With all the talk about how the NFL has become a pass-happy, offense first league, it was still the old standbys—rushing and defense—that determined the Wild Card winners. Joe Flacco completed four passes yesterday ... and he was the winning quarterback. His teammates forced the previously reliable Tom Brady into four turnovers. The Dallas front line hammered the Eagles all night (when the refs weren't hammering them both with penalty flags) and even as the Jets gave up 169 yards on the ground to Cedric Benson, the Bengals still couldn't put any points on the board.

Okay, so the game of the weekend (and maybe the season) did have 1,000+ yards and 12 offensive touchdowns, but even with all those wide open receivers, it was a defensive play that won the game. (Pay no attention to the hand on the facemask!) Just because Arizona and Green Bay only played eight seconds of total pass defense that doesn't mean everyone else in the league forgot how. Or that those eight seconds can't make all the difference.

So, I guess offense still sells the tickets and the other guys still win the game. Did anyone let New Orleans and Indy know that?

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Here are some other winners who did not win quite as big:

Joshua Clottey: Oh, to be a well-paid pawn in a pointless showdown between greedy egomaniacs. I hope he gets enough to buy that Blu-Ray player he's had his eye on.

Ann Althouse: Buzz Bissinger must have ordered the No. 5 with a side of rice 'cause he just got served. [via Bakes]

Minority coaching candidates: Don't you feel totally respected and empowered by Seattle's vigorous search for a guy they can pretend to think about hiring for five minutes?

Speaking of the Weekend Loser: Why would Pete Carroll gives up the highest-paying private school job in the nation just so he can prove that no one can win a championship in Seattle. Even the fake grad student rumors are more glamorous in L.A. Who wants to be accused of having love in nest in Tacoma?

Also there's this.

Rodgers claims the bite happened in the middle of a scrum last October.

Yeah, he bit me through my long sleeve that I was wearing," Rodgers said, looking down at his left arm. "There wasn't a whole lot of words spoken. I looked down and my arm was hurt and it felt like a bee sting. I was looking down and he was biting my arm so I had to get his teeth off my shoulder. Luckily I was wearing a long sleeve so I don't know if he actually (broke the skin). I had a bruise for the rest of the season. Other than that I was good."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Greg A. Bedard went through the tape, and did find once instance where Rodgers came up from the bottom of a pile pissed off at Tapp, and walked away holding his forearm. But Tapp's not buying it.

It didn't happen. I know me personally, if someone were to bite me, I wouldn't wait a whole year to bring it up to somebody to get it handled. That's all I'm saying about it."

He even gave a demonstration to the assembled press, attempting to get his teeth around a reporter through his facemask and mouthguard (see pic here). So what really happened last year will remain a mystery, although Deadspin's crack video team has put together a reenactment of how we think it went down:

Rodgers Says Seahawks DE Tapp Bit Him [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Tapp Still Frosted By Accusation He Bit Packers' Rodgers [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Yes, yes. He did it. Kid out there. Just loves the game. Vintage. Classic. Like old times, etc. We got it. Brett Favre is not an incompetent football player. Of course, neither is Aaron Rodgers. If only Favre hadn't personally sacked him 14 times, the Packers just might have pulled it off. Maybe next time.

But what does the internet think?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

My favorite part of last night, though, was when Mike Tirico could not stop raving about Adrian Peterson's handshake ("the strongest hands you'll ever find") while simultaneous having to admit that "All Day" fumbles more than any other running back in the league. You could almost hear his brain grind to a halt as he tried to reconcile those two ideas. I guess a football is slightly larger than Mike Tirico's hand. (But not as silky smooth!)

* * * * *

Anyway, that's the end of the Favre talk (from me anyway), but it's just the beginning of our Tuesday. Let's do it.

Doubt we'll be able to find out an answer to Rodgers' retractable shnozz, but here are some other notable observations about his debut:

• "Rodgers epitomized steadiness. He rarely, if ever, got himself into trouble with high-risk throws. He took the check-down passes when necessary and even scrambled his way out of potential trouble spots." [Green Bay Press Gazette]

• "Rodgers found his footing in his quest to follow in Favre's cleat marks, the defense figured out a way to contain Vikings superback Adrian Peterson and the oft-questioned special teams delivered with a 76-yard Will Blackmon punt return for a touchdown in the Packers' 24-19 season-opening victory over the Vikings at Lambeau Field.The end result? An awfully nice beginning." [Wisconsin State Journal]

• "They just interviewed Aaron Rodgers. Damn, he looks just like Pinnochio. Unless something was distorted with the camera lens he has the biggest damn nose I've ever seen. My German Shepherd doesn't even have a nose like that." (Ed. note — Guess there's something to that emailt.) [Chicago Bear Report]

• "Rodgers didn't make a franchise or a Packers-obsessed city and state forget about Favre. But that was never the point. Trying to erase 16 years of Favre in green and gold would be like trying to sell Brian Urlacher jerseys in the Lambeau Field gift shops. " (Includes nose video.) [ESPN]

“I know I made the right decision.I’m a New York Jet. I don’t know about a native New Yorkian, or however you say it. Hey, I’m happy to be a Jet.”

New Yorkian. Precious.

Favre's performance means that Aaron Rodgers has even more pressure to perform tonight and you can be sure that Lambeau Field will be curious to see how their team made out in this deal. The most compelling storyline would probably be if Rodgers is completely abysmal, tossing up panicky interceptions, taking bad sacks, and running out onto the field with his helmet on backwards. Even if he's mediocre and ends up with a victory, it'll be tough for the Green Bay faithful to not feel cheated out of one more season with Favre at the helm. Can you blame them?

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Tonight, ease back into the Monday Night Football routine. Grab yourself a sawhorse, break out the fancy party crackers and do it up right.

And remember, Sussman will be here later making the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders 400% more interesting. Translation: full-frontal male nudity every quarter.

Welcome back, football. We missed you like a long-lost golden retriever.

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin and all of our rounbdall-loving, headphone-wearing Canadian friends.

"I understand it to some point if I put myself into a Favre fanatic’s shoes,” Rodgers said today, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “The things I can’t understand, the things I really take personally, is when I’m driving up to the (parking lot) gate and punching in my punch code and somebody says ‘F.U.’ to me. That kind of bothers me. Or when a little kid is yelling swear words at me. That kind of gets to me. The boos, they expect a high level of play and they miss Brett Favre. I understand that. But the ‘F.U.’ and the little kids saying swear words to me, I don’t understand that.”

But at least Rodgers is smart enough not to bottle it all up inside, so that it eventually affects his play.

What can you do?” Rodgers said. “Do people really feel better about themselves after they say stuff like that to me? It’s disappointing. I’m not too dumb, I’m not going to say anything back to them. It’s not my style, it’s against my religion.”

Oh.

Rodgers Doesn't Get Why Kids Cuss At Him [Pro Football Talk]
Rodgers Trying To Deal With Pro-Favre Crowd [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

Meanwhile, the Packers had to cancel a press conference to introduce Favre back to the team, because he was still meeting with coach Mike McCarthy, with no indication that anything was decided. Well, this season has certainly gotten off to a smooth start.

Playing with the No. 1 offense, Rodgers completed just seven of 20 passes for 84 yards and ended his only crack at the two-minute drill by throwing an interception in the end zone on a ball that badly missed receiver Greg Jennings. A handful of plays before safety Aaron Rouse picked off Rodgers, some in the crowd began to boo.

“They’re booing all of us, probably me mostly,” Rodgers said. “So, yeah, I take it personally. But it’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last time.”

Except that it indeed might. Added to the fact that Favre may be "competing" with Rodgers for the starting spot beginning today, we have this:

Though Rodgers’ stats were hurt by several dropped passes, at one point he suffered through a stretch with nine straight incompletions. Six of those came against the second-string defense. What’s more, Rodgers never faced the Packers’ top cornerbacks because Al Harris and Charles Woodson were held out of the scrimmage.

By next week, Rodgers may not even be booworthy.

But at least Packers' fans are keeping sight of what's really important; like offering up their toddlers as targets for the Lambeau Leap.

Incomplete Reception [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Rodgers: 'It's Going To Be A Dogfight' [Green Bay Press-Gazette]

According to The Boston Herald — whom we guess would know? — the long-rumored trade that would send Randy Moss from the Raiders to the Packers for Aaron Rodgers is on the verge of happening. Everyone's denying it, of course.

However, one source close to Rodgers adamantly denied the rumor, saying, to his knowledge, the Raiders and Packers have not had substantive discussions. There are expected to be other particulars in the deal. According to the Wisconsin source, Green Bay would also give up a seventh-round pick in 2008, while the Packers would receive Raiders tight end Courtney Anderson as part of the deal.

We never know whom to believe in these trade things, but we continue to support the Randy Moss-to-Green-Bay discussion, if just because it would likely make Joe Buck cry.

Moss Headed To Green Bay [Boston Herald]