Brett Favre's Strange Journey: 31 Down, One to Go

It's no secret: Brett Favre is going up against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football this week.

Most also realize that, with a Viking victory, Favre will become the first starting quarterback in history to defeat every NFL franchise at least one time in the regular season.

From September 27, 1992 (Pittsburgh) to November 4, 2007 (Kansas City), this is a retrospective look at when Favre beat every franchise, with cameo appearances from some names from the 1990s we all know and love.

September 27, 1992: Pittsburgh

After replacing Don Majkowski and leading a comeback victory against Cincinnati, Favre got his first start against Pittsburgh at Lambeau Field, and a legend began.

Favre had two touchdowns on 210 yards passing, including a 76-yard strike to Sterling Sharpe.

Final score: 17-3

November 1, 1992: Detroit Lions

Favre's first start against Detroit came in the old Silverdome. The Packers held the always-elusive Barry Sanders to only 38 yards rushing on 12 carries while piling up 145 rushing yards of their own.

Favre had a good game himself, throwing for 212 yards and two touchdowns, one to Jackie Harris and another to Sharpe.

Final score: 27-13

November 15, 1992: Philadelphia Eagles

After jumping to a 14-3 halftime lead, Favre and the Packers had to hold off a furious Eagle comeback led by Randall Cunningham and Heath Sherman. Two Chris Jacke field goals in the fourth quarter put the Packers ahead.

Favre again threw for two touchdowns but also had two interceptions. The game also marked the beginning of a six-game winning streak in 1992, which helped the Packers achieve the first of many winning seasons to come.

Final score: 27-24

November 22, 1992: Chicago Bears

Pictured: Peter Tom WIllis

Yes, that's Peter Tom Willis, and yes, Peter Tom Willis played in this game. In a preview of things to come in Chicago during Favre's Packer tenure, both Willis and Jim Harbaugh threw interceptions to Packers in this game.

Favre accounted for two touchdowns in the game, one passing and one rushing.

Final score: 17-3

November 29, 1992: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Pictured: Vinny Testaverde

First, let me say this: I'm excited for the 2009 match-up between the Packers and the Buccaneers because the Buccaneers will be wearing the orange throwbacks in that game. Awesome.

In this game, Vinny Testaverde threw three interceptions, yet the Packers trailed 12-14 in the fourth quarter after four Jacke field goals. Favre and Harris finally put one in the end zone in the last period to take the lead for good.

Final score: 19-14

December 13, 1992: Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans

Pictured: Warren Moon

Judging from this game's box score, it seems like the Oilers should've blown the Packers out: 387 total yards for Houston compared to Green Bay's 215?

Unfortunately for Houston, they coughed the ball up four times and had eight penalties for 52 yards.

Final score: 16-14

December 20, 1992: Los Angeles Rams

Pictured: Henry Ellard

This is another game in which the Packers took advantage of the opponent's mistakes (Jim Everett threw three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown by Terrell Buckley).

Green Bay scored all 28 of its points in the second quarter, including two Favre red zone strikes to Sterling Sharpe.

Final score: 28-13

October 10, 1993: Denver Broncos

Pictured: John Elway

This is another game that, looking at the box score, you wonder how the Packers won. They were outgained in total yardage, lost the turnover battle, and gave up 20 unanswered points in the second half.

Luckily, Green Bay put up 30 in the first half on two short touchdown runs and a long touchdown throw from Favre to Harris for Favre's first victory against John Elway. If only he could've gotten the one that really counted.

Final score: 30-27

November 14, 1993: New Orleans Saints

Pictured: Saints pennant, because there were no players of note that played for the Saints at this time.

This was another game won on creating turnovers (five total) and kicking lots of field goals (four total). Favre threw for only 125 net yards and the Packers didn't even break the 200-yard barrier for total offense.

Final score: 19-17

December 12, 1993: San Diego Chargers

Pictured: Natrone Means

I've noticed a pattern looking at these box scores from 1993: The defense was a big part of the team's success. Against San Diego, the Packers only had 227 total yards, but forced three Stan Humphries interceptions. Favre had zero touchdown passes.

Final Score: 20-13

December 26, 1993: Los Angeles Raiders

Pictured: Jeff Hostetler

Green Bay dominated this southern California team at Lambeau Field in December. The Packers tallied 148 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. The defense forced four more turnovers. Favre had a touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe.

Final score: 28-0

September 4, 1994: Minnesota Vikings

Pictured: Cris Carter

Favre finally got his first victory against his last NFC Central rival, the Minnesota Vikings, in the season opener in 1994.

The Packer defense stymied Warren Moon and the Viking offense, forcing three interceptions. Favre opened the season with a one-touchdown performance on a 14-yard pass to Sterling Sharpe.

Final score: 16-10

November 13, 1994: New York Jets

Pictured: Boomer Esiason

The Packers and Jets found themselves entrenched in a hard-fought battle on this day, but in the end Favre did just enough to pull out the victory against a Boomer Esiason-led Jet team. Favre threw two touchdown passes in the victory to Esiason's one.

Final score: 17-10

December 18, 1994: Atlanta Falcons

Pictured: Craig Heyward

Favre's first (and only) victory against a former team was significant for a couple different reasons.

Green Bay jumped out to a 14-3 lead behind two Favre touchdown tosses. Atlanta came back and took a 17-14 lead of their own.

With time winding down and the Packers looking to finish the Falcons from inside the ten-yard line, Favre scrambled to the right and ran in to the end zone to win the game for the Packers.

It was the last touchdown in the last game ever played at Milwaukee County Stadium, and it remains a defining moment in Favre's career.

Final score: 21-17

September 17, 1995: New York Giants

Pictured: Charles "Show Me The" Way

The Giants outgained the Packers on the ground, but could only muster two field goals when they reached scoring range.

Favre threw two touchdown throws in the first half and not much more after that, but it was enough to win.

Final score: 14-6

September 24, 1995: Jacksonville Jaguars

Pictured: Tony Boselli

The Packers got a chance to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in that franchise's fourth game of existence and handled them the way they should have.

After a slow start, Green Bay scored in each of the final three quarters and held the Jaguars scoreless in the game's first three quarters. Favre had two touchdown passes.

Final score: 24-14

November 19, 1995: Cleveland Browns

Pictured: Leroy Hoard

Brett Favre played a great game on this day in Cleveland. He had three touchdown throws and another touchdown run to account for all four Packer touchdowns that day.

Final score: 31-20

December 3, 1995: Cincinnati Bengals

Pictured: Carl Pickens

After an unexpected come-from-behind win in 1992 against the Bengals, Favre wanted to prove to Cincinnati that it was no fluke. He threw for three touchdown passes, two in the second half, to lead the Packers to victory.

Final Score: 24-10

September 29, 1996: Seattle Seahawks

Pictured: Joey Galloway

In 1996, the Seahawks were just another bump in the road for the Packers, who would become only the second Super Bowl championship team in history to finish the season with the league's best offense AND best defense. So don't feel bad about this beatdown, Seattle fans.

Favre threw for four touchdowns in the Kingdome that day, and Hall-of-Fame defensive lineman Reggie White intercepted a pass, which he returned 46 yards before running out of breath (One of my first professional football memories).

Final score: 31-10

October 14, 1996: San Francisco 49ers

Pictured: Jerry Rice

In a battle pitting two NFC powerhouses, this game didn't disappoint. Favre threw for nearly 400 yards on 28-61 (61!) passing. He did, however, throw two interceptions and only one touchdown to Don Beebe.

Chris Jacke kept the Packers in it with four field goals in regulation and another to win the game in overtime.

Final score: 23-20

September 14, 1997: Miami Dolphins

Pictured: Dan Marino

In a game including the two most prolific passers of all-time, there was surprisingly little passing offense. Dan Marino threw for only 240 yards and Favre threw for 250.

The game was one of dueling place kickers, with seven total field goals kicked, four by Olindo Mare and three by Ryan Longwell.

Final score: 23-18

October 27, 1997: New England Patriots

Pictured: Drew Bledsoe

Super Bowl rematches are rare in the next regular season, but it happened between 1996 and 1997.

The Packers made sure Super Bowl XXXI wasn't a fluke and handled the New England Patriots easily. Drew Bledsoe threw three interceptions and the Patriots fumbled away another possession.

Favre had three touchdowns on 239 yards passing.

Final score: 28-10

November 23, 1997: Dallas Cowboys

Pictured: Deion Sanders

Favre and the Packers finally got to play the Cowboys in Lambeau Field in 1997 and released years of pent-up frustration in one fell swoop.

Despite an interception returned for a touchdown by Deion Sanders, Favre threw four touchdown passes to his players in the game.

Final score: 45-17

December 14, 1997: Carolina Panthers

Pictured: Tim Biakabutuka

In another postseason rematch, the Packers again showed that the right team won the Super Bowl in 1996.

Green Bay racked up more than 400 offensive yards against the Panthers and broke the 200-yard marks in both rushing and passing. Favre threw three touchdown passes.

The defense held Carolina to 32 net passing yards on the day.

Final score: 31-10

December 20, 1997: Buffalo Bills

Pictured: Bruce Smith

The Packers dominated the Bills despite the mere 10-point margin of victory. Green Bay jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the third quarter and cruised to the end of the game. Three interceptions undid the Bills, including a 20-yard touchdown return by Darren Sharper to put Buffalo out of its misery.

Final score: 31-21

October 25, 1998: Baltimore Ravens

Pictured: Priest Holmes and Jim Harbaugh

Green Bay outperformed the Ravens in all facets of this game. Favre threw two touchdowns and added another on the ground to help lead the team to the win.

The fourteen points scored in the first quarter would've been enough to secure the win, but the Packers figured they'd score twice more in the third anyways.

Final score: 28-10

January 2, 2000: Arizona Cardinals

Pictured: Jake Plummer

No doubt a game played in Green Bay in January would be a hard-nosed, ground battle, right?

Wrong. Favre threw for 311 yards and Jake Plummer had 396. Both quarterbacks had two touchdown passes. The difference did come in the running game, however.

Green Bay had 176 yards to Arizona's 80, and Dorsey Levens ran for four touchdowns.

Final score: 49-24

November 19, 2000: Indianapolis Colts

Pictured: Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning came into this game looking to take the quarterbacking torch from Favre, who had taken it from the likes of Elway and Marino, but he wasn't ready to relinquish it.

Manning actually had a better game than Favre, but the Packer defense, running game, and special teams were the difference. Allen Rossum returned a kickoff for a touchdown, the defense recorded a safety, and the running game picked up 145 yards.

Final score: 26-24

September 24, 2001: Washington Redskins

Pictured: Tony Banks

Favre and the Packers destroyed Tony Banks and the Redskins in this game. Favre threw for three touchdowns to three different receivers. Washington passed for only 102 yards, and the running game wasn't much better. There were also three Redskin turnovers in the contest, with one fumble being returned for a score.

Final score: 37-0

November 21, 2004: Houston Texans

Pictured: David Carr

The Texans actually led for most of this game, taking a 13-3 lead into halftime. Green Bay didn't kick into gear until the fourth quarter, when they scored 13 points of their own. The place kickers were the stars of the game, combining for five field goals.

Final score: 16-13

November 4, 2007: Kansas City Chiefs

Pictured: Damon Huard

This game didn't really get going until the fourth quarter started, where the two teams combined for 35 points. Favre had two touchdown throws, both to Greg Jennings, including a 60-yarder in the fourth.

Charles Woodson sealed the victory with an interception return for a touchdown.

Final score: 33-22

Interesting Tidbits

-Two quarterbacks (Peyton Manning and Tom Brady) both beat 31 different NFL franchises before Favre did, and did it in a far shorter span of time.

-As a starting quarterback, Brett Favre has beaten the Cleveland Browns before they moved to Baltimore, beat the Ravens, and has beaten the Browns after the team's return to the league. Not bad for a guy who played mostly in the other conference.

-He's beaten two separate franchises from Houston. In addition, Favre beat the Houston Oilers and the Tennessee Oilers, but did not beat the Tennessee Titans until last year as a Jet.

-When he beat the Seahawks for the first time, Seattle was still in the AFC.

-Both the Rams and the Raiders were still in Los Angeles when he first beat them. He also beat the Rams in each of his first three seasons as a starter.

-He had three previous chances to beat the Kansas City Chiefs (including in 1996) before finally beating them in 2007.

-Four new teams joined the league between 1992 and now. Favre beat each one (Jacksonville, Carolina, Baltimore, Houston) on his first try.

-Favre probably should've beaten the Colts back in 1997, when his 8-2 Packers went to Indy to face the 0-10 Colts. Indianapolis won in a shootout, 41-38. Infuriated by the loss, the Packers won seven straight games until they lost Super Bowl XXXII to Denver.

-He had some interesting results against other NFC powers in the 1990s: His teams lost in Dallas in four consecutive regular season games before finally blowing the Cowboys out at Lambeau Field in 1997. In contrast, Favre beat the 49ers on his first regular season try.

-Favre's won in many different stadiums during his career, but the Detroit Lions still haven't won at Lambeau Field since Favre became the starting quarterback in 1992.