GREEN BAY, Wis. - Nate Kaeding still hasn't solved his kicking problems.

After missing a 40-yard field goal in overtime of a home playoff loss to the New York Jets, Kaeding missed three more field goals - all in the fourth quarter - and the Green Bay Packers defeated the San Diego Chargers 10-7 in the teams' preseason opener on Thursday night in wet, miserable conditions.

Ryan Longwell took advantage of Kaeding's woes by hitting a game-winning 53-yard kick with 33 seconds left just after Kaeding's final miss.

"This ain't a dome and this ain't San Diego to kick in," Longwell said. "You're not kicking in California. This is August, which is our good weather."

For Kaeding, it might not matter when or where he is. He spent the entire offseason knowing he missed the potential game-winner in the playoffs. Against the Packers, he missed wide left on a 45-yard attempt and wide right from 44 and 46 yards in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 7.

"I've set a difficult course for myself the next couple weeks," Kaeding said. "But I'm not one to back down from it, I guarantee you that."

The poor conditions plagued the Packers, too.

Excluding Brett Favre, who was 9-of-10 for 91 yards and touchdown, the offense fizzled, fumbling six times - including two in Green Bay territory in the fourth quarter that set up Kaeding's field goal attempts.

"He hits the ball so hard, which is fun to watch," Longwell said. "But when it comes to crunch time, you can never know which way the ball's going to go, especially in weather like that."

Green Bay finally overcame the turnovers when J.T. O'Sullivan completed 3 of 6 passes for 23 yards and scrambled for six more in an efficient two-minute drill to give Longwell a chance to make the kick, which sailed just over the crossbar.

Still, the misses cost the Chargers another game, and poor preseason play on both sides overshadowed the performances of Favre and Chargers backup quarterback Philip Rivers.

Favre, who trained extensively in the offseason and came into training camp noticeably thinner, used short, quick throws to pace the Packers during his 11/2 quarters.

On the team's opening drive of the second quarter, Favre went 7-for-8 with his longest toss a 23-yard touchdown to Donald Driver to make it 7-0.

"We don't want to get too excited," Favre said. "We still have a lot of work to do."

Favre, who only completed three passes on the evening of more than 10 yards, found Antonio Chatman for 8 yards on fourth-and-4 to set up Driver's catch two plays later.

Rivers, the first-round pick who held out of training camp last year and was relegated to the bench because of Drew Brees' resurgent play, was 12-of-17 for 97 yards and a touchdown.

He engineered a scoring drive on San Diego's first possession of the second half after a 22-yard run by Michael Turner brought the ball into Green Bay territory.

Rivers, who went 4-for-4 on the possession, found Willie Quinnie for a 34-yard touchdown reception down the middle of the field to tie the game at 7.

Rivers play easily upstaged Brees, last year's Comeback Player of the Year after throwing for 27 touchdowns to lead San Diego to the playoffs. Brees completed just 2 of 5 passes for 27 yards in the first quarter and was intercepted in the end zone.

After that, Rivers was in control, and nearly gave the Chargers a chance to score in the first half. But he couldn't spike the ball after an 11-yard scramble and the clock expired with Green Bay leading 7-0, and by the start of the second half, the rain switched from a steady drizzle to a soaking shower.