GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – With his arm, his leadership and even his mouth, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck looked every bit as solid as the guy he used to back up.

Until the final play, that is.

Hasselbeck was 25-of-45 for 305 yards in his first playoff start, dueling with Green Bay’s Brett Favre into overtime. But the dramatic NFC wild-card game ended when Hasselbeck threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 33-27 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday.

“It was tough,” Hasselbeck said, still stunned in the interview room. “It would have been a lot better if we had won.”

Hasselbeck played the game of his life, but his only mistake was the difference. Facing third-and-11 at his 46 and reading an all-out blitz, he called an audible and threw for Alex Bannister near Seattle’s sideline.

Green Bay’s Al Harris stepped in front of the ball and returned it 52 yards for the winning points.

“I was in shock and he was going in slow motion,” Hasselbeck said. “He shouldn’t have been there, in my mind. He caught the ball and I didn’t get a good jump. I don’t know if it would have mattered.”

“He gambled and hit the jackpot,” Bannister added.

It was a tough way to go out on a day where Hasselbeck was otherwise fabulous. The fifth-year pro turned in a breakthrough performance, a coming-of-age for a quarterback who routinely was booed by Seattle fans after his arrival in 2001.

“Every time you play in a tough playoff game, you learn,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “This game today, I’m pretty sure it’s going to help him for the next time around.”

Hasselbeck, who threw for a team-record 3,841 yards this season, played behind Favre in Green Bay in 1999 and 2000. And on Sunday, Hasselbeck looked like he learned plenty from the Packers’ star.

“I’m not trying to be him,” Hasselbeck said. “I’m just trying to be myself, and I think that’s what he does. People enjoy him. He’s fun to be around. Above all, he plays football at a very high level.”

So does Hasselbeck.

Favre’s toughness and effectiveness in cold weather is already the stuff of lore, but Hasselbeck looked every bit as steady on a cloudy 20-degree day where the wind chill at kickoff was 7.

He even came out for warmups without sleeves on his arms. When he saw Favre wearing them, Hasselbeck couldn’t pass up ribbing his old buddy.

“He told me, ‘Yeah, I’m getting too old,”‘ Hasselbeck recalled. “Then Mike came in the locker room and said, ‘Hey, Hercules, put on some sleeves.’ That’s the first thing Brett said to me at the coin toss. It was, ‘What was that about the sleeves, tough guy?”‘

Hasselbeck helped the Seahawks erase a 13-6 halftime deficit by directing TD drives on Seattle’s first two possessions of the second half. Seattle led 20-13 late in the third quarter.

Favre rallied Green Bay to a 27-20 lead. Then, going against the wind, Hasselbeck led a seven-play, 67-yard drive that Shaun Alexander capped with his third TD run to tie it at 27 with only 51 seconds to play.

Hasselbeck completed 15 of 22 passes for 195 yards in the second half.

“I’m sure Matt will learn from today, and he didn’t play bad,” Favre said. “He played pretty damn good. The next time he’s in the playoffs, he will get better and better and better.”

The captains came out for the overtime coin flip, and Hasselbeck correctly called heads. When referee Bernie Kukar asked him what the Seahawks would choose, Hasselbeck had a Favre-like answer.

“We want the ball, and we’re going to score,” Hasselbeck said.

They didn’t do it on that possession, but the defense held and gave Hasselbeck another shot. He moved the Seahawks 6 yards before throwing the interception, the game’s only turnover.

“The D-line got a good rush. I’m just glad I made a good read,” Harris said. “I anticipated it, and I know the quarterback ain’t going to catch me.”

Hasselbeck said all week he wanted to play with emotion and have fun, unlike the caution he showed in Seattle’s 35-13 loss at Green Bay in October. He did both, but it wasn’t enough.

He was asked afterward to inventory his injuries.

“What hurts?” a writer wanted to know.

“Just my feelings,” Hasselbeck said.

AP-ES-01-04-04 1839EST