Chiefs wary of Lambeau
10/08/03
IVAN CARTER
The Kansas City Star
Dick Vermeil remembers his first trip to Green Bay's venerable Lambeau Field. The year was 1976, and Vermeil was a relatively anonymous rookie head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Vermeil took the field long before kickoff that morning, wanting to get a feel for the place where the great Vince Lombardi once coached.
“I come walking out there and all these fans start applauding and waving and I'm like ‘Hey, they know who I am,' so I waved back,” Vermeil said.
One problem. The early arriving fans were waving at Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik, whose Eagles defeated the Packers in the 1960 NFL championship game.
“They were so excited to see Chuck because they had those same seats when Chuck played,” Vermeil said. “That's the kind of stadium, the kind of atmosphere... it's rich, rich in tradition. It is fun to go into Green Bay, it really is.”
But not so fun when quarterback Brett Favre starts ripping off big gainers through the air while running back Ahman Green bursts through open holes on the ground. That's what happened to the previously high-flying Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.
Mike Holmgren and the 3-0 Seahawks went into Lambeau hoping to create more early-season momentum but left on the wrong end of a 35-13 score.
The Seahawks were done in by Favre's hot right arm (he completed 19 of 25 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns), Green's legs (118 yards and two touchdowns in 27 carries), and two Seattle turnovers.
In picking up their second straight blowout victory, the Packers racked up 336 yards of offense, converted six of nine third downs and scored on five straight possessions against a Seattle team that had played excellent football through the first three games.
The main lesson Vermeil took from Seattle's rough visit to Lambeau on Sunday?
Take care of the football.
“Don't turn the ball over on the road,” Vermeil said. “Since 2000, Mike Sherman-coached football teams are 24-1 when they are positive in turnovers in Green Bay. Most of us wouldn't bet our paychecks on those kinds of odds. You don't go in there, turn the ball over and win.”
Under Sherman, who took over in 2000, the Packers have an NFL-best 23-4 regular-season record at Lambeau, a place where every Packers Sunday is celebrated like Christmas.
The Chiefs haven't visited Green Bay since 1990 and haven't played the Packers since 1996 when they got a 27-20 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
Green Bay opened the season with an ugly home loss to NFC North rival Minnesota and looked awful in a 20-13 loss at Arizona in week three but have rebounded to play playoff-quality football in the last two weeks.
“They played the best game they've played to date against an undefeated football team,” Vermeil said. “We've played Seattle and know Seattle from the preseason, and we have tremendous respect for them. They were 3-0, and it took a good football team to knock them from the undefeated ranks.”
“They took it away twice and produced 14 points from those takeaways. They had four fewer penalties, and the other thing Green Bay did was go four for four in the red zone. When you play that well and have a quarterback like Brett Favre... they are tough to beat.”
Containing Favre will be crucial for the Chiefs. In recent weeks, Sherman and offensive coordinator Tom Rossley have made changes to the offense, allowing Favre more freedom to use his rare improvisational skills.
“That's what I'm capable of doing, making something out of nothing,” said Favre, who has posted a triple-digit quarterback rating in consecutive games.
Combined with the dangerous running of Green, who is the NFL's third-leading rusher with 560 yards and seven touchdowns, the improved passing game has made Green Bay a dangerous destination for any undefeated team.
Just ask the Seahawks.
