GREEN BAY — Wide receiver Donald Driver spent nine years with the Green Bay Packers trying to get to the Super Bowl.

Nobody on the team has been at it longer without the final reward. Quarterback Brett Favre and long snapper Rob Davis are the only two teammates who have been with the team longer and both have played in Super Bowls. Not Driver.

So, prior to the final regular-season game against Detroit, Driver talked to his fellow receivers about making it to the NFC Championship Game.

''I told my guys, 'You know, I've had opportunities to be in the Super Bowl and we always seem to lose the first or second round of the playoffs,' '' Driver said last week. '' 'All I'm going to ask you guys is to get me to the NFC Championship Game. After that, I know you guys can get me to the Super Bowl.' ''

As it turned out, it was Driver who did everything in his power to get the Packers to take the final step, though it wasn't enough in the 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Driver caught five passes for 141 yards and provided one of the few offensive highlights for the Packers with a 90-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter to give them a 7-6 lead. It was Driver's first touchdown catch since the third game against the San Diego Chargers.

''We didn't make a play,'' Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher said. ''We made one play all day. They kept the chains moving. We had no rhythm offensively. We didn't play our best game, but they earned it. They went out and decided they were going to take this game. We didn't do that.''

The Packers managed 264 total yards and were a dreadful 1-for-10 on third downs. The only conversion was a 20-yard completion to Driver on third-and-10 in the fourth quarter which eventually led to a field goal that tied the score at 20.

''We've been able to (sustain drives), for the most part, all year, so the first thing to do is give those guys credit,'' Favre said. "I think the fact we were not able to run the ball the way we have been in recent weeks ... it's difficult (to throw) because their pass rush is very good. If you're not running the ball very well, I don't want to say we played into their hands, but we played to the strength of their defense.''

The Packers rushed only 14 times for 28 yards, causing coach Mike McCarthy to admit, ''I was not really committed to the run game today.''

Part of that is the Giants' defense won the battle at the line of scrimmage and there were few holes for Packers running back Ryan Grant, who had 13 carries for 29 yards.

''It's always easier to call a bunch of runs when they're working a whole lot better,'' Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said.

The Packers' struggles on offense allowed the Giants to keep the ball for 40 minutes, 1 second, to 22:34 for Green Bay.

''Forty minutes is a long time,'' McCarthy said. ''Part of that's the third-down production on offense, you need to generate first downs. ... We were not very sharp.''

As a result, Driver will have to wait for his chance to make it to a Super Bowl. That's what hurt some players in the Packers' locker room the most — the veterans who missed out on this chance.

''It's slim that they'll make it again,'' cornerback Jarrett Bush said. ''It's slim for us (younger players) also to make it, but it's so slim for them to get to this point again. When we start thinking about it, you didn't just let yourself down but the veterans that helped you ... get to this point.''