BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Quarterback Brett Favre has no illusions about the task ahead of the Green Bay Packers after they beat the Detroit Lions in their first-round playoff game.


"No one's going to give us a chance," Favre said.


He's right about that.


That's because the Packers will play Sunday in Irving, Texas, where they lost to the Cowboys, 42-31, on Thanksgiving Day. Sterling Sharpe caught four touchdown passes from Favre, but the Packers' defense gave up two touchdown passes to third-string Cowboys quarterback Jason Garrett.


In this weekend's other divisional playoff games, Cleveland takes on Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium, Chicago visits San Francisco and San Diego plays host to Miami.


On Sunday, Dallas will have quarterback Troy Aikman back from his knee injury, and Sharpe is out with a career-threatening neck injury.


The result is the odds makers are listing the Packers as 10-point underdogs. After all, they lost with Sharpe in a second-round playoff game in Dallas last year by 10 points, 27-17.


But Favre is a tough competitor who doesn't concede a thing. He played well Saturday even though he had been bothered with an obstruction in his intestine last week. He even brushed off the Thanksgiving Day loss.


"We went into Dallas earlier in this year, and in my opinion should have won the ball game. We played a great ball game. Our defense is playing better now. Our backs are against the wall, and we play great in those situations. We have nothing to lose," he said.


He's right about that: they have nothing to lose.


The conventional wisdom is that this is just a tune-up for the Cowboys before they play the San Francisco 49ers, who are 16-point favorites over the Chicago Bears on Saturday, in the NFC title game Jan. 15 in San Francisco. The 49ers will have the benefit of Richard Dent, who has resumed practicing after a four-month struggle to return from a serious knee injury and is expected to make his return in Saturday's NFC divisional playoff against his former Chicago teammates.


Favre ignores talk about how hopeless things look for Green Bay. He even said the team has rallied around Sharpe's absence.


"We had probably our best week of practice this year last week. Not to say that everyone's happy Sterling's gone. I think everyone rallied around it. We know how important he is to our team, but I think our receivers were excited about having a chance to play and stepping up and being the guy. Our defense took it upon themselves not to let the Sterling situation even bother us one bit,'' Favre said.


Cleveland also will be facing an uphill battle when it visits Pittsburgh. In fact the Browns haven't beaten the Steelers in their last three meetings.


To beat them Saturday and reach the AFC championship game for the fourth time in 10 years, the Browns know what they can't do -- and what they can't let Pittsburgh do.


"What the Steelers do is simple, but they've won 12 games with it," Browns defensive back Louis Riddick said. "They're going to run Barry Foster as much as they can. They go up top with a long pass when they get a (throwaway) down. They like to go to Eric Green. They want to hit Yancey Thigpen and Charles Johnson for big plays."


And, he might have added, the Steelers also want to disrupt and distract Browns quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who has a history of being tough to contain when he's on a roll, and of making mistakes when he's pressured.


Cleveland has lost in its last five trips to Three Rivers Stadium, the last four under Belichick. They rode a bus to Pittsburgh for all four of those losses.


So on Friday the Browns will fly to Pittsburgh, although it costs more and takes just as long once the transport time to and from the airport and hotel are taken into account. They'll also change hotels.


The Browns employed the same strategy during a 16-season losing streak in Pittsburgh from 1970 to 1985, constantly switching hotels and modes of transportation in a futile attempt to find a winning formula.


"I wish that's all there was to it," Belichick said. "But you don't beat them (by gimmicks). You don't beat them by wearing one black shoelace and one white shoelace. (Baltimore Sun, AP)