The Green Bay Packers would probably rather forget the last time they played the Baltimore Ravens.
The two teams have only met three times since the franchise was moved from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1996. Green Bay won the first two, but was drubbed 48-3 by the Ravens in the most recent matchup – a nationally televised game at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 19, 2005.
The loss was Mike Sherman’s last road game of his Green Bay coaching career and marked a low point of Green Bay’s dreadful 2005 season. It was also the Packers’ worst defeat on Monday Night Football since the 1970s and one of the most lopsided losses in franchise history.
The Ravens scored on their first two possessions – the most points the team scored in the first quarter all season – but the Packers made it 14-3 after Ahmad Carroll ran back a kickoff 57 yards, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell.
But Baltimore went on to score 34 unanswered points.
The Ravens picked off Brett Favre twice and Aaron Rodgers once and notched five turnovers on the night. All three interceptions came inside Baltimore’s 8-yard line.
Favre struggled from the outset, throwing for 144 yards and going without a touchdown for three straight starts for the first time in his career. He ended up throwing a career-high 29 interceptions that season, and was benched late in the third quarter against Baltimore.
Kyle Boller, meanwhile, was 19-of-27 for 253 yards and threw three touchdowns before bowing out of the game with eight minutes to go. It was one of those rare nights that Boller – who signed with the St. Louis Rams before this season – actually looked like a No. 1 draft pick, although the Ravens’ season had already turned sour long before they played the Packers.
Green Bay somehow managed to gain 288 yards and 16 first downs that night, but Baltimore racked up 435 yards and 25 first downs. It was just an atrocious performance by the Packers.
A lot has changed for both teams since that game. Neither quarterback from four years ago is with their respective teams, and both Baltimore (6-5) and Green Bay (7-4) are in the thick of the wild card playoff race.
This Monday’s game at Lambeau Field will be huge. Let’s just hope the Packers can avoid another disastrous Ravens performance.
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