GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Ryan Grant overcame two lost fumbles with a short touchdown run, Brett Favre threw two scoring passes to Greg Jennings, and the Green Bay Packers surged to a 21-14 lead over the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter of their NFC Divisional playoff on Saturday.
Shaun Alexander scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and Matt Hasselbeck threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Bobby Engram for the Seahawks, each score coming after Grant lost a pair of fumbles in the opening minutes.
Seattle's 53-man roster has a combined 240 games of postseason experience. Green Bay, the NFL's youngest team, has a total of 94.
The Seahawks start 10 players — including kicker Josh Brown and his battery powered heating pants — who started the Super Bowl 23 months ago. Engram will make it 11 if receiver D.J. Hackett isn't able to start after aggravating a sprained ankle late in the week.
A total of 12 Packers starters, including kicker Mason Crosby and punter Jon Ryan, will be playing in their first playoff game.
But the Seahawks aren't sure their top-to-bottom experience advantage outweighs the fact the Packers have wily old Brett Favre. And they're playing at Lambeau after a bye week.
And Favre, who will make his 21st postseason start, said some of the Packers' unexpected success this season can be attributed to the fact their young players don't get caught up in what they're not supposed to be able to do.
Among Packers starters making their first postseason starts Saturday will be Grant, wide receiver Greg Jennings, linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brady Poppinga and safeties Atari Bigby and Nick Collins.
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren has coached in 33 postseason games. He won a Super Bowl for Green Bay to end the 1996 season, and has reached two others.
Packers coaches have spent this week prodding young players to make the most of this opportunity because there's no way to know when it might come again. They brought up quarterback Dan Marino, who went to the Super Bowl in his second season but never got back there.
Aside from their graying quarterback, the Packers are a young team on the rise. But the window to win a championship might be closing for the Seahawks, who are making their fifth consecutive postseason appearance.
Former Colts tight end Marcus Pollard is the Seahawks' most experienced playoff player with 12 appearances. Deion Branch, a former Super Bowl MVP with the Patriots has 10, tied with longtime Seahawks right guard Chris Gray and recently signed long snapper Jeff Robinson.
Source: The Associated Press
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