Packers holder Matt Hasselbeck congratulates Ryan Longwell (right) on his game-winning field goal.(AP)

When he was pressured, the 31-year-old Favre looked like his old -- or young -- self, scrambling away from blitzers, slipping tacklers and turning broken plays into big gains.

"Favre has been taking the slack," Packers receiver Antonio Freeman said. "He's still one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL."

After struggling most of the last two seasons with roster turnover and his own gunslinger mentality, Favre played the way he did during his three-year MVP run.

"He looked like he had his 21st birthday out there today," coach Mike Sherman said.

He's 31, plays like 21 and feels like he's ...

"Fifty-one," Favre said. "Nah. I feel like I could go another four quarters -- next week."

Actually, the Packers are off next Sunday and they feel good about going into the bye at 3-4.

"We've got a chance to make a push for the playoffs," safety LeRoy Butler said. "That would have been hard to do at 2-5."

Don't the 49ers know it.

"I can honestly say this is the best 2-5 team I've been around," receiver Terrell Owens said. "We're just coming up short and eventually it's going to turn around."

Favre barely outperformed San Francisco quarterback Jeff Garcia, who completed 27 of 42 passes for 336 yards and four TDs, giving him an NFL-best 19 TD passes.

Favre finished 20-of-27 for 266 yards and threw a 67-yard TD pass to Freeman, who had six catches for 116 yards, his first 100-yard receiving day in 14 games.

"We let Favre make a couple plays on the last couple drives, getting out of the pocket and doing some of those miraculous things," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said.

After Longwell's field goal, the 49ers' desperation drive ended when Scott McGarrahan tackled Charlie Garner at the Packers 28 after a 33-yard catch-and-run. The 49ers had scored TDs on each of their three previous second-half possessions.

"You would like to have a few more seconds, maybe one or two timeouts," Garcia said.

San Francisco fell for the second straight week despite erasing a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit behind Owens' two TD catches.

The Packers also ran for three scores, tripling their season total.

Ahman Green had his first two-TD game of his career, and Dorsey Levens' first TD of the year came on a 1-yard dive midway through the third quarter and gave Green Bay a 21-7 lead.

San Francisco responded with a 77-yard drive capped by Garcia's 23-yard TD toss to J.J. Stokes, who faked out rookie Tod McBride to get open. But Stokes made the mistake of doing a Lambeau Leap and he was shoved back onto the field by infuriated fans in the south end zone.

Garcia hit Owens with a 16-yard TD pass to tie it at 21 with 11:36 left. Owens broke tackles by Bernardo Harris and Darren Sharper.

Green broke a 21-21 tie on a 1-yard run with eight minutes remaining. Stuffed on a third-down dive, he lunged forward and finally got into the end zone on his third surge.

But Owens wasn't done, slipping four tackles on a 37-yard TD reception that tied it at 28 with 5:30 left.

Green's 2-yard run 51 seconds before halftime gave Green Bay a 14-7 lead. He set up his own score with a 20-yard run to the San Francisco 4 and a 7-yard run to the 2 after a false start by rookie left tackle Chad Clifton, making his first start as Favre's blindside protector.

Clifton joined right tackle Mark Tauscher, playing in place of injured right tackle Earl Dotson, to give the Packers rookie bookends on their offensive line.

"Chad," Favre said as he walked past Clifton in the locker room afterward. "Good job, man."

"That feels good," Clifton said. "From a future Hall of Famer? He had a great game."

And Clifton had something to do with that.

Notes

• The 49ers' running game was hampered by the absence of tight end Greg Clark, who missed the game with a neck injury. Defensive tackle Bryant Young (ribs) left in the third quarter.
• Favre is 7-1 in his career against the 49ers.
• Packers TE Ryan Wetnight pulled a hamstring.
• Favre moved into 11th place on the NFL career list with his 245th TD pass, breaking a tie with John Hadl.