Packers Superior, if Not Super

In the next few days the folks up here are going to be crying in their chowder, bemoaning the state of their wretched Patriots, left for dead again by the Green Bay Packers and now with no hope to respond because of the wishy-washy leadership of Coach Pete Carroll.

Embarrassed once already by Bill Parcells, their former dictator who drove them to Super Bowl XXXI and a 35-21 loss to the Packers, and spanked on Monday Night Football earlier this season in Denver, the ambitious Patriots have been consistently exposed as frauds.

And the explanation for continued disappointment was eminently evident Monday night in Foxboro Stadium before 59,972 in the contrasting performances of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

Favre is a winner and showed it in the Packers’ easy 28-10 win over the Patriots, throwing for three touchdowns and directing a 99-yard scoring drive in 17 plays and 9:31 in response to New England’s inability to score from the one-yard line in four tries.

Bledsoe, meanwhile, was a quivering mess with the pressure turned up to big-game proportions, and now because of earlier pratfalls, there will be more significant games to play.

“It’s going to be tough now because of all the divisive thoughts--who’s at fault and all that,” said Carroll, “so we have to hang together. I believe we were 5-3 at this time last year and we have to remember what happened. But it’s a great challenge for us.”

It becomes a monumental challenge, because Parcells is employed in New York and Bledsoe can’t stop shaking.

“We want to be up there with the elite teams in the league, but until we beat some of them we don’t deserve to be mentioned with them,” admitted Bledsoe. “It’s like the past, we have to come to this facility realizing now it’s us against the world, and the only way we can get it changed is if each one of us takes the responsibility to improve our individual play.”

The Packers (6-2), meanwhile, appear back on track and are tied for first place in the NFC Central Division with the Vikings, primed to roll over Detroit, St. Louis and Indianapolis before being put to the test against Dallas. Then they will play back-to-back road games at Minnesota and Tampa Bay.

“This was a big win; we hope it can jump start the second half of our season,” said Green Bay Coach Mike Holmgren. “The guys were spirited. I thought they played very well, probably the best complete game they have played all year.”

The tough tests come quicker for the Patriots, who have a three-game trip beginning next week at Minnesota--dare anyone say within ear shot of Bledsoe--another huge game.

In the first big challenge this year, Bledsoe nearly cost the Patriots a Sunday night loss in their initial reunion with Parcells and the Jets, including an interception in overtime, and then he sparked a Denver rout by throwing a pass to Bronco defender John Mobley, who returned it for a touchdown.

He lost to Glenn Foley and the Jets a week ago in New York, and then armed with revenge against a Packer team still trying to find its super edge this season, he bellyflopped, completing 20 of 36 passes for 268 yards and three interceptions.

Favre, the NFL’s two-time most valuable player, was magical--escaping trouble, directing a no-huddle attack at times, completing 23 of 34 passes for 239 yards and striking first with an improvised six-yard touchdown pass to running back Dorsey Levens.

Bledsoe was sacked, stumped and sent sprawling for cover on a night when Curtis Martin, one of the premier running backs in the game, should have been shredding one of the league’s worst rushing defenses.

Chicago running back Raymont Harris, Detroit’s Barry Sanders andTampa Bay’s Warrick Dunn had all rushed for more than 100 yards against the Packer defense, but the Patriots came out throwing, an obvious move to give Bledsoe center stage.

Bledsoe responded with an 11-yard scoring pass to tight end Ben Coates, his favorite target, and allowed second-year receiver Terry Glenn to have the biggest day in his short career with seven catches for 163 yards. But when it came time for big plays in a big-time football game, Bledsoe was wild, jittery and consistently off the mark.

And in a possession that might come to define the Patriots’ lost season, one in which it became painfully clear that Carroll is in over his head as Parcells’ replacement, Bledsoe could not save the day.

Taking control at their own 26-yard line after the second half kickoff, and trailing, 10-7, the Patriots moved all the way to he Green Bay one-yard line and enjoyed a first-and-goal situation.

If Parcells was coaching the Patriots, they jam the ball into the end zone with repeated running plays against a Packer defense that has yielded an average of 4.5 yards a carry: Martin right, Martin left, Martin up the gut.

But Carroll’s charges ran only on first down, shut down for no gain. Then, three times Bledsoe retreated to pass, and three times the ball fell incomplete, the fourth-down try to fullback Keith Byars being knocked down by Packer cornerback Tyrone Williams.

“We just didn’t get it into the end zone--that’s the screw up,” said Carroll, fumbling to explain the bizarre goal-line play calling. “We didn’t score; in hindsight obviously we would like to do it a different way.”

The Patriots didn’t know it at the time, but a murmur of disapproval worked its way through Foxboro, the fans sensing that their heroes were now finished. Under Favre’s mastery, the Packers took their sweet time strolling down the field doing as they pleased before Favre fired a 20-yard touchdown pass to Robert Brooks for a 21-10 advantage.

“That’s the toughest thing in football--keeping them out of the end zone and then go 99 [yards],” said Holmgren.

Levens’ three-yard run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter pushed Green Bay ahead, 28-10, and with one more mistake to seal his miserable night, Bledsoe trudged off the field after being intercepted a third time.

*

* CHICAGO 36, MIAMI 33 (OT): The Bears overcame a 15-point deficit in the final 5:48 of regulation and beat the Dolphins in overtime on Jeff Jaeger’s 35-yard field goal. C5