There are many players that, after fumbling the ball away to the other team on your first two touches of the game, both directly leading to your team being down 14-0 after only four minutes, would either be taken out of the game, or they’d take themselves out mentally.

Green Bay coach could have sat running back down for a while, but he chose not to. Even then, Grant could have packed it in and called it a day, and the Packers could have as well.

But, quitting would be for another team, on another day, in another place.

Grant fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, gifting the Seahawks possession at the 1, and on the next play, Shaun Alexander scored to put Seattle up 7-0 only 20 seconds into the game.

Less than a minute later, Grant put the ball on the ground again, and the Seahawks had it again. After Bobby Engram’s 11-yard touchdown catch, it was 14-0, and only 4:01 was gone.

But, instead of letting the Seahawks run away with it, calmly led the Packers down the field for a touchdown in only six plays.

Then they scored again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

By the time they were done, it was 42-20 early in the fourth, and a trip to next week’s NFC Championship Game was well in hand.

The Packers defense held the Seahawks to only two field goals over the final 55:59, giving Favre, Grant, and the offense plenty of opportunities to have their way with the Seahawks, scoring on six consecutive possessions.

After Grant’s second fumble and Seattle’s second score, Mike McCarthy put the ball in Favre’s hands for the next drive, and he promptly went 4 of 4 for 69 yards, with the fourth completion being a 15-yard touchdown pass to .

Then, on the next possession, after a heads-up move by Favre to get McCarthy to challenge the spot on a crucial 3rd down, it was back to Grant, who had time to get his head on right, and put the two miscues behind him.

And did he ever, breaking off runs of 26 and 15 yards to get Green Bay close, and he finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie it up.

After a Seattle fumble on the next drive gave the Packers the ball at the 18, Grant set up the go-ahead score with an 11-yard catch and a five-yard run, and it was Favre to Jennings for a second time to make it 21-14.

After Seattle pulled within 21-17 on the ensuing possession, Grant carried the ball five times on Green Bay’s clock-draining, 14-play, 70-yard drive, and put the Packers up by double digits with a 3-yard scoring run.

It was more of the same coming out of the locker room. The defense made the stop, the offense put another seven on the board. Favre’s 24-yard hookup with Jennings put the Pack in Seattle territory, and on the next play, Grant broke a 24-yard run. Two plays later, it was 35-17, as backup Brandon Jackson got in the end zone from 13 yards out on a pass from Favre.

Seattle chewed up a lot of clock on their next drive, only to be held to three points. And, when you’re behind, it doesn’t help when you get three, and the other team gets seven, which is exactly what the Packers did for the sixth straight time.

The big play on that drive was a 43-yard run by Grant on a 3rd and 3 from the 42, and it was no surprise that he was the one to finish off the drive, with his three-yard touchdown run putting the game beyond the Seahawks’ reach.

Grant’s day was finally done on the next drive, but not until he had broke a 28-yard run, and then gone over the 200-yard mark, finishing his day with 201 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries.

Favre had a great day as well, going 18 of 23 for 173 yards and three touchdowns, but he didn’t have to win it all on his own, thanks to Grant, who etched his name into the Packer record books with his monster day.


At the start of the season, a lot of people wondered if Green Bay would be able to make it this far due to having to throw it, throw it, and throw it some more, because of an unproductive running game.

Now, the running game is just as dangerous as Favre’s arm, or the Green Bay pass rush.

If the Packers hadn’t picked up Grant, there’s no telling where they would be, or where he would be.

McCarthy had faith in him when he inserted him into the starting lineup earlier in the season, and he backed it up. On Saturday, McCarthy had faith in him despite mistakes that would doom a lot of other backs to the bench for a breather and a half. And he repaid his and his teammates’ faith in him, tenfold.

As for Favre, that decision he made to return for a 17th season is looking better and better all the time, not only because he’s playing as well as he did a decade ago, when he was the ’s best, winning three straight MVP awards from 1995-97, but also because the Packers are winning like they did a decade ago, when they rose to the top of the NFC, making three straight trips to the NFC title game, going to two straight Super Bowls, winning one, with their thrice-crowned MVP leading the way.

Now, Favre and the Packers are one win away from a Super Bowl berth that no one could have seen coming at the start of the season. As young and inexperienced as they were a lot of positions, with a man supposedly past his prime at QB, it didn’t matter that few people believed in him, or them, but that they believed in themselves, which they’ve shown all season long, and in doing so, have made us believers.

Ryan Grant may not win three MVPs. He may never have another game like this in his career. But, on a day when Brett Favre furthered his legend with another Favre-like, ‘How did he…what did he…I can’t believe that he…’ play, with his shovel pass to Donald Lee in the third quarter, Grant became a Packers legend, at least for a day, alongside the likes of Hornung, Taylor, Starr, and the guy who got him the ball a total of 29 times today.

All of it, his day, Favre’s day, the Packers’ day, all of it happened because of one word. Faith.

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