{image1} Give the Kansas City Chiefs a lot of credit for their 40-34 win in overtime Sunday, but good teams don't blow 17-point leads.

The Packers did just that at Lambeau Field. There's plenty of blame to go around. First, with the Pack leading 31-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Packers were called for 12 men on the field during a punt play.

Dante Hall returned the punt 32 yards to the Packers' 42-yard line, so the Chiefs declined the penalty. But, the penalty might have been a sign the Packers were starting to lose their focus, and it, plus the runback, certainly turned out to be previews of things to come.

Coach Mike Sherman bristled at the suggestion by a Green Bay reporter that the penalty might have signaled the start of a letdown. "The picture I saw was that Marco Rivera was about one step from leaving the field," Sherman said. "Yes, he did walk off the field. I want them to run off the field. I believe the Chiefs declined the penalty. Big story. Write that tomorrow."

The Chiefs ended up scoring to make it 31-21. On the next Green Bay series, Brett Favre's pass bounced off Donald Driver, into the hands of KC's Jerome Woods, who returned the interception 79 yards for a touchdown. Now, it was Green Bay 31, KC 28.

At the 5:45 mark, the Chiefs tied it at 31 on Morton Anderson's 34-yard field goal, but the Packers took the lead again on Ryan Longwell's 41-yard field goal.

But, the Packers could not stop the passing of the Chief's Trent Green, who drove KC close enough for another Anderson field goal that tied it with five seconds left in regulation play.

In OT, Priest Holmes, who had been held to 39 yards in regulation, took over and drove the Chiefs within what looked like easy range for a game-winning field goal by Anderson. Rod Walker thwarted that bid, however, by tipping Anderson's kick. The Packers had the ball with a chance to drive for the winning score.

But, Ahman Green, who had 139 yards rushing for the day, fumbled on the first Green Bay play. The Chiefs recovered, and Trent Green promptly hit Eddie Kennison on a 51-yard touchdown pass to end it.

Instead of putting the Chiefs away, first in the fourth quarter and later in overtime after the blocked field goal, the Packers had blown a 17-point lead.

The 70.407 fans in Lambeau, the Packers, even veteran Green Bay PR director Lee Remmel looked stunned. "I never thought I'd say this after all this time, but I can't believe it," Remmel said in the media interview room before Sherman and Favre made their appearances.

Both the coach and the quarterback praised the Chiefs, and said the Packers had done a lot of good things in the game. "Against a team like Kansas City, I don't know if you ever think you have the game in the bag," Favre said. "But, I definitely thought we were going to win. Give Kansas City the credit."

Ahman Green was a little less cliché when he admitted his fumble and the loss would bother him for a day or so. "It's a tough one to swallow, but as professionals we do have to swallow it and get ready to play a game next weekend," Green said.

You will never get any of the Packers to admit it, but their concentration slacked just a bit after they took a 17-point lead going into the last 15 minutes of the game. The penalty for 12 men on the field was a sign of that, even though that individual penalty itself played no significant role in the outcome.

Just a slight letdown against a team as explosive as Kansas City can have consequences. The Chiefs struck hard and forced the Packers into some physical errors that had even bigger consequences.

Good teams don't allow those things to happen. At least on Sunday, the Packers were not good enough to prevent them.

Holliday celebrates

Former Packer Vonnie Holliday, who now starts at defensive end for the Chiefs, celebrated the win. "I think this one might be the sweetest win of all," Holliday said.

"To come into Lambeau on a perfect Green Bay Packer day, football in Lambeau Field with Brett Favre and that offense. Those guys were clicking. Early on I was like, `Oh, here we go. These guys are looking real sharp right now.'

"Our guys kept fighting and fighting. Those guys called it luck. Good teams find a way to win. Coming into a very hostile situation here in Lambeau Field, coming out with a victory, it shows a lot about this football team we have here."

Players of the Game

Trent Green deserves the main honor for completing 27 of 45 passes for 400 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner to Kennison.

Give honorable mentions for the Chiefs to Kennison for his game winning catch, Morten Anderson for his game-tying field goal in regulation and Priest Holmes, who took over the KC offense in the overtime.

Special mention should go to former UW-La Crosse player and Thorp native Mike Maslowski, who recovered Ahman Green's fumble.

Favre deserves mention for the Packers after completing 25 of 36 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. His interception did hurt the Pack, however.

Plays of the Game

There were many big ones, but Ahman Green's fumble and Trent Green's game-winning TD pass get the top honors.

Goats of the Game

Ahman Green gained 139 yards rushing and 51 more receiving, and scored two touchdowns, but he has to get a set of horns for his crucial fumble. "It was one of the biggest plays of the game. It gave the ball back to Kansas City," Green said without giving any excuses.

Bhawoh Jue also gets a set for getting beat on the winning touchdown pass. Jue was filling in for cornerback Mike McKenzie, who went out with back spasms.

"He's a young player," Sherman said of Jue. "He's eating himself up right now, blaming himself for losing the game on that one play. But, there were a lot of plays that led to this loss, by a lot of people including me."

Next week

The Packers could easily be 3-5 before they return to Lambeau Field again on November 10. They play at St. Louis next Sunday, have a bye week and then play at Minnesota on November 2.

"I have great confidence in my football team," Sherman said. "It's sort of a cliché, but a football season is like a race. You fall down and get back up. You have surges. I believe our guys will pick themselves up and get faster. What counts is where you are at the end of the race."

Gregg Hoffmann writes On The Pack after every Packers' game and The State Sports Buzz on Thursdays, exclusively on OMC.