Packers Keep Rolling, Right to 9-1

Favre Beats Carolina; Team Off to Its Best Start Since 1962: Packers 31, Panthers 17

GREEN BAY, Wis., Nov. 18 -- Brett Favre won the senior bowl.

And now that they're off to their best start since the Vince Lombardi era, the Green Bay Packers have another big bowl on their minds.

But even after a relatively easy 31-17 romp past fellow passing patriarch Vinny Testaverde and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Favre and the Packers (9-1) don't want to get caught looking ahead looking ahead to the playoffs and beyond.

Not with back-to-back Thursday games at Detroit and Dallas on the horizon.

"By no means can we rest, or think that we arrived," Favre said, "because we haven't."

And if Packers Coach Mike McCarthy wants to drive that point home this week, he can point to the two second-half touchdowns his defense gave up to the Panthers (4-6) after taking a 28-3 lead in the third quarter.

Nitpicking? Not if your goal is to win the Super Bowl.

"We need to do a better job of finishing games," McCarthy said. "We're up 28-3, we can learn from that experience and put the opponent away. There was some sloppiness in our play down the stretch that we can learn from."

It's Green Bay's best start since 1962, when Lombardi's Packers started 10-0 on their way to their eighth world title. Green Bay has a three-game lead on Detroit and can nearly wrap up the NFC North with a win Thursday.

Favre threw three touchdowns in a game that featured the oldest starting quarterback duo in NFL history, the 44-year-old Testaverde and 38-year-old Favre.

Favre is playing like he's in his prime these days, completing 22 of 30 passes for 218 yards Sunday. But Testaverde held his own, shaking off a pair of interceptions to throw two second-half touchdown passes.

It wasn't enough to win, but it wasn't bad for a guy who was out of the league a little more than a month ago and who played Sunday's game without injured wide receiver Steve Smith.