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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Time might be catching up with Brett
Favre. For once, the pass-rushers weren't.
|  | | Brett Favre has taken some heat this season -- mostly from rushers -- but he showed Sunday why he's a future Hall of Famer. |
Behind two rookie tackles, the Packers' weary quarterback got
enough time to stay in the pocket and guide Green Bay on five
scoring drives Sunday.
He capped his performance by putting Ryan Longwell in position
to kick a 35-yard field goal with 54 seconds left for a 31-28
victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
When he was pressured, the 31-year-old Favre looked like his old
-- or young -- self, scrambling away from blitzers, slipping tacklers
and turning broken plays into big gains.
"Favre has been taking the (criticism)," Packers receiver Antonio
Freeman said. "He's still one of the best quarterbacks in the
NFL."
After struggling most of the last two seasons with roster
turnover and his own gunslinger mentality, Favre played the way he
did during his three-year MVP run.
"He looked like he had his 21st birthday out there today,"
coach Mike Sherman said.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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This was a wild offensive game that featured some excellent play from
quarterbacks Brett Favre and
Jeff Garcia.
Dorsey Levens played for
Green Bay, which was a bit unexpected because his status was doubtful
during the week. His return sparked the Packers' running attack.
Favre was sharp for Green Bay (20-for-27, 67-yard touchdown), as was Garcia for
San Francisco (four touchdowns passes, 336-plus yards).
In the 49ers' last four games, Garcia has 13 touchdown passes and no
interceptions. Wide receiver Terrell Owens helped with a
strong game (eight receptions).
The 49ers are playing good offensive football, but they're having
difficulty stopping people at key times in the game -- and today was no
exception.
This was a home game the Packers had to win, and they found enough offense
-- and a well-timed drive -- to get it done.
The Packers need to get some people healthy as they go into a bye week.
Their main goal will be to try to get more healthy bodies on offense for
Favre so he doesn't feel that he has to do everything by himself.
Having Levens back is a big help. Also, wide receiver Antonio Freeman had his best
game of the season (six catches, 116 yards).
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers'
director of football operations.
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He's 31, plays like 21 and feels like he's ...
"Fifty-one," Favre said. "Nah. I feel like I could go another
four quarters -- next week."
Actually, the Packers are off next Sunday and they feel good
about going into the bye at 3-4.
"We've got a chance to make a push for the playoffs," safety
LeRoy Butler said. "That would have been hard to do at 2-5."
Don't the 49ers know it.
"I can honestly say this is the best 2-5 team I've been
around," receiver Terrell Owens said. "We're just coming up short
and eventually it's going to turn around."
Favre barely outperformed San Francisco quarterback Jeff Garcia,
who completed 27 of 42 passes for 336 yards and four TDs, giving
him an NFL-best 19 TD passes.
Favre finished 20-of-27 for 266 yards and threw a 67-yard TD
pass to Freeman, who had six catches for 116 yards, his first
100-yard receiving day in 14 games.
"We let Favre make a couple plays on the last couple drives,
getting out of the pocket and doing some of those miraculous
things," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said.
After Longwell's field goal, the 49ers' desperation drive ended
when Scott McGarrahan tackled Charlie Garner at the Packers 28
after a 33-yard catch-and-run. The 49ers had scored TDs on each of
their three previous second-half possessions.
"You would like to have a few more seconds, maybe one or two
timeouts," Garcia said.
San Francisco fell for the second straight week despite erasing
a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit behind Owens' two TD catches.
The Packers also ran for three scores, tripling their season
total.
Ahman Green had his first two-TD game of his career, and Dorsey
Levens' first TD of the year came on a 1-yard dive midway through
the third quarter and gave Green Bay a 21-7 lead.
San Francisco responded with a 77-yard drive capped by Garcia's
23-yard TD toss to J.J. Stokes, who faked out rookie Tod McBride to
get open. But Stokes made the mistake of doing a Lambeau Leap and
he was shoved back onto the field by infuriated fans in the south
end zone.
Garcia hit Owens with a 16-yard TD pass to tie it at 21 with
11:36 left. Owens broke tackles by Bernardo Harris and Darren
Sharper.
Green broke a 21-21 tie on a 1-yard run with eight minutes
remaining. Stuffed on a third-down dive, he lunged forward and
finally got into the end zone on his third surge.
But Owens wasn't done, slipping four tackles on a 37-yard TD
reception that tied it at 28 with 5:30 left.
Green's 2-yard run 51 seconds before halftime gave Green Bay a
14-7 lead. He set up his own score with a 20-yard run to the San
Francisco 4 and a 7-yard run to the 2 after a false start by rookie
left tackle Chad Clifton, making his first start as Favre's
blindside protector.
Clifton joined right tackle Mark Tauscher, playing in place of
injured right tackle Earl Dotson, to give the Packers rookie
bookends on their offensive line.
"Chad," Favre said as he walked past Clifton in the locker
room afterward. "Good job, man."
"That feels good," Clifton said. "From a future Hall of
Famer? He had a great game."
And Clifton had something to do with that.
Game notes
The 49ers' running game was hampered by the absence of
tight end Greg Clark, who missed the game with a neck injury.
Defensive tackle Bryant Young (ribs) left in the third quarter. ...
Favre is 7-1 in his career against the 49ers. ... Packers TE Ryan
Wetnight pulled a hamstring. ... Favre moved into 11th place on the
NFL career list with his 245th TD pass, breaking a tie with John
Hadl.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Green Bay Clubhouse
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