For Favre over the years, Cowboys are public enemy No. 1
IRVING - How lucky can one team get? The Cowboys get to face Brett Favre again in the playoffs.
Favre is a Hall of Fame-bound quarterback. He had a staggering regular season with Minnesota, passing for 33 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. Favre's spryness at age 40 caught the attention of Cowboys coach Wade Phillips.
"Most quarterbacks our age don't move around that much," the 62-year-old Phillips wisecracked on Monday.
A different set of circumstances will be in play for the Cowboys in an NFC divisional-round game at Minnesota on Sunday. It's the playoffs, the Cowboys and a Phillips-orchestrated defense. For Favre, that has been a poisonous combination.
Take a look at past performances:
•Favre has lost three of his last four playoff games. He was last seen in the playoffs with Green Bay in the 2007 season. A dazed and weary-looking Favre threw two interceptions in a surprising loss to the New York Giants.
Early in his career, Favre was a playoff dynamo. In the 1993-97 seasons with Green Bay, he went 9-4 in the postseason with 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Those were the good old days for Favre. Since the 1998 season, Favre is 3-6 in the postseason with more interceptions than touchdowns: 16-14.
He is the reverse Tony Romo. On Saturday, Romo showed that he can win a postseason game at this early stage of his career as the Cowboys' quarterback. Favre must show that he can win in the autumn of his days.
•Favre is 2-9 lifetime against Dallas. That includes a 0-3 mark in the postseason.
Each of those playoff losses came in the 1990s, with two before the Cowboys won the Super Bowl. Favre threw for more than 300 yards in two of the defeats, but he made just enough bad tosses to lose. Favre had as many touchdown throws (five) as interceptions in those games.
"He was a young player at the time, and that worked a little bit to his disadvantage," said Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo, on the defensive staffs of the Super Bowl winners. "He was fired up and hyper and made some throws that he probably regrets.
"But in no way does that have any bearing on what he's doing now. He's been on a quest since Green Bay let him get out of there. I don't think he'd like anything better than to beat us and get that team to a Super Bowl."
•If the loss to Denver in Super Bowl XXXII was the bitterest defeat in Favre's long career, a first-round flop in the 2002 season is a close second.
In that playoff game, a 27-7 loss to Atlanta, Favre became the first Green Bay quarterback to lose a playoff game at Lambeau Field, where January is cruel to visitors. The defense that had two sacks and two interceptions while holding Favre to 247 yards passing? A Phillips creation, in his role as Falcons defensive coordinator.
It was the second of three consecutive losses to a team with a Phillips-led defense. When they last met, in the 2007 season, Favre completed only 5-of-14 passes with two interceptions and was knocked out in the second quarter when injured by blitzing defensive back Nate Jones.
Phillips insisted the past has no bearing on this game and gushed about Favre's performance this season. Phillips also had the no-playoff-win gorilla symbolically lifted off his shoulders by linebacker Keith Brooking at the end of Saturday's win against Philadelphia.
The heavy playoff pressure now rides with Brett Favre.
Tough times A game-by-game look at Brett Favre's career against the Cowboys. All games were with Green Bay:
Season Result* Com-Att-Yards TD-Int. 2007 L, 37-27 5-14-56 0-2 2004 W, 41-20 23-29-258 2-0 1999 L, 27-13 26-50-260 1-2 1997 W, 45-17 22-35-203 4-1 1996 L, 21-6 21-37-194 1-0 1995** L, 38-27 21-39-307 3-2 1995 L, 34-24 21-41-295 1-1 1994** L, 35-9 18-35-217 0-1 1994 L, 42-31 27-40-257 4-0 1993** L, 27-17 28-45-331 2-2 1993 L, 36-14 21-37-174 0-0 Total 2-9 233-402-2,552 18-11
*Result is from Favre's view