Lowery's toe can't spoil Marino's 4th-quarter show in '90


Montana magic lifts Chiefs past Steelers in '93

	BEST WILD CARD GAMES
	This is the third in a five-part ESPN SportsCenter series on the best NFL Wild Card Games of all-time, selected by a vote of ESPN.com users earlier this month. Follow the series on-air and on-line as ESPN brings you the best of the best.

Long before Brett Favre was winning back-to-back MVPs and before surgery cut short the stellar career of Sterling Sharpe, the Green Bay Packers actually finished behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC Central. The year was 1993, and the Wild Card Game in the Silverdome would become a classic.

In Favre's second season, the Packers went 9-7 and made their first appearance in the postseason in 11 seasons. Little did anyone know the success that would follow in years to come, so just getting to the postseason again was major news in Titletown.

	Brett Favre hit Sterling Sharpe from 40 yards with less than a minute left.

But it wasn't Favre who played the leading role on this Green Bay team. It was his primary target, Sharpe, who made NFL history with a record 112 catches. A neck injury would end Sharpe's career after the 1994 season, but the playoff game he enjoyed in 1993 went down as one of the best by a wide receiver.

As for the Lions, Barry Sanders was just coming into his own as an NFL superstar. Detroit finished the regular season strong, winning three of its final four -- including a season-ending victory seven days earlier at home over the Pack.

That win gave the Lions a one-game edge over the Packers in the Central standings -- good enough to give them a home playoff game in the first round. And the Silverdome was rocking.

But Detroit's fans were soon silenced by some early Packer punch from a combination that would ultimately end the Lions' season. The first of three Favre-to-Sharpe touchdown connections gave the Packers a quick 7-0 lead.

The game, however, turned the Lions' way thanks a pair of punishing counter-punches -- first by the Detroit offense, then the defense.

On third-and-goal, the Lions lined up with only Sanders in the backfield. But he was only a decoy. Erik Kramer dropped back to pass and threw toward Brett Perriman in the end zone. Perriman leaped high for a one-handed catch to tie the game, 7-7.

Then the Lions' defense got into the action.

Green Bay was backed up under the shadow of its own goal posts when Favre dropped back into the end zone to throw. But his pass was intercepted by Melvin Jenkins -- picked up by the Lions from Atlanta during the middle of the season -- who turned the turnover into seven points and a 14-7 Lions' lead.

Suddenly, the Packers were looking at defeat for a second time in as many Sundays in the Silverdome. And this one would end their season. After the Lions stretched the lead to 17-7 in the third quarter, even the Packers' head coach didn't know if his team could manage another comeback.

"It's been that type of season for us, we've lost games and they've bounced back," said Green Bay head coach Mike Holmgren. "I didn't know if we had any more bounce left in us when it got to be 17-7. But they did and I'm very proud of them."

"I'm thinking to myself, 'Well, there's still another quarter and half left, so don't go over there and start signaling number one to the fans yet because anything can happen,'" said Favre. "And sure enough, nothing against those guys, but we got after their (butt) at the end of the game."

The first of Favre's two second-half touchdowns to Sharpe came on second-and-11 at the Lions' 28. Sharpe lined up as the slot receiver to Favre's left, and when he got time to throw, he delivered a perfect pass that Sharpe hauled in for the score. The Packers were down just 17-14 with the fourth quarter to play.

But the Lions didn't lay down, instead marching down the field.

However, when Kramer threw into the end zone, Green Bay rookie George Teague was there to pick off the pass and race 101 yards the other way for a 21-17 Packers lead.

The one thing Kramer seemed to be able to avoid in 1993 were interceptions, but Teague's play sets the Packers in motion

"George Teague, that was the play that turned us around and got us going a little bit," said Holmgren. "It didn't look too good down there, and George makes a big, big play."

Trailing by four in the fourth quarter, Detroit mounted one last drive. And after 10 plays had covered the length of the field, Derrick Moore blasted his way into the end zone to put the Lions back on top 24-21 with less than a minute to play.

And just like that, the stage was set for a Sterling finish.

With no time to waste, Favre went for it all. He found Sharpe racing down the sideline all alone and hit him with a 40-yard touchdown pass -- Sharpe's third of the day -- and the Packers were off to the Divisional Playoffs in Dallas. The Packers, however, would lose to the Cowboys 27-17 the following week.

"I knew that he would be running back along the sideline," said Favre. "Maybe they underestimated my arm, I don't know. I've never seen anything like it."

"Green Bay said when they got beat here (the week before), they said the best team didn't win that Sunday," said Detroit head coach Wayne Fontes. "I feel the same way today. I don't feel the best team won today."

"I've never experienced anything like this before," said Holmgren. "And I'm real proud of the players. They really earned it today."

In the words of Edgar Bennett, it was "a Sterling performance."