Green Bay, WI -- (Sports Network) - Brett Favre threw for 173 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-23 passing, as the Green Bay Packers punched their ticket to the NFC Championship game by overcoming a 14-point first-quarter deficit to post a 42-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks at a snowy Lambeau Field.

Favre, who tied a career-best for postseason TD passes in a game, became the second quarterback in NFL history to reach 5,000 passing yards in the playoffs, joining four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana. Montana recorded 5,772 passing yards in 23 playoff contests.

Ryan Grant, who recovered from a pair of costly fumbles early in the opening quarter, rushed for a franchise playoff-record 201 yards and three scores on 27 carries for the Packers (14-3), who reached the conference title game for the first time since 1997.

Greg Jennings added six catches for 71 yards and a pair of TDs, and Brandon Jackson had a reception for a score.

"I can't say enough about the performance. That's the performance you're looking for," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said. "Our guys definitely stepped up. We talked about poise, composure, it was something we accomplished in the first 20 seconds of the game."

If Dallas wins in its contest against the New York Giants on Sunday, the Packers face the Cowboys in Irving, Texas on January 20. If the Giants win, the Packers host New York with a trip to Super Bowl XLII in the balance.

Matt Hasselbeck completed 19-of-33 passes for 194 yards and one score for the Seahawks (11-7), who ended the season with two losses in their last three games. They beat Washington in the wild card round last week, but haven't won a road playoff game since the 1983 season against Miami, their only one in franchise history.

Bobby Engram picked up six receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown, but Shaun Alexander was held to 20 rushing yards and one score on nine carries in defeat.

"It hurts, it always hurts unless you win the Super Bowl," said Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, who was at the helm of the Packers from 1992-98. "This one hurts, but I think our team battled all season long. I wish we had played better."

Engram's 11-yard catch put the Seahawks ahead by two touchdowns 4:01 into the contest, but the Packers began their comeback. The big play on the ensuing series came as Favre hit James Jones for 31 yards to get the Packers to the 20. He feathered a pass to Jennings two plays later and the wideout dove across the goal line for a 15-yard score and a 14-7 game.

After holding Seattle on its next drive, Green Bay embarked on a nine-play, 64-yard march. Grant finally atoned for his earlier miscues with a one-yard TD run, tying the game with a little more than a minute left in the first quarter.

Atari Bigby then forced a fumble by Seattle tight end Marcus Pollard, and Green Bay set up on the visitors' 18 after Aaron Kampman recovered in the pile of snow. Jennings later hauled in his second TD pass of the game, a two- yarder, for a 21-14 lead with 1:38 played in the second.

Josh Brown hit a 29-yard field goal to complete the Seahawks' following series, and it was a four-point Packers lead.

The offensive bonanza continued as the Packers went up 28-17 on Grant's three- yard touchdown run with 26 seconds left before the half. On the previous down, Favre deftly avoided a sack, stumbled, then, as he fell, hit Donald Lee with a shovel pass to gain 11 yards and a 1st-and-goal.

"I went wild, but I'm glad he completed it," McCarthy said. "It didn't start off with 'wow,' I can tell you that. He's a special player. He's clearly one of the all-time greats or the best to ever play the game."

Green Bay began the second half on a good note, driving 66 yards in only six plays to take a 35-17 advantage on Jackson's 13-yard catch-and-run.

As the snow intensity picked up, the Seahawks didn't have much trouble moving the ball, and got within 15 points when Brown booted a 27-yard field goal with under three minutes left in the third.

However, Grant picked up his third touchdown of the game on a one-yard run to cap the subsequent Packers drive and give them a 42-20 edge early in the fourth.

From there, Green Bay used the weather to its advantage to pressure Hasselbeck and shut off all rushing lanes to salt away the club's first playoff win since the 2003 season.

"This season in some ways has kind of been like this game," Favre said. "I would have never thought we would have had a bye, be 13-3 and all these great things happen. Getting down 14-0 today, I thought 'Oh boy' this ain't too good. Once again we overcame, we made plays when we needed to make them. We were resilient. Whatever you want to call it. How far that carries us remains to be seen, but when it comes to this point I think we have surprised a lot of people, including myself."

The game began on a sour note for the home team.

Leroy Hill punched the ball out of Grant's hands on the first play from scrimmage, then Lofu Tatupu scooped up the ball and ran to the one. Alexander rolled into the end zone on the next play for a 7-0 Seattle lead with just 20 seconds elapsed.

Grant had the ball stripped again two plays later, and Seattle gained possession at midfield. Six plays after that, Hasselbeck threaded the needle between two defenders to hit Engram for another TD.

"Anytime you fumble you're going to be frustrated about it," Grant said. "You don't want it to happen. We felt like we gave them 14 points. That's not something you want, playing from behind, but I appreciate everybody staying with it, staying with me, staying on track. That shows the composure of this team."

Game Notes:

This game marked the second time Holmgren faced his former team and quarterback in the playoffs. The first came on January 4, 2004, in an NFC wild card contest at Lambeau, when Green Bay topped Seattle, 33-27, in overtime on Al Harris' game-winning interception return...The Packers improved to 25-14 all-time in the postseason, and the Seahawks slipped to 7-10...Green Bay's 28 first-half points tied a franchise record set in January, 1983 against the St. Louis Cardinals, and the 42 total points broke a prior franchise record for most points in one playoff game set in that same contest...Seahawks special teamer Josh Scobey departed following the opening kickoff with a leg injury and did not return. Wideout Deion Branch left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return...Attendance was 72,168 -- the largest crowd in Lambeau history.