“I know in the past I’ve pulled players for turnovers, but he was a big part of the way we approached this game,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy sent Grant out on the field on the Packers’ third possession, and he contributed a 4-yard run to a drive that ended with Favre’s touchdown pass to Greg Jennings.

Then Grant really got going.

He broke runs of 7, 26 and 15 yards on Green Bay’s next drive, then scored the tying touchdown from the 1-yard line.

Grant did most of the heavy lifting on another Packers scoring drive just before halftime, then scored his second touchdown of the game from the Seattle 3.

He had 91 yards and two touchdowns at the break.

Grant nearly scored on a 42-yard run near the end of the third quarter, then finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

Russell said it wasn’t a surprise to see Grant come back and have a big game.

“He’s been a good football player for them,” Russell said. “We knew in the playoffs you had to come up and make some strong, solid tackles and we created a couple of fumbles early. We were excited about that, and then we let it get away from us. I don’t think we tackled very well at all — I didn’t tackle very well at all today.”

It was just the latest surprising performance by Grant, who got his chance in the Packers’ Oct. 29 game at Denver, and responded with 104 yards rushing in a Green Bay victory — the first of five 100-yard performances in the regular season.

Grant rushed for 929 yards between Week 8 and the end of the regular season. Only San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson had more, with 947.

“When he got the opportunity, he made the most of it,” Favre said. “It sure turned us from one-dimensional into something totally different.”

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