GREEN BAY, Wis., Nov. 29 -- The governor proclaimed it "Brett Favre Day," and the night belonged to the quarterback, too.
Favre celebrated his 200th straight regular season start with three touchdown passes, and set yet another record in the Green Bay Packers' 45-17 rout of the St. Louis Rams on Monday night.
| _____ Week 12 Schedule _____
Sunday
• Pittsburgh 16, Washington 7
• New England 24, Baltimore 3
• Philadelphia 27, N.Y. Giants 6
• Minnesota 27, Jacksonville 16
• San Diego 34, Kansas City 31
• Houston 31, Tennessee 21
• Cincinnati 58, Cleveland 48
• Carolina 21, Tampa Bay 14
• Atlanta 24, New Orleans 21
• Buffalo 38, Seattle 9
• Miami 24, San Francisco 17
• N.Y. Jets 13, Arizona 3
• Oakland 25, Denver 24
Monday
• Green Bay 45, St. Louis 17
Thursday
• Indianapolis 41, Detroit 9
• Dallas 21, Chicago 7
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Favre topped 20 touchdown passes for the 11th straight season, breaking a tie with Dan Marino on a seven-yard toss to tight end Bubba Franks in the second quarter.
He also threw touchdown passes to Javon Walker and Donald Driver as the Packers (7-4) got two defensive touchdowns and won their sixth straight to keep pace with Minnesota atop the NFC North.
Favre didn't have his co-star, running back Ahman Green, who was out with injured ribs. But Najeh Davenport came up with a strong imitation, gaining 178 yards on 19 carries in his first NFL start even though he had a sore hamstring.
It was the fifth-highest single-game rushing total in franchise history, and Davenport capped his night with a 40-yard touchdown run on fourth and one with 1 minute 52 seconds left to make it 38-17.
Marc Bulger (35 of 53) threw for more yards -- 448 -- against Green Bay than any quarterback ever had, but St. Louis (5-6) missed a chance to tie Seattle atop the NFC's woeful West division.
Isaac Bruce caught nine passes for 170 yards and a touchdown but his two fumbles were returned for touchdowns, one by rookie Ahmad Carroll to start the scoring and one by Michael Hawthorne to cap the rout in the final minute.
Bruce's four-yard touchdown catch just before halftime brought St. Louis to 21-10, and in the third quarter, the Rams benefited from a new rule that allows the coach to call a timeout from the sideline. Mike Martz's timeout negated a lost fumble by Steven Jackson.
But Martz followed up with a questionable call -- a fake field goal when a 42-yarder by Jeff Wilkins would have made it a one-possession game. Wilkins was stuffed 12 yards shy of the first down on fourth and seven.
Not only did the Rams get nothing out of a nearly eight-minute drive, but the Packers went 71 yards in four plays, capped by Driver's leaping 16-yard touchdown catch for a 28-10 Packers lead.
Bulger's eight-yard touchdown toss to Marshall Faulk made it 28-17, but the Rams never got closer.
Favre's record streak of starts moved to 219, counting playoffs, and is almost 100 more than Ron Jaworski's previous NFL quarterback mark of 123.
Joey Thomas forced a fumble on the Rams' first possession, and Carroll, a fellow rookie cornerback, picked it up and ran 40 yards for a touchdown. It was the Packers' first recovery of an opponent's fumble since Sept. 19 against Chicago.
In the final minute, Darren Sharper stripped the ball from Bruce and Hawthorne returned it 34 yards for the score. Carroll also intercepted a pass in the end zone that was intended for Bruce early in the third quarter.
Favre took over for an injured Don Majkowski on Sept. 27, 1992. Since then, 11 of his backups have gone on to start for another team. Last week, Eli Manning became the 178th quarterback to have started a game in the NFL since Favre last came off the bench. The Rams have had 13 quarterbacks in that span.
"Considering the position he plays and the number of injuries at quarterback around the league, I think it's quite a feat," Packers President Bob Harlan said. "He can be on crutches in the middle of the week and he always runs out there on Sunday."
