Jan. 20, 2002
The reality: The Packers have a shot to reach the conference championship game for first time since the 1997 season if they beat Rams in the divisional round.
The Cheesehead fantasy: The 12-4 Packers were no match for the 14-2 Rams
The Cold, Hard Football Facts: The Rams edged out the 11-5 Eagles by just five points in the conference title game and lost to the 11-5 Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Packers easily could have beat the Rams if Favre had not thrown 6 picks tying the single-game NFL record for postseason picks last matched by a passer back in 1955.
Jan. 4, 2003
The reality: The 12-4 Packers were again one of the best teams in football, playing at home against the tepid 9-6-1 Falcons.
The Cheesehead fantasy: Favre walks on water.
The Cold, Hard Football Facts: Favre sinks like a lead weight, reserving one of his worst performances of the year (20 of 42, 47.6%, 247 yards, 5.9 YPA, 1 TD, 2 INT, 54.4 rating) for when it matters most in a 27-7 loss. It was Green Bay's lowest offensive output of the season and the franchises first-ever home playoff loss.
Jan. 11, 2004
The reality: The Packers need to produce just one drive in overtime to beat the Eagles and then battle the Panthers for a chance to go to Super Bowl XXXVIII.
The Cheesehead fantasy: The Green Bay Favrers defense let Brett down when they surrendered a miracle 4th and 26 completion by Donovan McNabb in the fourth quarter, allowing the Eagles to tie the game.
The Cold, Hard Football Facts: On Green Bay's first play of overtime, Favre promptly tossed a bad pass into the hands of Eagles defender Brian Dawkins. McNabb quickly drove the offense into easy field goal range for the victory. The Favrers defense disappointed Brett by sacking McNabb a mere 8 times, while the Favrers ground game failed to hold up its end of the bargain with just 210 yards and a measly average of 5.7 YPA. Favre passed for 180 yards, one of his lowest outputs of the year.
The 2005 season
The reality: The Packers suffer their first losing season in the Favre Era.
The Cheesehead fantasy: The Packers went 4-12 because Favre had no talent around him.
The Cold, Hard Football Facts: Eight times in the 2005 season, Favre took the field in the fourth quarter with his team in position to tie or take the lead and a chance for him to play the role of hero. In all eight games, he threw crushing interceptions that killed any hopes for victory. Favres 29 picks that year are the most thrown by any quarterback in the past 20 years.
The 2006 season
The reality: Packers climb back to respectability with an 8-8 record.
The Cheesehead fantasy: Favre helped the blind to see.
The Cold, Hard Football Facts: Favre had trouble focusing on the field, with a 72.7 passer rating that was among the worst in football that season. The list of quarterbacks with a better rating in 2006 included some of the most widely ridiculed passers in football: David Carr (82.1), Michael Vick (75.7), Alex Smith (74.8) and Rex Grossman (73.9)
"ColdHardFootballFacts" wrote: