Brett Favre, in his 54th consecutive game, had to leave the game vs. the Vikings with a severely sprained ankle. He returned the next week and led the Packers to a, 35-28, victory over the Bears. Credit: Gary Porter

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Green Bay, Wis. - For this one Sunday, for this one must-win game, for this performance that combined guts and efficiency, all doubt is suspended on the topic of Brett Favre.

If he had been playing on two sound ankles, you would have said he was great. The way it was, with his left ankle badly sprained, with his mobility limited, with the Chicago Bears sending everybody but the ghost of George Halas at him, you would have to say he was somewhere between great and perfect.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback tied a franchise record with five touchdown passes Sunday. On one good wheel, he led the Packers to a 35-28 victory over the Bears.

The Monsters of the Midway were reduced to the status of props in the drama of Brett Favre overcoming adversity.

But the ultimate tribute to Favre was paid by defensive end Reggie White, himself a portrait of courage, playing on a damaged knee.

"If they would have said, 'Reggie, let's pick who ought to play, you or Brett?' I would have chose Brett," White said.

Still, there had been plenty of uncertainty about what Favre could reasonably be expected to do Sunday at Lambeau Field.

"I was anxious about that," Mike Holmgren said. After all, the coach figured, Favre's practice week consisted of taking maybe six snaps in seven-on-seven drills Friday. And a big part of his game, the maneuverability, would simply not be there.

Favre himself was uncharacteristically nervous. Not only was this a game against the Bears, a game for first place in the Central Division, but it was a game in which he would have to excel as basically a stationary quarterback.

"The things that I do well - improvise, make things happen - I've never really had to play a game where I just had to sit in there and play a control game," Favre said. "Before the game, me and several players were saying that this was as nervous as we had been in years, probably dating back to college.

"It was such a big game, against the Bears, with first place up for grabs and I'd been hurt all week and didn't know if I was going to come back and play. It was kind of a buildup process."

After the doubt cleared, this is what remained: 25 completions in 33 attempts for 336 yards, with no interceptions and, of course, those five touchdowns.

Hey, maybe this will usher in a new-age Brett Favre, a moderate conservative fellow rarely straying from the pocket.

"I doubt it," Favre said with a smile.

"Sometimes today I tried to get out of there and I couldn't. My ankle just wouldn't let me. I got caught and Mike had that look on his face, like, 'What the hell you doin'?'"

Said Holmgren: "He tried that move that he's famous for, that 360 that just drives me crazy. It didn't work."

There were reasons for smiles Sunday, but earlier this had not been a joke. Holmgren described the injury as "ugly" and Favre acknowledged that "the tape job we had was almost like a cast."

"Nothing he does surprises me, good or bad," Holmgren said, with the tone of a teacher describing a gifted but sometimes troublesome student.

Favre thanked his offensive linemen, who in fact had protected their wounded quarterback fiercely, maybe even paternalistically, against the Bears' rush.

In the end, this was Brett Favre's finest hour in the green and gold uniform. Nobody ever questioned his heart. There have been occasional questions about his head. But when both of these parts are working simultaneously, it turns out that the combination is so good that the man can succeed on one good ankle.