All Packed

A third-round selection from UCLA, Anderson has been a revelation, having picked off four passes and returned two for touchdowns. He is a leading candidate for defensive rookie of the year, though the Long Beach, Calif., native has yet to become comfortable with Green Bay's climate or Packers-obsessed culture. "Some people here are crazy," Anderson said last week as he devoured a plate of ribs at a Green Bay restaurant. "I did a signing in Milwaukee earlier this season, and a girl asked me to scrawl my name on her arm in big letters. A few weeks later I was down there again, and she walked over, rolled up her sleeve and said, 'Remember me?' The girl had tattooed my signature onto her arm! I didn't know what the hell to say."

The Packers had no answers for Garcia as he drove the Niners 60 yards on the first eight plays of the final drive. When Garcia found tight end Eric Johnson (eight catches, 66 yards) on a 14-yard catch and run to the Green Bay 14 with a minute to go, all eyes turned to Owens, but he never got the chance to dance.

After two incompletions sandwiched a three-yard run, it was fourth-and-seven from the 11 with 26 seconds remaining, and as if Sharper needed a reminder about his least favorite San Francisco memory, his coach provided it anyway. Mike Sherman, who was the Packers' tight ends coach in 1998 and watched Owens's game-winning catch from an upstairs box, remembered the defensive call on that play—Quarters, an alignment in which each of four defensive backs is responsible for a quadrant of the end zone. Sherman confronted his demons, then greenlighted defensive coordinator Ed Donatell's call. "Same coverage we had back then," Sherman said later. "So we knew there was a chance it would go their way."

As it turned out, the 49ers had no chance because furious pressure forced Garcia to rush a throw that bounced short of Johnson. "I couldn't be more proud of our defense," Favre said after the game. "I always make a point of watching those guys, and they're relentless. Half the time you don't even know who's in there, but they never quit, and there's no substitute for that."

The Packers can't let up now. Though they share the league's best record with the Buccaneers and the Eagles, both teams hold tiebreaker edges over Green Bay, which, in all likelihood, must win its final two regular-season games (at home against Buffalo and at the New York Jets) and pray for help to secure a first-round bye. No matter their seeding, the Packers are secure that in a league of parity, they'll enter the postseason boasting the most potent quarterback and a defense well-versed in preserving his handiwork.

Late Sunday night, on a festive flight back to Green Bay, several defenders celebrated by playing cards, sipping mixed drinks (Grey Goose Vodka, with a splash of orange and cranberry juices) and mingling with the delighted leader of the Pack. "Brett made a point of thanking us," Anderson said early on Monday morning. "You could tell he really wanted to win this game."