It was a very cold ending for Favre

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Until the last instant, even after Brett Favre threw a second-and-eight pass into the hands of New York cornerback Corey Webster in the first minute of overtime and gave the Giants an opportunity they would not squander, he was sure his Packers were destined to win the NFC championship.

“This game, and this season, it’s been one of those things where you just, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do it. We’re going to do it,’ even though we maybe struggled here and had a setback there,” he said.

“I didn’t think it would come down to that situation. I thought we would put it away earlier than that, that if the situation presented itself, I would rise to the occasion. I have in the past. I expect more out of myself.”

Favre did not meet the challenge on a cruelly cold day at Lambeau Field, in a game that lacked the picturesque, snow-globe-like charm of the Packers’ victory over Seattle last week.

The man who leads all NFL quarterbacks in wins, touchdown passes and yards passing also showed Sunday why he’s the leader in intercepted passes.

The shaky decision-making that so often counts against him in debates about the top quarterbacks in NFL history reappeared at the worst times and in the worst ways.

Favre had felt all along that “everything was falling into place” for the Packers, so the memory of their 23-20 overtime loss to the Giants will sting him well after sensation returns to his frozen feet and fingers.

His faults went beyond the two passes he threw into the Giants’ waiting hands, the first snatched by cornerback R.W. McQuarters on the second play of the fourth quarter and the last when Webster stepped in front of Donald Driver at the Packers’ 34-yard line.

He repeatedly threw into double coverages and couldn’t exploit the slightest opening. He also couldn’t use his extensive experience to lead the Packers past a team that has gained confidence behind young quarterback Eli Manning over the last month but was far from invincible.

“We didn’t play as well in the second half as we did in the first half,” Favre said.

“The thing for me was I kept thinking, ‘How many opportunities are we going to let slip away and we can’t keep giving them opportunities like we’ve been giving them,’ and that’s what happened.”

While a Lambeau Field-record crowd of 72,740 headed off into the frigid night, Favre said he hadn’t seen the game film and couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had happened and why. His overwhelming feeling was disappointment that he would not return to the Super Bowl after a 10-year absence.

“Maybe I missed on some passes, reads a little bit,” he said. “I should have went over there, and went here. It was probably a combination of all of us.”

A losing combination, to be sure.

Favre, who has hinted he will play an 18th season but has not committed to returning, completed 19 of 35 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

The first touchdown, on a 90-yard pass to Driver, gave the Packers a 7-6 lead in the second quarter. The second, a 12-yard pass to Donald Lee in the far corner of the end zone, gave Green Bay a 17-13 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter.

The Giants responded each time, their defense growing stronger as the skies grew darker.

They twice held the Packers to three-and-out possessions in the fourth quarter -- the Packers had the ball for only 4 minutes 43 seconds in the quarter -- and limited Green Bay to 28 net rushing yards in the game.

That the Packers couldn’t sustain any drives sat poorly with Favre.

“We’ve been able to do that for the most part all year, so first thing to do is give those guys credit,” he said. “The fact that we were not able to run the ball as well, or the way we had been in recent weeks, really the latter part of the season, it’s difficult. Their pass rush is very good; I think they led the league in sacks,” with 53.

He added, “So they’re either going to get pressure on you or sack you, and if you’re not running the ball really well, I won’t say you play into their hands, but into the strength of their defense.”

Favre said the loss would not sway him toward or away from retirement, though he said he wouldn’t let the decision linger and would talk to Coach Mike McCarthy today to get the team’s perspective.

The Packers are young, and they reached the conference title game probably a season earlier than they were expected to get there. The question for Favre, 38, is whether he can play as large a role in their future as he has played in their past.

“I’m just going to enjoy this season we had as much as I can and try to block this game out, which will be very hard,” he said.

“I’m proud of this team. I’m happy we got to this point and gave ourselves a shot. I’m disappointed that the last pass I threw was intercepted and gave them a chance to win.”

If it was his last pass in the NFL, it will be remembered as a cold day, indeed.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.