WRs Greg Jennings and Donald Driver celebrate the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
KANSAS CITY - Another wild ending, another uplifting victory for the Green Bay Packers. And this one might have been the wildest yet.
The Packers and Chiefs combined for a whopping 35 points in a back-and-forth fourth quarter, and Green Bay accounted for the last 17 of those in the final 3 minutes, 5 seconds, to knock off Kansas City 33-22 in front of 78,988 at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
The lead changed hands four times in the final period, but as the Packers have made a habit of doing in 2007, they found yet another way to win, this time using a 60-yard touchdown bomb from Brett Favre to Greg Jennings to take the lead for good and a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown by Charles Woodson to ice it.
"We're seeing what we're built of and made of," said Jennings, who had two TDs on the day. "Coming down the stretch and getting big wins like this in clutch moments of the game, key points of the game, just being able to execute, it says a lot about the team we're starting to be."
The Packers won their second road game against an AFC West foe in six days, following up their dramatic Monday night overtime triumph in Denver with another win in perhaps an even tougher venue.
They also stretched their road winning streak to six games (dating back to last December), the longest since the Vince Lombardi era, and improved to 7-1 to stay a game ahead of second-place Detroit (6-2) in the NFC North.
But they had to survive a thrill-ride of a fourth quarter first.
The Packers led 13-7 heading into the final period when Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, held to just 53 yards on 19 carries (2.8 avg.) on the ground, finally found some daylight on a screen pass and scored a 30-yard touchdown.
Green Bay came right back with a 44-yard pass from Favre to Donald Driver (five catches, 99 yards), whose fantastic one-handed catch between two defenders put the Packers in field-goal range, and Mason Crosby's 32-yard boot put the Packers back on top, 16-14.
Kansas City countered with an 82-yard drive, capped by Damon Huard's 17-yard TD pass to Tony Gonzalez, who dominated with 10 catches and 109 yards, accounting for more than half of Huard's 213 passing yards in the game.
The ensuing 2-point conversion, after two defensive penalties gave Kansas City three tries at it, put the Chiefs up 22-16 with 5:18 left.
Then it really got fun.
Just four plays later, Favre (24-of-34, 360 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 100.1 rating) burned the Chiefs' two-deep safety look. The Packers were in a multiple-receiver formation with Jennings lined up in a spot normally occupied by a tight end, and Favre noticed linebacker Donnie Edwards was responsible for Jennings.
"I think that's a mismatch," Favre said, recalling his thoughts as he surveyed the defense at the line. "Now my second read goes basically to the safeties. Are they wide enough that I can lay the ball up like I did without them being able to converge on the ball?"
They were, so Favre threw the ball before Jennings had even blown past Edwards and it nestled neatly into his arms for a 60-yard TD and a 23-22 lead with 3:05 left.
Jennings' deep route there is designed to clear out the middle of the field for Driver to come open on a crossing route. But when Kansas City didn't adjust properly to account for Jennings, it was an easy pitch-and-catch.
"It just so happened Brett saw what I saw," said Jennings, who also hauled in the 82-yard TD pass to beat the Broncos in overtime last week. "I was just running hard and he hit me."
{sportsad300}It appeared Kansas City was going to battle back again right away, but a 36-yard completion to Jeff Webb was overturned by an astute replay challenge, and the Chiefs were finally out of answers.
A 27-yard punt return by Charles Woodson set up a field goal, and then Woodson's interception return for a TD with 59 seconds left ended the scoring flurry.
"Week in and week out I keep saying it's very difficult to keep doing it the way we're doing it," said Favre, who has now beaten all 31 other NFL teams in his career. "I would like to make it much easier, but somehow we're doing it."
Favre and his offensive mates were frustrated with some miscues in the first half that kept the Chiefs close.
Favre threw two interceptions in the first half, one to Patrick Surtain to end a promising opening drive that had reached the Kansas City 29 and another to Benny Sapp in Green Bay territory with just 25 seconds left in the first half. The latter set up the Chiefs' lone first-half score, a 1-yard plunge by Johnson after a pass interference penalty in the end zone on Atari Bigby.
That put Kansas City ahead 7-6 despite just 62 yards of offense in the first half.
The Packers failed to take the lead on their first try of the second half, as Mason Crosby pulled a 52-yard field goal attempt wide left, his only miss on a solid 4-for-5 day. But just moments later, linebacker A.J. Hawk intercepted a pass intended for Priest Holmes, and the offense went the ensuing 30 yards in just four plays, with Jennings' 13-yard TD catch over the middle putting the Packers ahead 13-7.
"He probably wants that one back," Hawk said of the interception against Huard, the second-year linebacker's first pick of the season. "I'm sure he wouldn't throw that one again."
Kansas City's offense actually didn't cross midfield until the fourth quarter, but once it did the game became a shootout. But once again, the Packers showed they can win yet another way.
"I think the foundation of this team is character," linebacker Brady Poppinga said. "We're going to play as hard as we can, regardless of the situation, regardless if all heck is breaking loose. And that's just a tribute to the guys we have, the coaches that we have and the chemistry of this team."
