Top 5 Green Bay Packers games are shared by their fans
The Green Bay Packers Board of Directors is the organization that serves as the owner of record for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. The Packers have been a publicly owned, non-profit corporation since August 18, 1923. The corporation currently has 363,491 stockholders, who collectively own 5,017,925 shares of stock after the last stock sale of 2011-2012. There have been five stock sales, in 1923, 1935, 1950, 1997, and 2011. Shares in 1923 sold for $5 apiece, while in 1997 they were sold at $200 each and in 2011, $250 each.
The shareholders chose the Top 5 games in the post Vince Lombardi era.
5. October 17, 1983 Green Bay 48 Washington 47
Drew Mitchell, ABC Sports:
On a chilly October night in 1983, Lambeau Field turned into an offensive wonderland. The Green Bay Packers (3-3) and Washington Redskins (5-1) lit up Monday Night Football that evening with the show's greatest scoring explosion ever. The teams combined for 95 points, 771 yards passing and 254 yards on the ground. And though they posted 10 fewer first downs than the Redskins' 33, coach Bart Starr's Packers held on for a 48-47 win.
Green Bay had the highest ranked defense in the NFL. Washington racked up 552 yards in total offense, with QB Joe Theisman throwing for 398 yards. Joe completed 27 of 39 passes and two TD's, but the Packers held on for the victory. Washington would lose only two games prior to the Super Bowl, both by one point.
The Packers were led by QB Lynn Dickey who tossed for 387 yards, and RB Eddie Lee Ivery also completed a
35 yard pass to TE Paul Coffman. The wild game had six lead changes, 11 TD's, two fumble recoveries for touchdowns and only one interception.
Bob Berghaus, Milwaukee Journal:
Washington Redskins RB John Riggins, who rushed for 98 yards despite missing part of the second half with a hip injury, gave a typical John Riggins' response to the wildness of the game.
"You eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you," Riggins said. "You have to break the other team's will to resist. Neither teams' will was broken tonight. It was like the old AFL - you get dizzy watching it."
4. January 4, 2004 Green Bay 33 Seattle 27 (OT)
The lead was never larger than a touchdown. Seattle was led by former Green Bay backup QB, Matt Hasselbeck. Matt passed for 305 yards. The Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander rushed for three short touchdown runs. Green Bay had Brett Favre at the controls and threw for 319 yards and three TD's.
Seattle tied the score at 27 with 51 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Green Bay mounted a drive that reached the Seattle 29, but K Ryan Longwell's field goad attempt was wide right. This forced overtime, and the famous coin toss.
Hasselbeck famously said "We want the ball, and we're gonna score!" Neither team was able to produce a first down on their initial drives in overtime. Following a Green Bay punt, the Seahawks moved the ball near midfield at their own 46. Matt's third down pass was intercepted by CB Al Harris. Al returned the pass 52 yards for a touchdown in an exciting, 33-27 overtime win for the Packers.
The Harris interception was the only turnover of the game.
3. December 22, 2003 Green Bay 41 Oakland 7
On the night his father died, Brett Favre addressed the Green Bay Packers in an emotional team meeting. He said he had no intention of leaving his football family, even at one of the lowest points in his life. Favre played his heavy heart out, inspiring his teammates to do great things. Many of Favre's throws were into coverage, but the Raiders' secondary allowed repeated catches -- seven of at least 20 yards.
"What he had to deal with today was unmeasurable," wide receiver Antonio Freeman said. "You can't put a price on what he did tonight. I don't know how he did it, but he did it in fine fashion."
Just 11 months ago, the Oakland Raiders were in Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The demise continued as the Raiders were crushed by the Packers on Monday Night Football, allowing 548 yards in total offense.
Green Bay controlled the game from the start. RB Ahman Green had 127 yards rushing on 24 carries. QB Brett Favre did as he pleased, consistently throwing into double coverage. His receivers seem to outmuscle Oakland defenders on every play. Brett threw 30 times with 22 completions, 399 yards passing and four TD's. His QB rating was 154.8.
The lone bright spot for Oakland on offense was WR Jerry Rice who caught 10 passes for 159 yards. Jerry's work couldn't offset the two interceptions and two lost fumbles that kept the Raiders' defense on the field for 37 minutes.
Somebody was watching Monday Night Football and affecting plays on the field. "Raider Nation" gave Brett a round of applause as he left the field in the fourth quarter with his wife to attend the funeral in Mississippi.
2. January 12, 2008 Green Bay 42 Seattle 20
The Seattle Seahawks returned to Lambeau Field in Green Bay for the first time since the 2004 playoffs. A one yard run by RB Shaun Alexander and an 11 yard TD pass from QB Matt Hasselbeck to WR Bobby Engram gave the Seahawks an early lead. Green Bay would hold Seattle to only 28 yards rushing in the blizzard like conditions.
ESPN:
Ryan Grant recovered from two fumbles that put the Packers down 14-0 after only four minutes. He set a team postseason record by running for 201 yards, and scored three times. After its early slips, Green Bay scored touchdowns on six straight possessions.
"I appreciate everyone sticking with it, staying with me," Grant said.
Ryan Grant became only only the seventh RB to rush for over 200 yards in a playoff game. Los Angeles Rams RB Eric Dickerson rushed for 248 yards in the 1985 playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys, which is the most alltime.
The second half had whiteout conditions in effect. The Packers scored on a Brett Favre to WR Brandon Jackson 13 yard pass in the third quarter, and held Seattle to just a field goal. Favre excelled in the snow with 19 completions in 23 attempts and no interceptions.
Brett Favre improved to 43-5 at Green Bay when the gametime temperature was 34 degrees or colder. It was 31 at kickoff. This was his last win as a member of the Green Bay Packers.
1. January 26, 1997 Green Bay 35 New England 21 Super Bowl XXXI
Will McDonough, Boston Globe:
This all changed Jan. 12, the morning of the AFC Championship game in Foxborough between the Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars.The next five hours would define the entire Parcells-Kraft relationship. When I arrived at 8:30, Parcells was ripping mad. He had seen a story in that morning's Boston Herald by Kevin Mannix, who wrote that he had learned an agreement between Parcells and Kraft gave the Patriots the right to deny Parcells permission to sign with another team unless New England received satisfactory compensation.
Super Bowl XXXI had changed before the opening kickoff. No longer was it Bill Parcells vs. Mike Holmgren or Drew Bledsoe vs. Brett Favre. It was much bigger than the game with Patriots' owner Bob Kraft vs. head coach, Bill Parcells.
Green Bay struck early in the first quarter with a 54 TD pass from QB Brett Favre to WR Andre Rison. In the next series, New England QB Drew Bledsoe was intercepted at his own 28 yard line. The Packers kicked a field goal for a 10-0 lead.
Patriots:
The Patriots answered with touchdowns on their next two possessions. Craig Newsome's pass interference penalty set up the first touchdown and a 44-yard completion from Bledsoe to Terry Glenn preceeding Ben Coates's touchdown gave New England its first and only lead. The 24 combined first quarter points were the most in Super Bowl history.
The Packers regained the lead just 56 seconds into the second quarter. A Brett Favre TD pass to WR Antonio Freeman covered 81 yards. A 31 yard Green Bay field goal by K Chris Jacke extended the lead to 10. Following a Mike Prior interception at the Green Bay 26 yard line, Favre marched the Packers 74 yards. Brett would run for a two yard TD just before halftime, making the score 27-14.
The third quarter was relatively quiet. New England cut into the Green Bay lead at 27-21, when RB Curtis Martin rushed for an 18 yard TD. The ensuing 99 yard kickoff return TD by Desmond Howard widened the lead. The Packers added a two point conversion on a toss from Brett Favre to TE Mark Chmura which made the score, 35-21.
There was no scoring in the fourth quarter. QB Drew Bledsoe was intercepted twice and New England did not cross midfield once. Green Bay DE Reggie White sacked Bledsoe three times on the day. Drew had a rough outing with 25 for 48 passing, 253 yards, two TD's and four interceptions. His QB rating was only 46.6
Green Bay moved the ball on the ground with RB Dorsey Levens rushing for 61 yards and Edgar Bennett adding another 40. QB Brett Favre had a solid game with 14 for 27 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His QB rating was 107.9.
Trailing by 14 points, New England punted with under four minutes to play, and Green Bay ran out the clock. It had been 29 years since the Packers had been the champions of the NFL. "Titletown" appears on the city seal, and the Super Bowl trophy was back where it belongs.
"Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi
Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.
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