The Denver Broncos lay down for the Green Bay Packers. Then Lambeau Field fans stood up for Brett Favre. Next the Arizona Cardinals climbed into the realm of the unbelievable and knocked down the Minnesota Vikings.
Suddenly and stunningly, the Packers won the NFC North on Sunday and will host Favre’s old coach, Mike Holmgren, and his Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs.
“Something’s going on here,” Favre said.
Nobody can quite explain it, but Favre sensed it as he walked off to a standing ovation with 11 minutes left and the Packers in control of a 31-3 victory against a Denver team resting quarterback Jake Plummer and other regulars for its opening-round AFC game Sunday at Indianapolis.
Four days after burying his father, Irvin, in Mississippi and less than a week after the greatest performance of a great career on Monday night in Oakland, Favre said, “I was just numb.”
Packers coach Mike Sherman refused to allow Arizona-Minnesota updates on the scoreboard, but Lambeau fans had heard of radios and knew the Vikings were winning. Somehow, Favre knew too.
Because the Seahawks had clinched a playoff spot earlier when Dallas lost, the only way the Packers were going to advance was to win the division. And the only way they could win the division was for Minnesota to lose.
“I was just hoping for help,” Favre said he was thinking as he left the field with the game in hand in the fourth quarter. “I knew we had taken care of business. I was overwhelmed by the response of the fans, but I knew I wanted to go on.
“I looked at our fans, and they were going crazy. All of a sudden there was a loud roar that just kind of continued.”
The Cardinals had recovered an onside kick.
“It quieted down, as I found out later after a couple of sacks,” Favre said. “Then the roar at the end.”
The Cardinals had won. The Packers were saved. The Vikings were done. The Broncos couldn’t care less.
Coach Mike Shanahan, already set as the AFC’s sixth seed, benched Plummer and deactivated tight end Shannon Sharpe, receiver Rod Smith and running back Clinton Portis. Denver started Jarious Jackson at quarterback and pulled him for Danny Kanell in the second quarter. Their duel with Favre was predictable.
“I’ve been through this 11 or 12 times,” Shanahan said. “The main thing is you have to step up and play well once the playoffs come.”
The Broncos beat the Colts in Indianapolis last week, and Shanahan knows how difficult it will be to do it again.
Favre and Sherman preferred to dwell on how much the Packers earned their division title, how they had won six of their last seven games and outscored four December foes 144-52, gaining strength down the stretch. Luck happens to those who prepare, the Packers argued.
Sherman saw a team that had fallen three games behind the Vikings in October yet “never questioned, just kept battling.” He also saw a team that rallied around its grieving star. Favre sees more than that.
“I’ve cried as many tears as I possibly could cry,” he said. “As difficult as it’s been, it’s very uplifting to be a part of this team.
“In the locker room and on the sidelines, I didn’t know whether to smile, cry or rejoice. There’s been so much going on this week, I don’t think it’s hit me.”
Favre didn’t practice until Friday, but his touchdown pass to Bubba Franks on the first drive of the game was all the Packers needed.
Favre finished the season with 32 touchdown passes, joining Johnny Unitas, Len Dawson and Steve Young in leading the league four times.
Ahman Green broke open the game with a 98-yard touchdown dash, longest in Green Bay history. His 20th touchdown broke Jim Taylor’s 1962 team record, and his 218 yards made him the first 200-yard rusher ever in a Packers game.
Still, the Packers were within one magical touchdown with no time on the clock 2,000 miles away from missing the playoffs altogether.
“I’ve been around people who have lost family members, and they say that person is there watching,” Favre said. “Angels or whatever. I’d say two weeks ago I didn’t really believe in that. I think we better start believing in something.”
The Packers were leading 17-3 early in the fourth quarter when they stopped the Broncos at the 2-yard line on fourth down. It could have been a 17-10 game.
“I said in the huddle, `Hey, let’s get out of here. Let’s at least get some room to punt,'” Favre said.
The handoff to Green was not designed to go 98 yards.
“I hadn’t even turned around on my fake and Ahman was crossing the 50-yard line,” Favre said. “I thought, `Hey, we’re getting out of here.'”
Sherman called the fourth-down stop and 98-yard run “as good a two plays in football as I’ve ever seen.”
Sherman said he told Favre beforehand: “`Just go out there and have fun and enjoy the game and enjoy your teammates.’ I don’t know if anyone really realizes how much pressure he was under on Monday night.”
By contrast, the playoffs may look easy.
“This team is capable of going all the way,” Favre said. “We have to play like we have nothing to lose.”
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NFC wild-card games
Dallas (6) at Carolina (3)
7 p.m. Saturday, WLS-Ch. 7
Seattle (5) at Green Bay (4)
Noon Sunday, WFLD-Ch. 32
Byes: Philadelphia (1), St. Louis (2)
