Favre Proves He’s At His Best In Big Games

Brett Favre heard the talk, considered it and even agreed with it.

Then he went out on Sunday and proved the talkers wrong.

Word was that Steve Young was the more efficient QB of the two, that Favre could run the gamut between big plays … and big mistakes.

“True?” Favre was asked after an NFC Championship Game in which Young threw the pivotal interception and Favre threw for the only TD.

“It wasn’t today,” he said.

“I always felt I played good in big games and I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” Favre added. “I saw where Steve Mariucci said that Favre can make a lot of big plays but also a lot of mistakes.

“I can’t disagree with that, but when it comes down to playing in big games, I think he’s been around me long enough to know that I can play,” Favre said. “I knew today was do or die. We’d go on or we’d watch. And I wasn’t going to let our team watch.”

Forty-niners whine

The San Francisco 49ers were last seen crying in the rain late Sunday afternoon, refusing to acknowledge they had been dominated by a superior team in the NFC championship game.

It looked like a rout. It smelled like a rout. But in the suspicious minds of several 49ers, it was actually a close game, the outcome of which was decided by the men in stripes.

“If you look at the two teams across the board, what beat us today was they have the officials (on their side),” linebacker Ken Norton Jr. said. “Maybe we have to kiss up to the officials a little more.”

Believe it or not, even Rod Woodson, the matador who spent much of the afternoon watching Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman splish-splash past him, felt the officials were more responsible for the end of the 49ers’ season than the 49ers were.

“That stuff’s been happening all year,” Woodson complained. “I really thought (the officials) would let us play. They made a lot of close calls, and then they didn’t call some close calls. If that’s the case, they should just let the teams play.”

Packers have their number

The classy, stylish and prosperous San Francisco 49ers do not seem the type to be saddled with a nemesis. Winners of five Super Bowls, the most in the league, the 49ers once rose above simple rivalries.

But times have changed. There has been an antagonist at the end of the last three San Francisco football seasons and it is the team from the hardscrabble port city of Green Bay, Wis.

In the wake of a third consecutive January loss to the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers spoke with one voice: “Do the Packers have our number?” San Francisco Coach Steve Mariucci said, repeating a question in the moments after Green Bay’s victory.

“They do so far. They got us today. Obviously, they’re the hurdle in front of us. We have to get over it.”

The Packers are undefeated in their three playoff games with the 49ers.

“It’s getting pretty obvious,” San Francisco quarterback Steve Young said. “We have to find a way to beat the Packers. They are the team standing in the way of all our progress.”

Jones retires on a sour note

He could admit it now, finally, gracefully. He hurt. He was in pain.

Not because of anything as minor as a pulled calf muscle, which was torn and still throbbing after getting injured in practice two days ago. And not because his tongue was still raw and sore after it took several stitches last week in the NFC divisional playoffs.

Brent Jones’ pain was more ephemeral than visceral. He had just played his last football game for the 49ers and it was pretty obvious that his eyes weren’t wet from the rain that was pouring down.

“I spent a lot of time crying (the last few days), I’ll be honest,” said the 34-year-old Pro Bowl tight end who is retiring. “It didn’t end the way I wanted, but at least I was on the field.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GREEN BAY IN THE SUPER BOWL Packers 35, Chiefs 10, 1967 Packers 33, Raiders 14, 1968 Packers 35, Patriots 21, 1997