MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, 26 December 2004 — Ryan Longwell kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired here Friday to give Green Bay a 34-31 National Football League victory over Minnesota and a third consecutive division title.
The Packers, who had already clinched an American football playoff berth, improved to 9-6 to clinch the NFC North division crown. The Vikings fell to 8-7 but still have the inside track for a wild-card playoff spot.
Brett Favre completed 30-of-43 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns to spark the Packers.
The Christmas Eve game turned out to be almost an instant replay of last month’s meeting at Lambeau Field, when Longwell booted a 33-yard field goal on the last play to give the Packers a triumph by the identical final score.
“Ryan is our Mr. Dependable,” Packers coach Mike Sherman said.
The total combined yardage for both clubs, 868 yards, was only 10 more than they produced a month ago, although the game was played inside the cozy confines of the Metrodome rather than the chilly climate of Green Bay.
Favre has sparked Green Bay to the playoffs for the 10th time in his 13-year career after the Packers began the season a miserable 1-4.
“At 1-4 I don’t think anybody thought we would make the playoffs, much less win the division,” Favre said. “It’s something to celebrate. I will enjoy this. But we have a long way to go.”
The Vikings, who have not made the playoffs since 2000, might face a must-win situation on Jan. 2 at Washington in order to end the drought.
Favre threw an interception that Vikings linebacker Chris Claiborne returned 15 yards for a touchdown to give the hosts a 31-24 lead with 8:18 to play.
But the NFL three-time Most Valuable Player bounced back, guiding Green Bay on an 80-yard touchdown drive to level the score on a three-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver on fourth down with 3:34 to play.
“The one thing I didn’t want was to make a mistake and I did there with the interception,” Favre said. “But I knew we still had time and my receivers really stepped up, not just today but for the whole year.”
Driver finished with 11 catches for a career-high 162 yards.
“This game is all about making plays,” Driver said. “Brett’s going to fight to the end and we made the plays.”
The Vikings were forced to punt and Favre marched the Packers 80 yards in 92 seconds, the key play a 31-yard pass to Javon Walker to the Minnesota 7-yard line to set up the winning field goal.
“They came on a blitz, but I knew where Javon was going to be and I just threw it to the spot and he made the play,” Favre said.
Favre moved into third place on the NFL’s all-time list for passing yards, surpassing Warren Moon. Favre has thrown for 49,538 yards, behind only Dan Marino and John Elway.
“The determination and resiliency of Brett Favre, that’s just who he is,” Sherman said. “He handles adversity better than any person I know.”
Saban to Decide Soon About
Coaching Dolphins
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Nick Saban will decide whether or not to accept the job of coaching American football’s Miami Dolphins in “the next 24 to 48 hours”, the Louisiana State University coach said Friday.
In a Christmas Eve statement, Saban said his choice would be made before the end of the weekend and well before his college team concludes its season on Jan. 1 against the University of Iowa.
The Dolphins first offered the coaching position to Saban on Wednesday, but team owner Wayne Huizenga then traveled here and promised Saban full authority over football operations for the struggling National Football League squad.
Saban has rejected several prior NFL coaching offers, including one by Chicago last season after he shared the 2003 American collegiate championship.
Saban is already the highest-paid coach in collegiate American football after signing a seven-year contract last February. He has a 68-29 record in five years here at Louisiana State after five seasons at Michigan State.
The Dolphins have the second-worst record in the NFL at 3-11 and will suffer their first losing season since 1988.
Miami was 1-8 when Dave Wannstedt resigned on November 9 and Jim Bates was named interim coach.
The sudden retirement of 2002 NFL rushing leader Ricky Williams before training camp and numerous injuries doomed Miami.
Legendary Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino accepted a front office job as director of football operations and stepped down less than a month later.
