THE NFL 1996 : Green Bay Wins Again, but Loses Receiver Again

The high-powered Green Bay Packers were slowed by yet another costly injury Sunday, but still had enough to defeat the mistake-prone Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-7.

“Well, it was a win and we’re 7-1,” said Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, who was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 17 games.

The Packers’ depleted receiving corps took another huge hit when Antonio Freeman broke his left forearm in his first game since replacing the injured Robert Brooks. He’ll undergo surgery and will sit out four to six weeks.

Freeman was hurt on the Packers’ second drive, and the result was a much tougher test for Green Bay, an 18-point favorite over the Buccaneers (1-7), whom they defeated, 34-3, in the opener.

“We are now a little bit inexperienced at the wideout position,” said Green Bay Coach Mike Holmgren, who was left with receivers Don Beebe, Desmond Howard and rookie Derrick Mayes--all in their first year in this offense.

“The thing is, you have the MVP in the league playing quarterback, so you don’t want to take the ball out of his hands too much.”

Favre, who leads the NFL with 21 touchdown passes, didn’t throw for a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 5, 1995. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 178 yards with an interception.

“It was kind of a ho-hum day on offense,” Favre said. “That’s kind of frustrating to me because I expect us to go out and score 30 points.”

Edgar Bennett, who aggravated his sprained left shoulder, rushed 20 times for 93 yards and Dorsey Levens ran seven times for 21 yards and a touchdown. Chris Jacke had field goals of 40 and 48 yards.

The Buccaneers closed to 13-7 when Trent Dilfer passed to tight end Dave Moore for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 5:28 left in the game.

Tampa Bay got the ball back with 1:55 left when Levens was stuffed a yard short on fourth down from the Tampa Bay 31. But with 1:09 remaining, Dilfer was sacked on fourth down from his 35 by safety LeRoy Butler and linebacker Brian Williams, and the Packers ran out the clock.

Freeman, the Packers’ leading receiver, was hit by free safety Melvin Johnson on a slant near the goal line in the first quarter. Freeman also suffered a slight concussion on the play.

“Right now it just seems like a bunch of bad luck,” Levens said. “But you can’t sit around and complain about guys going down. You just got to go out and play.”

The Buccaneers might have won had they been able to recover more than one of Green Bay’s four fumbles.

“It’s kind of the same old story for us,” Tampa Bay Coach Tony Dungy said. “We made some big mistakes that are tough to overcome against a very good football team.”