Playoff Berth Is Put on Ice

The Green Bay Packers don’t know whether to pat each other on the back or kick themselves.

They ended a two-year playoff drought Sunday with a 30-7 rout of the Cleveland Browns behind Brett Favre’s three-touchdown performance on a cold, snowy day at Lambeau Field that reminded them just how much fun it is to play in the NFL’s coldest outpost.

“Some guys have domes, some guys have warm weather, we’ve got the frozen tundra,” split end Antonio Freeman said.

But unless the Packers (10-4) pick up a game on Chicago in the final two weeks, the Bears will get the NFC Central Division title, and the first-round bye that goes with it.

And the Packers will hit the road as a wild-card team.

“If we get a No. 2 seed,” safety Darren Sharper said, “I don’t want to guarantee anything, but I can say that we will be in the championship game.”

And that’s why Sunday’s celebration was tinged with regret.

“It would be real big to get a team up here in mid-January, especially in these conditions,” said Ahman Green, who rushed for 150 yards in 21 carries after being held to 11 yards the week before.

The Packers have handed Chicago two of its three losses, but they’ve given control of the division back to the Bears with letdowns the following week.

Favre said he’s just glad he won’t be home in Mississippi for the postseason again.

Coach Mike Sherman took his first playoff berth in stride.

“If you coach the Packers, you’re supposed to get into the playoffs. So I can’t be jumping up and down yet,” Sherman said.

Favre, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 139 yards with no interceptions, extended his NFL record with his sixth 30-touchdown season. He had a scare in the third quarter when he hurt his throwing hand while avoiding a sack and diving for a one-yard gain.

“Some meat came off it,” Favre said. “I either caught it between two helmets or got stepped on.”

But he returned on the next series. “That’s one of the advantages of playing in the cold weather: You get numb,” Favre said.

Just add that to the long list of reasons Green Bay wants so dearly to catch Chicago. The Packers have never lost a playoff game at home, and Favre has never lost in 29 home games when the temperature was 34 or below.