3. Packers 19, Broncos 13 (OT) (2007)

This may be too high for some people, but this moment is one of the all-time best moments in the career of Brett Favre. Green Bay was 5-1 and coming off a bye week, while Denver was 3-3 and coming off a big home win against Pittsburgh. Green Bay was struggling to run the ball, but would find answers in this game in the form of Ryan Grant. Ted Thompson traded a sixth round pick to the New York Giants for Grant before the season started. Denver did not have a very good run defense, so Grant and the offensive line gained confidence with Grant’s 104-yard effort. From that point forward, Grant would be one of the NFL’s top running backs. However, this game would be remembered for one play. The game went into overtime tied at 13 and Green Bay started the overtime period at its own 18. That was went Favre worked his magic. On the first play of overtime, Favre launched a rainbow down the left sideline to Greg Jennings for the 82-yard touchdown to win the game and give the Packers a 6-1 start.

The first points would wait until late in the first quarter. Denver would travel 60 yards in nine plays, aided by two Green Bay penalties. On a 3rd-and-Goal from the 5, Jay Cutler (he seems to be on this list quite often) was looking for tight end Daniel Graham, but Atari Bigby was called for pass interference in the end zone. Two plays later, Cutler found Tony Scheffler in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown and Denver had a 7-0 lead with four minutes to go in the first quarter.

It did not take long for the Packers to respond. On the opening play, Favre aired it out. Denver had a great cornerback duo of Champ Bailey and Dre Bly. Favre would burn both in this Monday Night Football game. This time, it was Bailey. Favre launched a deep pass down the right sideline to James Jones, who had a step on Bailey. He caught it and would cut to the left and outrace the Broncos defenders into the end zone for the Green Bay 79-yard touchdown. It would tie the game at 7. This would be the last touchdown by either side in regulation.

Denver would drive down on its next possession. The Broncos would travel 72 yards in seven plays, aided once again by penalties. The Broncos would move all the way down to the Green Bay 1, thanks to 42 yards passing by Cutler and 20 penalty yards. However, on the second down play from the 1, Cutler fumbled the snap and the Packers recovered. That kept the game tied.

Green Bay would then embark on the longest non-touchdown drive in team history. Starting at their own 1, the Packers traveled 98 yards in 14 plays, but would have to settle for the field goal. The drive took up more than half the second quarter with Grant doing most of the damage. He had seven carries on the drive for 53 yards, but would only gain three yards on a 3rd-and-Goal at the 4, so the Packers would have to settle for a chip-shot Mason Crosby field goal and Green Bay took a 10-7 lead with a little more than seven minutes to go in the first half.

Grant was back at it on the Packers next possession. He was given the ball the first five times for a total of 23 yards to move the ball into Denver territory. Favre would throw for 29 yards and a 15-yard penalty moved the ball inside the 10, but Crosby would have to kick another field goal and the Packers would take a 13-7 lead into halftime.

The Packers were done scoring for regulation. Denver would score all six points in the second half and the game would go into overtime. After a Packers punt, it was the Broncos turn to go on a lengthy field goal drive. Denver would go on a 53-yard drive that lasted more than half the third quarter that would end with a Jason Elam 45-yard field goal. Cutler would throw for 54 yards on the drive, but two penalties pushed the Broncos back to a 1st-and-25 and Denver would never recover and had to settle for a field goal. It would remain 13-10 until the final seconds of the game.

With two and a half minutes to go in regulation, Denver had the ball down three and started the drive at its own 7. The Broncos got off to a nice start on the possession as Bigby was called for a pass interference, which moved the ball out to the 24. Then, Cutler got hot, completing 4-of-7 for 63 yards on the game-tying drive. Marshall would have 48 yards of the 63. From the 4 with a half minute to go, Cutler could not get the Broncos into the end zone and they had to settle for a field goal and a tie game at the end of regulation.

The Packers won the coin toss and would receive. Shaun Bodiford brought the opening kickoff back to the 18. Denver would have a pretty short field if they stop them for a three-and-out. But Favre had other ideas. The crowd was deafening as Favre took the snap and dropped back to pass. He looked and launched a deep ball for Jennings, the second-year wide receiver from Western Michigan. I mentioned both cornerback were burned. This time, it was Bly. Jennings burned him down the sideline and Favre threw a perfect pass and Jennings caught it in stride and glided into the end zone for the score and the win.

It was one of the signature moments in Favre’s career. This was the second win of six consecutive wins for the Packers. Green Bay would end up going 13-3 on the season and this was one of the defining moments of the 2007 season.