Every play will be under the microscope when the Green Bay Packers face off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC championship game Sunday. When the stakes are this high, it's easy to play the "what if" game and imagine how history could have bent if one particular moment had gone differently.
No game gives you just one of these moments, but some are more high profile than others. What if Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman had missed their blocks in the Ice Bowl? What if Brett Favre doesn't throw the interception in overtime? What if Brandon Bostick hadn't attempted to field an onside kick? Those are the easy ones, but there are other plays that may get lost in the shuffle.
The Packers have been to 10 title games in their history during the Super Bowl era (eight NFC title games and two NFL championships), and these are moments that may have been forgotten in time.
1966 season: The first goal-line moment
The 1966 NFL championship game, played Jan. 1, 1967, is obscured by the Ice Bowl that came the following year, but it's one of the greatest games in Packers history.
Bart Starr was electric with four touchdown passes at the Cotton Bowl, but the game came down to a goal-line stand. A pass interference penalty by Tom Brown placed the ball at the 2-yard line, and Dan Reeves gained one yard on the next snap.
But a false start sent Dallas backward, Reeves couldn't corral a second-down swing pass and Don Meredith's 4-yard pass to Pettis Norman was low, forcing him to his knees to catch the ball back at the 2-yard line.
The Ice Bowl's conclusion was an inverse of the previous year's finish. This time, it was the Packers holding on for dear life, and the Cowboys elected to pass.
Meredith rolled out on fourth and 2, but Dave Robinson blew by his blocker and began to wrap up the Cowboys quarterback. A pressured, desperation pass was picked off by Brown in the end zone, giving the Packers the NFL championship and ticket to the first Super Bowl with a 34-27 win.
Who knows what happens if Dallas ties the game? Does Dallas advance to face the Chiefs? Does Dallas become Titletown?
1967 season: A late arrival and a touchdown that wasn't
There isn't much terrain left in perhaps the most legendary game in NFL history, and everyone knows how the Ice Bowl ends. But one of the biggest plays happened in November, when Chuck Mercein decided to change his plans.
The fullback was cut by the Giants in November, and the Milwaukee native was about to sign with Washington when Vince Lombardi called Mercein. His car was already packed for the journey east, but he quickly changed his plans and joined the Packers instead.
Mercein wound up playing a huge role on the final drive. He ran for 7 yards to move the chains, and with receiver Boyd Dowler on the sideline with a concussion (Dowler had two touchdowns in the game), Mercein eluded linebacker David Edwards and gained 19 yards to the Cowboys 11.
Mercein took the next carry, running 8 yards to the 3-yard line.
The next play might have also been a fascinating what-if. Donny Anderson took the second-down handoff and thought he had scored, but officials ruled Anderson short. Members of the Cowboys later admitted they thought Anderson had scored.
"There wasn’t any doubt in my mind that I scored, because I was halfway across the goal line. But they didn’t give it to us," Anderson said. "I remember when I got up the official moved the ball back about 10 inches from the goal line. My waist was across the goal line. I said to myself, ‘How did he determine where I was?’ That’s what Lombardi said in the film (review) on Tuesday: ‘Well, it looked like they took one away from you there, kid.’ I kind of lived with that.”
Anderson still got the first down. He was stuffed on the next snap and slipped on second down, setting up third and goal with 16 seconds left. Bart Starr called timeout, conferred with Vince Lombardi, and then made history, using a play design that was intended for another give to Mercein. The Packers were out of timeouts and eschewed a field goal attempt that could have forced overtime.
1995 season: The other Brett Favre interception
Given everything that came after, it's easy to forget that the Packers had a fourth-quarter lead on Dallas in the NFC championship game one year earlier with a Super Bowl on the line.
But everything collapsed once the fourth began. Dallas was already on the Packers 32-yard line and punctuated a 13-play drive with an Emmitt Smith touchdown from 5 yards out that gave Dallas a 31-27 lead.
Then came a Favre interception that isn't remembered as starkly as the 2007 NFC title game miscue, but it was a biggie. On first and 10 from the Dallas 46 with 10 minutes left, Favre delivered a bullet up the right sideline right into the hands of Larry Brown, who returned the ball 28 yards to the Dallas 48. On the very next play, Troy Aikman found Michael Irvin for an absurd 36-yard catch that Irvin tipped to keep alive while colliding with Doug Evans. Dallas took a 38-27 lead one play later on a 16-yard Smith run, and the game had been turned on its head. The Cowboys won by that margin.
1996: The Tyrone Williams circus catch
It's easy to forget in a 30-13 blowout that this game was very much in doubt at halftime.
Carolina scored first on Howard Griffith's 3-yard touchdown run, and the Panthers led at the end of the first quarter by a 7-0 count.
Favre completed a touchdown pass to Dorsey Levens on the first play of the second quarter to knot the score, but a John Kasay field goal meant the Panthers still had a lead in the final minute of the first half.
A Brett Favre touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman gave Green Bay a 14-10 lead, but the Packers caught a break when Kerry Collins' lofted pass was intercepted by Tyrone Williams, who made a sensational one-handed snare over his shoulder that gave his team one last chance to get points. With 35 seconds still on the clock, starting at the Green Bay 38. Favre found Freeman for another 25 yards, and Chris Jacke's 31-yard field goal (with 14 seconds still on the clock, no less) suddenly gave Green Bay a 17-10 lead and the ball to start the second half. Jacke's field goal punctuated the opening drive of that half, as well, giving the Packers a 20-10 edge.
1997: Up for grabs in the first half
The mud bowl between the 49ers and Packers was a surprisingly bland game, with Green Bay taking a 13-3 lead at halftime and never truly being threatened. The 49ers had just kicked a field goal with less than a minute left in the first half, and Green Bay was able to get those points right back before the break. Marquez Pope completely mishandled a deep ball to Antonio Freeman, drawing a pass interference penalty and letting go in time for Freeman to catch the ball anyway, a 40-yard pickup that gave Green Bay a chance to kick a field goal with 3 seconds left. Ryan Longwell punched it through from 43 yards despite adverse weather conditions, tucked just inside the left upright.
Remarkably, San Francisco never snapped the ball from Green Bay territory in the second half. With the Packers up 16-3, San Francisco had no choice but to go for it on fourth and 10 from the 20 with 4 minutes left, and a Keith McKenzie sack set up a quick Packers score to make it 23-3. Chuck Levy returned the ensuing kickoff to the house to pull the 49ers within 23-10, but the game was effectively over.
2007: The fumble that could have changed everything
You remember Brett Favre's overtime interception, and perhaps even that Lawrence Tynes missed a 36-yard field goal in regulation to set up the extra session. But the Packers could have been in incredible shape were it not for a bounce of the ball.
With 2:30 left in a 20-20 game, Jon Ryan punted the ball from Green Bay's 17 to the Giants, and R.W. McQuarters was stripped of the ball by Tracy White. Jarrett Bush was in position to simply pick the ball up, but it squirted away when Michael Johnson of the Giants made a diving attempt to mash it away. Then, Brady Poppinga had a chance to corral it on the ground, but the ball kept bounding until New York's Domenik Hixon controlled it at the Green Bay 48-yard line.
That's a long way from game-winning points, but the Packers would have had 2:15, the 2-minute warning and one timeout to secure the winning points, skip overtime, and march onward to the Super Bowl.
2010: Rodgers makes a tackle
This one obviously went Green Bay's way in a 21-14 win, highlighted by B.J. Raji's pick-six of Caleb Hanie.
The obvious "What If" is what if Jay Cutler doesn't leave the game midway through with a torn meniscus, or if the team elects to go with Caleb Hanie under center instead of turning to Todd Collins for two miserable series?
But Aaron Rodgers may have made the biggest play of the game ... as a defender. A pass from the Chicago 6-yard line was intercepted by Brian Urlacher and returned for 39 yards. The only thing standing between him and a massive pick-6 was a diving tackle by Rodgers, who dove and knocked Urlacher on the knee to trip him up. Chicago eventually had to punt, and they remained without any points until the fourth quarter. Green Bay emerged from the miscue with its 14-0 lead intact, and though the Bears made things interesting in the end, they sure could have used the pick-6.
2014: No, not that play
Everyone knows of one particular play that could have clinched victory and instead gave Seattle a chance to take a late lead and eventually win in overtime. But there's a lot more to the infamous collapse in Seattle than Brandon Bostick's botched onside kick.
What about a play less than a minute later? Seattle had scored to take a 20-19 lead after Bostick's blunder, then went for a 2-point conversion. Russell Wilson threw an off-balance pop-up toward the end zone after getting flushed from the pocket. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who had two interceptions in the game, appeared to pause in the end zone and completely miss the toss until it was too late, and tight end Luke Willson was able to make a catch even though Clinton-Dix was in clear position to break up the play. There's no telling how the subsequent defensive series changes if Seattle only has a 1-point lead, but assuming Mason Crosby still kicks his field goal with time winding down that led to the overtime, the Packers would have still won if Clinton-Dix makes the seemingly routine play.
It may not have the same sizzle as the "no mas" interception return, the fake punt or the onside kick, but it was still crucial.
2016: Ripped away from Ripkowski
Perhaps even more than the Super Bowl Packers of 2010, this Packers team was fortunate to have gotten this far, starting the year 4-6 and then winning eight straight games, including a 34-31 thriller over the top-seeded Cowboys in the divisional round.
But Atlanta sliced and diced the Packers, taking a 24-0 lead at halftime and 31-0 edge overall before Green Bay made it a semi-respectable 44-21 outcome.
To pretend any one play could have tipped the scales is foolish, but Green Bay was on the verge of making it 10-7 when fullback Aaron Ripkowski was stripped by Jalen Collins on Green Bay's 10-yard line, and the ball trickled close to the end zone where the Falcons recovered for a touchback.
After the fumble, Atlanta marched quickly downfield with a series of chunk plays and scored to take a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter. It's naive to think the outcome swings differently if Ripkowski scores, but it certainly set the wrong tone for the Packers.
2019: What if the Seahawks cash in on first and goal at the 1?
San Francisco was simply a matchup nightmare and won easily against Green Bay in the NFC title game last year.
But what if the 49ers hadn't held on in the final game of the regular season? Seattle had a first and goal on the 49ers 1-yard line with 23 seconds left, but the Seahawks were unable to punch it in. A delay of game penalty cost five yards, and Russell Wilson's fourth-down pass to Jacob Hollister was stuffed just short of the goal line. If San Francisco loses that game, it dips to the No. 3 seed behind Green Bay and New Orleans, and then the Packers might very well be hosting this NFC title game. There are some sliding doors to consider; Minnesota upset New Orleans in the playoffs but would have faced San Francisco instead. If Minnesota wins that game (just as they did against the Saints), then the Packers play the Vikings instead of the Seahawks. But it would have at least given the Packers home-field advantage. Instead, Green Bay went to San Francisco and got crushed, 37-20.
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2021/01/21/green-bay-packers-what-if-moments-championship-games/4233214001/
2021-01-21 15:11:58Z
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