It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Pack Is Back

Winter finally arrived in Green Bay on Sunday and so did the old Packers, inspired by what was likely Reggie White’s final game at Lambeau Field.

Brett Favre and Antonio Freeman teamed up for three long touchdown plays as the Packers beat the Tennessee Oilers, 30-22, on a snowy day and a slippery field. Favre left after three quarters with an ice bag on his right hip.

“My turf toe is killing me, hip’s sore, hand’s sore, thumb,” said Favre, who set an NFL record with his fifth consecutive season with 30 or more touchdown passes. “Typical late-year injuries.”

Tennessee (8-7) saw its playoff hopes dim. The Oilers must beat Minnesota next Sunday and hope Miami loses tonight against Denver and at Atlanta next Sunday.

The Packers, who clinched their sixth playoff berth in a row Saturday when Washington beat Tampa Bay, improved to 10-5, winning consecutive games for the first time in nearly two months.

Packer tight end Mark Chmura left early in the game because of a strained calf and didn’t return, but Freeman caught touchdown passes of 57, 68 and 32 yards in the first half.

Freeman finished with seven catches for 186 yards, the second-best game of his career.

Favre’s first two touchdown passes to Freeman came with the Oilers blitzing and his third gave the Packers a 21-7 halftime lead.

On the third play from scrimmage, Freeman lined up in the backfield and went in motion. On the snap, cornerback Denard Walker turned to help cover Derrick Mayes and Freeman caught a short slant pass and found himself home free for a touchdown.

Freeman scored again when cornerback Darryll Lewis slipped on the sandy swath down the middle of the chewed-up field and Favre again avoided the blitz and found Freeman.

After the Oilers pulled to 14-7 when Packer cornerback Kerry Cooks slipped covering Derrick Mason on a 25-yard pass from Steve McNair in the second quarter, Freeman hauled in Favre’s lob at the six-yard line and muscled his way into the end zone. It was Freeman’s second three-touchdown game.

That was also Favre’s 30th touchdown pass, giving him an NFL record he had shared with Dan Marino.

Meanwhile, White--who turned 37 Saturday and insists this is his last season--got all he could handle from Oiler right tackle Jon Runyan, who didn’t give up a sack to the NFL’s all-time leader (192 1/2). White had also come into the game with an NFL-season high 16 sacks and made the Pro Bowl for a record 13th consecutive time.

Chants of “Reg-gie! Reg-gie!’ cascaded as the game ended and White knelt in midfield prayer, then waved to the fans on a farewell victory lap.

“I didn’t want to just walk off the field,” White said.