Favre puts Pack behind him

MINNEAPOLIS -- Brett Favre added another feat to his overflowing resume. Now he's the first quarterback in history to beat all 32 NFL teams.

He saved his best for his newest opponent: the Green Bay Packers.

Favre's first game against his former team was all fun for the Minnesota Vikings and all frustration for the Packers. The graying quarterback kept his cool and connected for three touchdown passes and 271 yards in the Vikings' 30-23 victory Monday.

"I don't know how to explain it. I felt right, but I guess I never thought I'd be in that situation," Favre said.

Favre went 24-for-31, without a turnover. He celebrated his first scoring toss with an awkward body bump with kicker Ryan Longwell, a former Packers teammate, and showed plenty of emotion on this most emotional night. He stayed poised in the pocket all night, too, and avoided the risky throws that have defined his career almost as much as the success.

The Vikings (4-0) sacked Favre's replacement, Aaron Rodgers, eight times. Jared Allen was credited with four of them, a career high, including a safety in the fourth quarter that expanded Minnesota's lead to 30-14. Rodgers had his first two turnovers of the season, and Favre turned both of them into vintage touchdown passes in the first half.

"I definitely wanted to get this win for Brett," Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said. "He downplayed it all week, but I just knew it meant a lot to him. I could see it in his eyes."

Favre hugged Rodgers, Donald Driver and several other Packers after the game. Rodgers tried to engineer the kind of drive his predecessor is famous for, but he came up short.

"Below my expectations, definitely," Rodgers said. "To have three possessions where you're in their territory and come away with zero points, two of them are directly related to mistakes by myself, that's disappointing."

Favre had tons of time to throw throughout the game, and Rodgers had the exact opposite experience -- often hanging onto the ball too long. He finished 26-for-37 for a career-high 384 yards, many in desperation down the stretch, and two touchdown passes as the Packers dropped to 2-2.

The Vikings were relentless in their rush, particularly Allen on left tackle Daryn Colledge, who left in the third quarter with a right knee injury. Colledge moved from left guard two weeks ago when Chad Clifton got hurt.

The game was Favre's sixth with Minnesota, counting the preseason, but the sight of the guy who led Green Bay to a Super Bowl trophy and had only one losing record in 16 years there wearing the rival team's jersey was still strange.

The game was highly anticipated and heavily hyped. Most in the crowd of 63,846 stood all the way through the Vikings' first possession, and cameras flashed constantly.

"You don't want your quarterback crying coming out of the locker room," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "He was great."

Favre was clearly uncomfortable with all the attention on this reunion, trying to downplay the significance and stumbling through denials that his main motivation to unretire last year was revenge on Packers general manager Ted Thompson for not letting him come back and compete for his old job with Rodgers.

"My statement has been what I've done over my career," Favre said. "One game does not define my career, good or bad. I know what I've done. I'm proud of what I've done."

Favre threw touchdown passes to Visanthe Shiancoe (1 yard) in the first quarter, Sidney Rice (14) in the second and Bernard Berrian (31) in the third. He also threw a 43-yard completion to Percy Harvin to set up Peterson's 1-yard TD dive with 30 seconds remaining in the first half.