Packers Kick One Through After Eagles Fumble It Away

Packers 16, Eagles 13

GREEN BAY, Wis., Sept. 9 -- All those young teammates sometimes make Brett Favre scratch his head, but at least one of them proved he can come through when it counts.

Rookie Mason Crosby hit a 42-yard field goal with two seconds left to give the Green Bay Packers a 16-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Crosby's kick was the highlight of a win that featured strong special teams and defense by the Packers.

Despite tying John Elway's record for career victories by a starting quarterback with 148, Favre and his young supporting cast struggled to score.

"He'd better make 'em all, now," said Favre, referring to Crosby and the Packers' lack of offense.

It was quite an NFL introduction for Crosby, a rookie from Colorado who beat out incumbent Dave Rayner in training camp.

"I kind of got thrown into the fire in the first test," Crosby said. "But that's kind of how I like it. It's exciting."

The Eagles' special teams were exciting, too, but not in a good way.

J.R. Reed bobbled a punt with 59 seconds remaining and Green Bay's Jarrett Bush recovered to give Green Bay the ball at the Philadelphia 31. Reed stepped up to try to field the punt in heavy traffic.

"I couldn't believe he went for it," Bush said.

Reed had replaced returner Greg Lewis, whose muffed punt led to a Packers touchdown in the first quarter. Neither Lewis nor Reed had ever returned punts in a regular-season game before Sunday.

"Obviously, we can't play like that and expect to win football games," Eagles Coach Andy Reid said. "I don't want to take anything away from Green Bay because they did a heck of a job staying with it and winning the football game. You can't have the turnovers that we did on special teams and the dropped passes that we had on offense, the penalties we had on offense and the missed tackles we had on defense and the penalties we had on defense."

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said the returners needed the team's support.

"This isn't a time to get down on them or get down on anyone," McNabb said. "We all learn from our mistakes and move on."

It was a so-so return to action for McNabb, who tore a knee ligament last November and finished the regular season on the sideline for the second straight year. McNabb was 15 of 33 for 184 yards with a touchdown and an interception.