DENVER - The Green Bay Packers didn't score the entire second half on Monday night but then needed just one play in overtime to beat the Denver Broncos.
Brett Favre stunned the 77,160 fans at Invesco Field at Mile High and a national television audience with a breathtaking 82-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the first snap of overtime, lifting the Packers to 19-13 victory that will rank as one of Favre's most thrilling and only add to his Hall of Fame legacy.
Having just watched the Broncos drive 89 yards in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter and tie the game at 13 with a run-on field goal on the final play of regulation, the Packers won the overtime coin toss and wasted no time going for the win.
On first down from his own 18, Favre ran a play-action fake with a short roll to his left. Jennings had a step on Denver cornerback Dre Bly down the left sideline and Favre let it fly.
"Initially I looked up at the ball and I was like 'I'm not going to be able to get to the ball,'" Jennings said. "But I kept running and the ball landed right in my hands, and after that it was history. I'm just glad we were able to come out on top."
The touchdown set off a wild celebration on the Green Bay sideline that spilled out onto the field. The Packers improved to 6-1 with certainly the most dramatic finish of the Mike McCarthy era, and Favre even said off the top of his head it ranked in the top two for him.
The game-winning play was designed to get tight end Donald Lee open down the seam in the middle of the field, according to Favre. But when the Broncos broke their huddle with just a single safety, Favre knew he would stay in the middle and the opportunity for a deep ball would be to the outside, so he took the shot rather than change the play at the line.
"Obviously making a good throw is critical, but that's one you just have to make a play on the ball from the receiver standpoint," Favre said. "Maybe it's underthrown, maybe it's overthrown, maybe it's a little to the left or inside. But fortunately for me it fell in the right place."
It was one of two picture-perfect deep balls thrown by Favre in the game. He also hit Jones for a 79-yard touchdown in the first quarter when the rookie receiver got behind Champ Bailey along the right sideline, made the catch, cut back across the field and picked up a key block from Jennings on Bly on his way to the end zone.
That answered Denver's early touchdown and tied the game at 7. The Packers added two long field-goal drives by halftime, the first one covering 98 yards after Nick Barnett pounced on a fumbled snap by Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler at the Green Bay 1-yard line, for a 13-7 lead.
Denver cut the deficit to three points with a field goal in the third quarter, and then needed a long drive of their own in the final two minutes to force overtime.
{sportsad300}Starting on their own 7, Denver picked up one first down via penalty and then faced a fourth-and-2 on its own 32. Cutler hit Brandon Stokley for a 7-yard gain to keep the drive going and, with the help of a 35-yard catch-and-run by Brandon Marshall, eventually moved inside the Green Bay 5.
The Packers defense was clearly tired but somehow found a way to stop the Broncos, who called their last timeout with 25 seconds left. Cutler threw incomplete to Marshall in the front corner of the end zone and then was stopped for no gain by Ryan Pickett on a quarterback draw on third-and-1 from the 4.
Denver then rushed its field-goal unit onto the field and managed to get the snap off with 3 seconds left. Jason Elam's 21-yarder was good as the clock expired, sending the game to overtime.
"It was tiring, I'm not going to lie," Barnett said. "I'm in pretty good shape but it was tiring. I don't know if it was the altitude or just four quarters of football. We definitely felt it a little bit."
Fortunately the exhausted defense didn't have to take the field again. The Packers won the toss with a call of heads, and 16 seconds into the extra session the game was over.
"I tell you what, I'm very thankful because we were gassed," said defensive end Aaron Kampman, who had three sacks in the game. "We were on the sidelines saying 'Guys, deep breaths, in and out, let's get ourselves back.' Obviously we didn't need to do it with the great finish, but that was a huge thing for us to get that coin toss."
On a night the Packers finally got their running game going behind Ryan Grant, who had 22 carries for 104 yards, Favre was once again the difference-maker and drama king.
With the two long touchdowns, Favre finished 21-of-27 for 331 yards without an interception for a sterling 142.4 quarterback rating, his highest since the 2004 regular-season finale, when he posted a 151.4 mark in Chicago.
"It don't get no better than it did at the end of that game," said Favre as the Packers remained in first place in the NFC North, one game ahead of 5-2 Detroit, and tied with Dallas for the best mark in the NFC.
"I keep saying winning games ugly, winning games like that in overtime build character. I don't see how they don't. I have no idea how we'll do the rest of the year, but it's sure been a hell of a ride up till now."
