Brett Favre pulled out a far-from-perfect victory in what might have been his last game at Lambeau Field, rallying the Packers to a late field goal for a 9-7 win over the Vikings on Thursday night. Packers kicker Dave Rayner, who had missed two field goals earlier in the game, hit a 44-yarder with 1:34 remaining. It was the 36th game-winning comeback of Favre's career, and it came after Favre nearly threw the game away. The Packers (7-8) kept their faint playoff hopes alive.

After connecting on a long touchdown in the Metrodome last month, Brett Favre hoisted Donald Driver onto his shoulders and walked him up the sideline in a fireman's carry. But it was all fairly meaningless, because it seemed at the time neither team had a chance of sniffing the playoffs. Nearly six weeks later, the Giants have collapsed, plunging into a general sea of mediocrity in the middle of the NFC. So despite their matching 6-8 records, both the Vikings and Packers go into their game at Lambeau Field on Thursday night with an outside chance at earning a wild-card berth.

The Packers say they want Brett Favre back next season and are willing to do it as the $11 million rate he is already signed to. The question is whether Favre will want to play one more season. "Physically and from a confidence standpoint, it looks like, yeah, absolutely it looks like he can still play," said Ted Thompson, the Packers' general manager. "What happens if an injury forces you out?" Favre said Tuesday. "Or you're just one of the guys, if you can't make those throws, are you willing to deal with that?" The Packers will likely want a decision from him by March. "I think that's the appropriate thing to do ? give them a decision as soon as possible," Favre said.

Boston College is preparing to hire Packers offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski as head coach, a school official told The Associated Press on Monday. Jagodzinski has been offered the job and is expected to be introduced at a news conference on Wednesday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the move had not been officially announced.

The Green Bay Packers placed defensive end Mike Montgomery on injured reserve and re-signed wide receiver Chris Francies from its practice squad. Montgomery, the Packers' first of two choices during the sixth round of the 2005 NFL draft, sustained a knee injury during practice the week before the team's victory Week 14 at San Francisco. Francies, a rookie from Texas-El Paso, had spent seven weeks on the Green Bay roster before rejoining the practice squad last week, when the team acquired wide receiver Carlyle Holiday.

An 81-year-old woman has been charged with trying to extort $2 million from Bart Starr. Ruby Y. Young mailed a letter to Starr, 72, alleging a romantic encounter with him in 1960, prosecutors said. Starr, MVP of the first two Super Bowls with the Packers, denies knowing the woman, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed against Young in Birmingham, Ala.

The Packers' Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila looked frustrated at the swarm of reporters around his locker. Everyone had the same question Wednesday. Will the pass rush specialist's role be reduced in an effort to shake up the defense? "Why does everybody keep asking me that? What are you hearing?" he asked. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said that changes were coming to a squad that has lost three straight and is 4-8 this season, but was silent on just what he's planning.

Brett Favre's aching left ankle probably needs arthroscopic surgery to clean out bone spurs, and he's listening to Troy Aikman and John Elway for tips on dealing with the losing. So ratchet up the speculation whether he returns to Green Bay next season. "My left ankle probably needs it," he said Wednesday. "I have to kind of convince myself to do it. It's one of those, I'll say, 'I'll do it' and when the time comes, 'uh, I can wait.' But we'll see."