By PETE DOUGHERTY
Green Bay Press-Gazette

GREEN BAY, Wis. - With the Green Bay Packers' season getting precariously close to its end, Ed Donatell and Al Harris gained the upper hand for one snap and took a chance Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris heads to the end zone in front of Seattle Seahawks receiver Alex Bannister in overtime for the game-winning touchdown. (AP photo)

This was overtime playoff football on a cold, blustery day. The Mike Holmgren-led Seattle Seahawks were within about 30 yards of a sudden-death field goal that could have brought the Packers' season to an abrupt and disastrous end in the NFL's wild-card playoff round for the second straight season.

Donatell - never a big risk-taker as the Packers' defensive coordinator over the last four seasons - decided to send a big blitz at Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on third-and-long. His seven-man rush left four cornerbacks alone, each in one-on-one coverage. Harris, the Packers' right cornerback, decided he'd risk getting beaten deep and jump receiver Alex Bannister on an out pattern.

Hasselbeck, in just his second season as a starting quarterback in the NFL, took the bait. Donatell's blitz forced him into a quick throw. Harris picked it off, returning the interception 52 yards for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 33-27 victory and sending Green Bay on to Philadelphia for a divisional playoff game next weekend.

Thus are playoff fates sometimes determined. One play, a couple of quick decisions, and a game is over.

"I thought it was a time in the game when our season was close to the midfield stripe," Donatell said. "Somewhere along the line, you have to set your feet and do something."

So the Packers (11-6) live for another week in an NFC playoff race that lacks a clear favorite and is down to the four top seeds.

They will take on the Eagles (12-4) next Sunday, with the winner playing Jan. 18 in the NFC championship game against the victor of the NFC's other divisional playoff game, third-seeded Carolina (12-5) at second-seeded St. Louis (12-4).

The Packers barely survived their scrape with the improving Seahawks. Still, they extended their winning streak to five games and still carry some of the airs of a charmed team.

They will face an Eagles club that despite its top seeding in the NFC will not present the offensive problems that the masterful Holmgren and up-and-coming Hasselbeck gave Donatell and his defense.

"In this league this year, a lot of things can happen," said Ted Thompson, the Seahawks' vice president of football operations. "If you play your A game for three straight weeks, you have a chance to win (it all). The home field is nice, but it's been proven it's not certainty. Most people didn't give us a chance coming in here, and I thought we were pretty competitive."

As the overtime suggests, there wasn't much difference between these teams, and the little bit that separated them probably was at quarterback. Both the 34-year-old Brett Favre and the 28-year-old Hasselbeck had good games, but Favre made no errors of note, and Hasselbeck made one huge mistake that ended his season.

On a day when Seattle shut down the Packers' staple - halfback Ahman Green averaged only 2.9 yards a carry and gained 66 yards - Favre topped a 100-point passer rating (102.9) for the seventh time this season and the 300-yard passing mark for only the second time this year.

Favre completed almost 70 percent of his passes (26-for-38); hit big plays to Javon Walker (44 yards), William Henderson (29 yards), Donald Driver (23 yards) and Bubba Franks (a 23-yard touchdown) that either set up scores or put points on the board; and didn't throw an interception.

It was vintage Favre on a cold day at Lambeau. He is 36-1 at home when the game-time temperature is 34 degrees or colder; it was 20 at kickoff with a wind chill of 7. His lifetime record in the playoffs is 11-7 overall and 6-1 at Lambeau.

"He's a Hall of Fame quarterback who's remarkable in big games, as a general rule," said Holmgren, who coached Favre for seven formative seasons in Green Bay. "He's so poised now with how he handles things. And he's tough to beat at home."

Unlike when the teams met in early October in a 35-13 Packers win, Holmgren and Hasselbeck brought Seattle back when it looked like the Packers could pull away going into the second half.

Holmgren said he wanted to run the ball extensively with halfback Shaun Alexander and avoid a shootout, but by halftime, Alexander had only 31 yards and a 3.1-yard average. The Seahawks trailed, 13-6.

So Holmgren came out firing in the second half. Hasselbeck completed 11 of 14 passes for 141 yards on back-to-back touchdown drives that put Seattle ahead 20-13 with 1:57 left in the third quarter.

Hasselbeck finished with a deceptively low passer rating (67.4 points) because he didn't throw any touchdowns. But he became only the third quarterback to top the 300-yard passing mark against the Packers this season. In the final three minutes, he guided the Seahawks 67 yards for the tying touchdown, which came with 51 seconds left.

The difference in the quarterbacks showed up in overtime, after both high-powered offenses failed to score on their first shot.

Seattle got the ball back at its 34, and six plays later, Hasselbeck faced that fateful third-and-11 from his 45.

"The pressure keeps building," Favre said. "I'm not going to say the pressure got Matt, but at some point you feel like you have to make a play. That's exactly what I was trying to guard against."

Seattle	3	3	14	7	0-27
Green Bay	0	13	0	14	6-33

First Quarter

Sea-FG J.Brown 30, 7:01.

Second Quarter

GB-FG Longwell 31, 9:13.

Sea-FG J.Brown 35, 6:50.

GB-Franks 23 pass from Favre (Longwell kick), 4:37.

GB-FG Longwell 27, :46.

Third Quarter

Sea-Alexander 1 run (J.Brown kick), 9:28.

Sea-Alexander 1 run (J.Brown kick), 1:57.

Fourth Quarter

GB-Green 1 run (Longwell kick), 10:01.

GB-Green 1 run (Longwell kick), 2:44.

Sea-Alexander 1 run (J.Brown), :51.

Overtime

GB-Harris 52 interception return, 10:35. Green Bay 33, Seattle 27.

A-71,457.

	Sea	GB
First downs	22	22
Total Net Yards	340	397
Rushes-yards	21-49	32-78
Passing	291	319
Punt Returns	1-16	3-39
Kickoff Returns	7-98	6-103
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	1-52
Comp-Att-Int	25-45-1	26-38-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	2-14	0-0
Punts	6-37.5	5-38.4
Fumbles-Lost	1-0	0-0
Penalties-Yards	2-15	5-30
Time of Possession	29:26	34:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Seattle, Alexander 20-45, Morris 1-4. Green Bay, Green 23-66, Davenport 7-21, Favre 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-Seattle, Hasselbeck 25-45-1-305. Green Bay, Favre 26-38-0-319.

RECEIVING-Seattle, K.Robinson 7-88, Mili 6-62, D.Jackson 5-58, Engram 4-83, Bannister 1-8, Hutchinson 1-5, Alexander 1-1. Green Bay, Driver 6-66, Walker 5-111, Green 5-44, Henderson 3-38, Franks 2-33, Fisher 2-12.

MISSED FIELD GOAL-Green Bay, Longwell 47 (sh).

Return to Bengals front page...