Backup Favre Is Star as Packers Win, 24-23 : Interconference: His 35-yard touchdown pass to Kitrick Taylor beats the Cincinnati Bengals.

Brett Favre shut his eyes when he let it go. He couldn’t bear to watch what would be the biggest pass of his short NFL career.

“I was scared I had thrown it halfway up in the seats,” the second-year backup quarterback for the Green Bay Packers said. “I closed my eyes and listened for the cheers, and when I heard them I knew we either scored or we’re close.”

Kitrick Taylor made sure of the score. He caught Favre’s 35-yard pass with 13 seconds to play Sunday, capping a 92-yard drive in five plays and giving the Packers a 24-23 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

“After I caught it, I didn’t hear anything. It was a natural high,” said Taylor of his first NFL touchdown catch, which concluded Green Bay’s 21-point final quarter.

The final drive took only 54 seconds and Favre made it work, even though the Packers (1-2) had no timeouts left when rookie returner Robert Brooks ran out of bounds with the kickoff at Green Bay’s eight.

“We had nothing to lose,” said Favre, who went into the game in the first quarter when Don Majkowski was sacked and suffered ligament damage to his left ankle. “We had fought our way back that far, so we didn’t want to stop there.”

Favre got the Packers out of trouble with a 42-yard pass to Sterling Sharpe, who hurt his ribs on the catch. Vince Workman caught another pass for 11 yards before Favre stopped the clock with an incomplete pass.

Favre found Taylor behind the defense, and Chris Jacke kicked the go-ahead extra point to give Mike Holmgren his first NFL coaching victory. Cincinnati rookie Coach Dave Shula his first defeat in three games.