This storyline is decidedly about Favre

Brett Favre isn't going out on any limb about his future, preferring to focus on tonight's game. (Morry Gash/Associated Press)

GREEN BAY, Wis. - In the days before luxury suites and two-minute warnings, the Green Bay Packers were the NFL's defining team. They represented a working-class community and they competed with and defeated the big-city teams. And the Packers' postseason matchups against the New York Giants provided defining moments for the league as the teams slogged it out in the snow.

Times and franchise values have changed and the tundra is said to be thawing. But when the Packers (14-3) play host to the Giants (12-6) in the NFC Championship game tonight, the game will present reminders of the NFL's ice age.

The high temperature is expected to be about 5 degrees. That's colder than the 1961 NFL Championship game (21 degrees), when the Packers pasted the Giants (37-0), and even colder than the '62 final (13 degrees, 40-mile-per-hour winds), when the Packers edged the Giants (16-7) at Yankee Stadium, the last time the teams met in the postseason.

This might not be another Ice Bowl (played at minus-13 degrees), when the Packers defeated Dallas (21-17) at Lambeau Field in the 1967 NFL title game, but the frigid conditions are sure to characterize this contest.

"This game may not be as cold [as the Ice Bowl]," said Packers quarterback Brett Favre. "Hopefully, we make it as memorable."

Favre is a transcendent figure in Packer history, having guided them to their most recent Super Bowl title (1997), but old enough (born in 1969) to have been in touch with the decade that established the team's reputation. Favre has also led the Packers to 12 postseason wins, one shy of their total from 1936 until his arrival in 1992, and he has become so closely identified with the Packers he seems almost trapped in the role of savior.

"When will they say it's time to give it up?" Favre asked during the team's final press conference Friday. "Four and 12 [record], they said, you've got to come back. Thirteen and 3, you've got to come back. And that's a good thing. All those factors go into my decision-making.

"But I don't think that's ever really going to stop. I mean, I can't see people saying, 'OK, now you can go.' We win the Super Bowl, everyone says, 'You've got to come back, man, you guys have another chance.' You lose it, they say, 'You've got to come back.'

"It's nice to be in this position and situation right now. It's obviously a lot different than it was the past couple years, but it's not a bad thing for people to want you to come back and play or say they enjoy watching you play."

This could be Favre's final fling at Lambeau Field. And he is warming to the challenge.

"Mentally, this measures toughness and discipline more so than it would in 70 degrees," Favre said. "I'm very pleased with where we are, but I'm not content with the fact that we're here.

"I mean, it will be a great year regardless, one that we will remember for a long time. But I want to take this thing further. You know, I'm not going home doing cartwheels or anything like that thinking, my God, can you believe this? It's been great, it's been a fun ride, but we just don't want to be the feel-good story from this year."

Of course, this will be more of a feel-cold story for the losing team.

The home field should be an advantage for the Packers, who are 8-1 at Lambeau this season and have not lost there since Oct. 7 (27-20 to Chicago). But the Giants also have something of an away-field advantage - they are 9-0 on the road since a Sept. 9 defeat (45-35) at Dallas.

The Packers have established a credible rushing attack, thanks to Giants castoff Ryan Grant.

But the Giants are tailor-made for grind-it-out games with 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs, who missed the teams' Sept. 16 meeting (a 35-13 Green Bay win).

The Packers are the NFL's youngest team with an average age of 26 years, 89 days, and that figure would be nearly a year younger without Favre. But they also would not likely be a game away from the Super Bowl without him.

Favre's conundrum about returning for another season could be determined by tonight's outcome.

And the focus will clearly be on Favre.

The Giants led the league with 53 sacks and the Packers allowed Favre to be sacked only 15 times. The Packers' five-wide sets leave Favre exposed, but also place pressure on the secondary.

If Favre has a hot hand and the Packers protect him, he can go on to another Super Bowl, then make his peace with his followers.

"If I were a fan, heck, I'd want Brett Favre to win this game," the Giants' Michael Strahan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "But the problem is I'm playing in this game so I don't want Brett Favre to win this one."