Thanks, Packers!

Brett Favre smiles after getting the player of the game award in the shape of a turkey after the Packers beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
(Photo/Benny Sieu)

I've been hearing it for a few years now -- Brett Favre was a great quarterback, with the emphasis on "was." He should have retired.

Wrong!

Favre IS still a great quarterback.

DETROIT -- Brett Favre sported a white T-shirt, carpenter's pants and a scruffy beard. It was the only time he looked like just another guy on Thanksgiving. Favre set a Green Bay record with 20 consecutive completions and finished with a season-high 381 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers' 37-26 victory over the slumping Detroit Lions.

"I threw it. They caught it," he said simply. "Nothing spectacular."

Yeah, right.

The three-time MVP put together another sensational performance that made the 38-year-old quarterback look as if he's back in his prime. Favre's seventh 300-yard game of the season matched a team mark he set in 1995.

"He's the greatest ever," Lions quarterback Jon Kitna said.

Green Bay (10-1) matched its best 11-game record since 1929 and the NFC North leaders took a four-game lead with five games left in the regular season. The Packers can improve their chances of earning home-field advantage if they win next week at Dallas — also 10-1 after manhandling the New York Jets 34-3 later Thursday.

"One game is not going to define us," Favre said. "It may have some implications for the playoffs, but we can't worry about that right now.

"We're going to enjoy this one today."

I know we enjoyed the win.

I was so relieved that the Packers beat the Lions. Celebrating Thanksgiving and a Packers loss wouldn't have mixed very well.

The upcoming game in Dallas is causing me to flash back to those games against Dallas in the early and mid-90s. The Cowboys were so cocky.

It's different now, with Burlington boy Tony Romo at the helm.

But still, here we are, so many years later. Once again, it's Dallas. It's like things have come full circle.

Can the Packers beat the Cowboys? You gotta believe.

It's more fun that way.

10-1!

Packers 37
Lions 26