Packers Playoff Defeats: Return to the Dance & Dumped Hard
- Tim Muma
- Dec 31, 2015
- 6 min read
After a pair of coaching changes and two years without a postseason trip, the Green Bay Packers would return to the playoffs in the 2001 season. Of course, as we're featuring the Packers Playoff Defeats, it was the first of a handful of tough playoffs losses for head coach Mike Sherman.
This was Sherman's second year running the team, and after a 9-7 finish to 2000, there was some optimism entering the new campaign.
Both the offense and defense would end the year 5th in points, giving Green Bay one of the more balanced teams in the NFL that year. They would finish 12-4 on the year, including a pair of wins over the Chicago Bears, and yet still failed to win the final NFC Central championship.
Despite the victories over Chicago, the Bears went 13-1 against the rest of the league to earn the 2 seed and a 1st round bye. That anomaly would hurt the Packers to a certain extent as it meant hitting the road in the divisional round if they won their opening postseason contest.
After some struggles, Brett Favre returned to MVP form with 32 TDs (2nd in NFL) and nearly 4,000 yards (3rd) while cutting down on his interceptions again. This despite the fact that Bill Schroeder led the team in yards (918) and Ahman Green had the most receptions (62).
Speaking of Green, he racked up almost 1,400 yards on the ground and proved to be a reliable weapon under Sherman with 11 total TDs that season. Even with his strong year, the Packers were ranked 21st in rushing overall.
On defense, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila led the way with 13.5 sacks on his way to a franchise-best 74.5 as a Packer. As a unit they wreaked havoc on the opposition and won a few games for the team over the course of the season.
The Packers would win 6 of their last 7 games to finish to enter the playoffs as the top Wild Card and 4th seed, meaning they would host a game in the opening round before facing one of the top seeds in Chicago or the St. Louis Rams.
This would lead to one of the more unfairly characterized playoff games during this run.
Wild Card Round - Getting Revenge on a Familiar Foe
Packers 25, 49ers 15
The San Francisco 49ers had an identical 12-4 record and brought the league's 3rd-highest scoring offense to Lambeau Field. Two of their 4 losses came to the Rams, who held the NFL's best record at 14-2, so San Fran was going to be a challenge to take down.
Of course, the last time Green Bay was in the playoffs, they were knocked out by the 49ers after Terrell Owens' late, game-winning catch. It was something fans surely didn't forget about, and I'm sure a few players had revenge on their minds.
To the surprise of many, San Francisco held a 7-6 halftime lead (thanks to a missed PAT) as Green Bay's offense had trouble finding a rhythm.
The Packers took the opening kick of the 2nd half and marched down the field, but they would stall out at the 49ers' 8 yard line. Ryan Longwell booted a short field goal, giving the Packers a 9-7 edge.
On their next possession, the Packers would go 81 yards in just 4 plays, highlighted by a 51-yard pass to Corey Bradford to the San Fran 19. On the next play, Favre found Bubba Franks for a touchdown (he led NFL tight ends in TDs).
Green Bay would fail on the 2-point conversion (a curious decision), but still lead 15-7 after 3 quarters.
San Fran then tied the game with 12:04 to play, but the Packers would get a field goal to reclaim the lead, then get an interception from Tyrone Williams on a deep pass into Green Bay territory to thwart the threat.
Starting at their own 7, the Packers would go 93 yards for a game-clinching TD. Favre would hit Antonio Freeman for 37 yards early in the drive, and Green capped it off with a 9-yard scamper as the Packers would advance with a 25-15 victory.
Divisional Round - One Forgettable Afternoon
Rams 45, Packers 17
Everyone loves to label this the "6 interception game" by Favre - and while that's technically accurate - it makes it sound like that was THE reason Green Bay lost. It was far from the truth.
First of all, the Rams were the far superior team. They were still "The Greatest Show on Turf" as the only team to score more than 500 points that season. Their defense had also allowed the 3rd-fewest yards in the NFL, another key reason they had a league-best 14-2 mark.
(You can actually watch 5 of the 6 INTs in the video at the bottom. It starts just before the 9-minute mark)
St. Louis was the clear favorite and it was going to take something special - and maybe some luck - to win in the dome. There was a reason Las Vegas had them as an 11-point favorite to win the game.
The Packers' opening drive was promising as two quick passes netted 30 yards to put the ball on the Rams' 39-yard line. Then Green was stopped for a loss of 3 yards on back-to-back plays before Favre was sacked on the 3rd-and-16 attempt.
On the second possession, Favre went to Schroeder on the right side. Schroeder was running a fly route, but Favre was anticipating him staying short. The result was an easy INT for Aeneas Williams and a 29-yard TD for a 7-0 lead.
So...interception number one was a clear miscommunication and not a reckless throw. And if we're guessing who was "wrong" between the two, I'd lean toward Schroeder.
On the Packers' next drive, Green would burst for 15 yards to the Rams' 40 yard line, but then he fumbled the ball. St. Louis would recover, again halting a promising move by the Packers.
Later in the 1st, Favre would hit Freeman for a 22-yard TD pass to even the score at 7, and suddenly, the Packers were feeling good.
Now down 14-7, Favre would throw his second pick on the day. This one was more of a force on his part and the defender made a nice play to snag the ball and return it inside the Packers' 10 yard line. That set up a 3rd Rams' TD, putting them ahead 21-7.
The teams would exchange field goals and head to the locker room looking at a 24-10 Rams' lead.
On the Packers' first drive of the 2nd half, the ultimate turning point may have occurred, and no one ever brings it up because they focus on the INTs.
Starting at their own 19, Green ran for 49 yards on the first play and Green Bay would get down to the Rams' 28-yard line. On 3rd-and-6, Freeman caught a pass and coughed up the football as Williams picked it up and raced 69 yards for a TD.
The touchdown was overturned as Williams was ruled down by contact, but Freeman's fumble meant the Packers came away with no points on the drive, one they could've finished to pull within 11 or 7 points early in the 3rd quarter.
Instead, Kurt Warner hit Torry Holt for a 50-yard strike down to the Packers' 7 before Marshall Faulk punched it in to give St. Louis a 31-10 lead. Down 3 touchdowns, on the road, to the best team in football - now you need a miracle.
Here's where my disdain for people's "memory" of the 6 interception game gets annoying. Down 21 points with one-and-half quarters to play, it was going to take a few risks and gambles to pull off the upset.
Dinking, dunking and playing it safe wasn't going to give them a win. It might have made his stats look better, but that's not the purpose of playing.
Anyway, his next interception was a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage which was returned to the house. Now it's 38-10 and 2 of the 3 interceptions weren't really his fault anyway. So down 28 now, yeah he's going to let it fly because it's the only chance you have.
On his next INT, Favre was going down for a sack in the 4th quarter and tried to flip it to Green - he tipped the ball with one hand and it was intercepted again. The 5th INT was a high throw that again went off Green's hands and into the arms of a defender...down 28 with 8 minutes to play.
And finally, his 6th interception came with about 5 minutes left and trailing 45-17. I'm not looking to excuse his role, but again - the way people characterize this game as being a Favre disaster film and the reason for Green Bay's loss - well it's terribly misguided in my view. The Rams would go on to play in their 2nd Super Bowl in 3 years. They would ultimately be upset by the upstart New England Patriots, who we now know would become one of the modern dynasties in the NFL.
As ugly and painful as this postseason loss was, there were far worse to come for a variety of different reasons.
**Once again - if you'd like to read more about the many unfortunate reasons the Packers have only reached 3 Super Bowls despite some great records, go to the Packers page for all the info. You can also click on one of the links below**
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