that really spoiled the return of Rhodes, who served as defensive coordinator in Green Bay from 1992-93.

The Packers, who had only 16 takeaways last season, already have 10, including four in the first half Monday night, three of which Green Bay converted into 13 points.

White and Santana Dotson capped the indignity by dropping Rodney Peete for a safety with 11:06 left. Peete completed 10 of 25 passes for 142 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.

“They play well when they’re at home,” Peete said. “As far as the noise factor, that didn’t bother us.”

But the swarming defense did.

“The last two weeks, we’ve put our offense in a position to score,” White said. “And they’ve put a lot of points on the board.”