GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Mike Holmgren has never lost a playoff game at Lambeau Field. But this time he will have to beat the Green Bay Packers.
Three months after losing a regular season game here, Holmgren and the Seattle Seahawks return to face the Packers in an NFC wild card game on Sunday.
The only coach to succeed in the prodigious shadow of Vince Lombardi in Green Bay, Holmgren won a Super Bowl in 1996, took the Packers to another the following year and guided the franchise to six playoff appearances in his seven-year tenure.
All of those postseason appearances came with Brett Favre at quarterback. The three-time NFL Most Valuable Player is in the playoffs for the ninth time in his 12 years with Green Bay and has a postseason record of 10-7, but has lost four of his last five.
The most stunning one was the first home playoff loss in franchise history, a 27-7 defeat to the Atlanta Falcons last January in the wild card round.
Favre had been 35-0 at Lambeau Field when the game-time temperature was 34 degrees or less before that loss. The Packers were 13-0 all-time at home in the postseason, including an 11-0 mark at Lambeau Field.
Holmgren was around for six of those wins but left the Packers following the 1998 season to become coach-general manager of the Seahawks. But after just one postseason trip in his first four years in Seattle, Holmgren was forced to relinquish his GM duties.
Ironically, his worst trade benefited the Packers. In 2000, Holmgren shipped Ahman Green, who was known for fumbling too much, to Green Bay for cornerback Fred Vinson. Since then, Green has rushed for more than 1,100 yards each year and led the NFC in rushing with 1,883 yards this season. He capped off the year with a club-record 218 rushing yards in the Packers' season-ending 31-3 victory over Denver.
In the regular season meeting here between the teams on October 5, Green rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns and Favre threw for two scores to lead the Packers to a 35-13 victory.
That game also marked the return of Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes to Green Bay. Hasselbeck spent three seasons with the Packers as a backup to Favre before Holmgren acquired him in 2001. Rhodes was fired after an 8-8 season as Packers coach in 1999. He also served as defensive coordinator of the Packers in 1992 and 1993.
Rhodes' revamped defense in Seattle surrendered touchdowns on five straight possessions after the Packers failed to score on the opening drive. Green Bay finished with 336 total yards and 27 first downs.
Favre completed 19-of-25 passes for 185 yards, including touchdowns of 34 yards to Donald Driver and two yards to fullback William Henderson.
Hasselbeck threw for 225 yards with an interception while Shaun Alexander rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown for Seattle.
The Seahawks are looking to end the NFL's longest current playoff drought without a victory - their last postseason success was a 13-7 win over the Raiders in December 1984.
This is the first time Seattle has made the playoffs as a member of the NFC.
Mike Sherman took over as Packers coach in 2000 after Rhodes was fired and has a 1-2 record in the postseason.
