Lambeau Field

N ews item: : The Ravens badly need a victory Monday night on the "frozen tundra" of Lambeau Field, where the temperature is expected to be in the 20s with a 40 percent chance of snow. My take: : If Joe Flacco's game splits from his first two seasons are any indication, the cold weather might not be as big a factor as you might suspect. I'm more worried about Aaron Rodgers and his 104.9 overall quarterback rating. The league's top quarterbacks have had a lot of fun at the Ravens' expense this year.

The Ravens, who started the 1998 season at 2-2, lost their third straight game when the Green Bay Packers limited them to 233 yards of total offense in a 28-10 win at legendary Lambeau Field on Oct. 25, 1998. In addition, the Ravens had a full-blown quarterback controversy as Eric Zeier was replaced by Jim Harbaugh in the second half. The key play was a 71-yard punt return by the Packers' Roell Preston just 1:47 into the game. It put the Packers up 7-0 at home, where they had won 25 of their past 26 games.

I f I could give one bit of advice to the Ravens as they prepare to face the Green Bay Packers on Monday night at Lambeau Field, it would be: Stay close to those heated benches when you're not in the game. I say this because the temperature at game time is expected to be in the low 20s. There's also a good chance of snow. And because this is Lambeau in December, you can pretty much count on hitting the bad-weather trifecta. That's right: The wind should be blowing, too. Look, they don't call it "the Frozen Tundra" because people are slathering on Coppertone and wearing Hawaiian shirts.

Once upon a time, when the NFL Films' "Voice of God," John Facenda, intoned about "frozen tundra," it was a given that Lambeau Field was a playoff home-field advantage like no other. That would seem to be the case no more. Last weekend's Packers-Bears game at bitterly cold and blustery Soldier Field proved what Vince Lombardi could have never imagined. When it comes to facing Old Man Winter, these Packers are wimps. Even Brett Favre said as much. Chicago, with Kyle Orton at quarterback, manhandled NFC North champion Green Bay, 35-7, and the weather was a key factor.

I've been in some cold places, but the combination of arctic chill and wind in Green Bay was unbelievable. It hurt to walk to your car. So I was reminded of that as the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The Cowboys and Packers are both 12-2, and Dallas still has the tie-breaker edge for the home field in the NFC playoffs. But Tony Romo's throwing thumb was hurt against the Eagles, Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode limped off, defensive end Chris Canty got a scare on a knee injury and safety Roy Williams is suspended for Saturday's game against Carolina for breaking his namesake rule, the horse-collar tackle, for the third time this season.

Lambeau Field isn't such an intimidating place for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers anymore. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams helped the Buccaneers end a 13-game road losing streak to Green Bay with a 17-16 win over the Packers yesterday. He broke Alan Ameche's NFL record for most yards in his first three NFL games by rushing for 158 on a sprained left foot. The Buccaneers, 3-0 for the first time since 2000, also got two touchdown receptions from Joey Galloway and two interceptions from safety Will Allen in winning at Lambeau Field for the first time since Sept.

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Minnesota Vikings are a hard team to take seriously, as the Green Bay Packers found out the hard way yesterday. The Vikings are hoping the Philadelphia Eagles are still giggling about Randy Moss in the conference semifinals Sunday in Philadelphia, where the Vikings will play after they ousted the NFC North champion Packers, 31-17. The Vikings followed the St. Louis Rams as the second 8-8 team in NFL history to win a playoff game, adding nothing to the awful reputation of the NFC but doing wonders for their confidence.

IN LIEU OF a massive round of head coaching cuts, the NFL responded to its year of heightened offense by shuffling almost a third of its offensive coordinators in one direction or another. The league isn't headhunting this month as much as it's coordinator surfing. One week into the offseason (for 20 teams, anyway), nine offensive coordinators have lost their job, retired (the Detroit Lions' Sherman Lewis) or are preparing to move to another venue (the New England Patriots' Charlie Weis to Notre Dame)

ON A SUNDAY when the road was as hospitable as it's ever going to get, there were revelations aplenty in the NFL yesterday. We found out, for instance, that Brett Favre can still throw for touchdowns even when his brain is scrambled like an egg; that Emmitt Smith still has the heart, if not the youthful body, of a champion; and that it takes more than the Buffalo blitz to unsettle Tom Brady. The top three stories, more or less, of Week 4: 1. The New England Patriots dismantled the Bills and Drew Bledsoe in Buffalo, 31-17, to tie the NFL record with their 18th consecutive victory.