On a near perfect weekend of postseason football, nowhere were conditions more Favreable than in frosty Green Bay, where the Packers plowed through the Seahawks and into the NFC Championship Game

Green Bay's Al Harris put the deep freeze on Seattle's Ben Obomanu in the fourth quarter at Lambeau. Simon Bruty/SI

"Would you say the blessing, Breleigh?" Deanna Favre said last Thursday night before dinner, and her eight-year-old daughter earnestly cast her eyes toward the floor in thought. A day shy of her half-birthday, Breleigh, a bubbly, ponytailed blonde, had much to be thankful for. "God," she said, matter-of-factly, "thank you for this food tonight, and thank you for my family and friends, and please help us beat Seattle, and please let us win the Super Bowl, and please let me have a happy half-birthday tomorrow."

Hard to believe, but Brett Favre feels more pressure from his young daughter than he does from a premier pass rush like the one he faced from the Seattle Seahawks last Saturday, or the one he'll see on Sunday when his Packers host the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game. Sacks he can take -- 439 of them in his 17-year career -- but he hates seeing Breleigh upset after a loss, something he admits to thinking about on the rare occasions when games were going south this season.

"She can't make it easy on me, can she?" Favre said, after one of the most memorable games of his Hall of Fame career, a 42-20 NFC divisional playoff victory over Seattle in the snow globe that was Lambeau Field. "I honestly don't want to disappoint her. You know how kids can be. I don't want her to go to school and have other kids say to her, 'Your dad stinks.' Which has happened."

Not lately. Favre, 38, has led the youngest team in the NFL to a 14-3 record and within one win of reaching Super Bowl XLII. "Did I ever think we'd be in this position?" Favre said, after the locker room had cleared out. "Quite honestly, no. I looked at us in the summer, and we were young at receiver, young at tight end, young in spots on the line. In the past, I knew every game what would work and how we'd win. Now I really have no idea week to week what's going to go well and what isn't. I'm thrilled about it, but it is a strange year. I'm just riding the wave."

If weather is as big a factor in the game this weekend as it was against Seattle (the early forecast was for a high of 12°) you've got to like Green Bay's chances to advance to its first Super Bowl in 10 years. On Saturday the snow that began falling early on created a near whiteout in the second half, but Favre was impervious to the conditions. He completed 18 of 23 passes on the day (two were dropped) for 173 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The offensive line overcame treacherous footing and held the cat-quick Seahawks' front seven to one sack and three quarterback pressures. Best of all, running back Ryan Grant, who was traded by the New York Giants to Green Bay on Sept. 1 for a sixth-round pick, recovered from losing two fumbles on his first three touches to run for a team playoff record 201 yards and score three touchdowns.

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