It’s hard to believe that this season will be the 25th anniversary of the Packers 1996 championship team. The Packers went 13-3 that season and defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI.
It was a special year for the Packers who won their first championship in 29 years.
Here are 10 things you may not know about that magical and memorable season in Packers history:
1. The Packers Finished First In Points Scored and Points Against
The Packers offense led the NFL in 1996 by scoring 456 points, an average of 28.5-points per game. The next highest team was the AFC Champion Patriots who had 418.
On defense, the Packers allowed 210 points, an average of 13.1-points per game. The next best scoring defense that year was Carolina with 218.
The 1996 Packers became the first team to lead the NFL in points scored and points allowed since the 1972 Miami Dolphins who remain the only team in the playoff era to finish a season with a loss or tie and win the Super Bowl.
2. The Packers Featured Five Pro Bowl Selections
Despite the Packers dominance that season, they had only five Pro Bowl selections. Brett Favre at quarterback, LeRoy Butler at safety, tight end Keith Jackson, defensive end Reggie White and center Frank Winters.
For Jackson, it was his final pro season and he went out with a Super Bowl title. Winters played 16 seasons in the NFL and it was his only Pro Bowl.
Return specialist Desmond Howard did not make the Pro Bowl because no return specialist was named to the Pro Bowl teams until the 2000 contest which was played after the 1999 season.
3. Favre Started the Season in Rehab, Ended with 2nd straight MVP
This was a dramatic season for Packers quarterback Brett Favre who was in his fifth season with the team. In May of 1996, he admitted his addiction to Vicodin and entered a rehab facility for 46 days.
He emerged in time for training camp and ended up leading the league with 39 touchdown passes. That ended up being his career high.
Favre finished the campaign by throwing for 3,899 yards and he won his second of three straight NFL MVP awards and earned All Pro honors as well.
4. Injuries Hit the Packers Hard that Season
The Packers were beset by injuries over the course of the season. Wide receiver was the position that was hardest hit with starter Robert Brooks being lost for the season in Week 7 with a knee injury. Antonio Freeman suffered a broken arm in Week 8 and tight end Mark Chmura also went down with an injury midseason.
The Packers turned to Don Beebe, Terry Mickens and Derrick Mayes before signing Andre Rison late in the year to supplement the receiving corps.
The Packers also lost starting middle linebacker George Koonce during the playoffs and he was replaced by former Bears MLB Ron Cox who started in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XXXI.
5. The Packers Were Perfect at Home
Green Bay was a perfect 8-0 at Lambeau Field during the 1996 season, outscoring opponents 252-101 in those eight games. That’s an average score of 31.5 to 12.6.
This was the first time the Packers had gone undefeated at home since 1962 the year the Packers finished 13-1 and Vince Lombardi won his second NFL championship.
6. The Defense Set a Record
The 1996 Packers defense doesn’t get all the respect it deserves in hindsight. The defense set a new NFL record for a 16-game season by giving up only 19 touchdowns in 16 games. Yes, that’s better than the 1985 Bears defense which gave up 22.
The Pack allowed only 12 touchdown passes and seven rushing touchdowns all season and allowed more than 20 points in a game only three times.
7. The Packers Did Not Have a 1,000-Yard Rusher or Receiver
Despite having the league’s top scoring offense and the league MVP at quarterback, the Packers offense did not feature a 1,000-yard rusher or receiver in 1996.
Edgar Bennett led the team in rushing with 899 yards in 222 carries while Dorsey Levens added another 566 yards on 121 attempts.
The fact that the Packers split the carries between these two talented backs was the biggest factor that prevented them from having a thousand yard rusher. The Packers also emphasized the short passing game more than the running game for most of the regular season. The Packers still finished 11th in the NFL in total rushing yards for the season.
Injuries were the biggest reason the Packers didn’t have a 1,000-yard receiver. Freeman came the closest with 933 yards in 12 games. Had he played a full season, Freeman would have almost certainly topped the 1,000 yard mark.
The Packers did have three receivers who topped 500 yards with Freeman, Beebe and Keith Jackson all exceeding that mark.
8. The Packers Romped Through the Postseason
Although it wasn’t always easy, the Packers won all three of their playoff games by decisive margins. The closest of their three playoff games was Super Bowl XXXI which they won by 14 points.
In their three postseason games, the Packers outscored their opponents by a combined total of 100-48.
9. Desmond Howard Was a Record Setter
Desmond Howard barely made the team out of training camp and didn’t clinch a roster spot until returning a punt for a touchdown in the preseason finale. But Howard was a big part of the Packers success in 1996.
The former Heisman Trophy winner out of Michigan set a new NFL record with 875 punt return yards in a season. The old mark was 692 yards which was set by Fulton Walker back in 1995.
Howard averaged 15.1-yards per punt return and returned three punts for touchdowns during the regular season. In the playoffs, he returned a punt for a touchdown in the mud against San Francisco and then scored on a 99-yard kickoff return in the Super Bowl to give the Packers their final touchdown of the game and clinch the victory.
He finished Super Bowl XXXI with 244 return yards and was named the MVP of the game. He is the first and only return specialist to be named a Super Bowl MVP.
10. The Packers Repeated…as NFC Champions
The Packers had another 13-3 season in 1997 and reached Super Bowl XXXII against Denver, only to fall to John Elway and the Broncos 31-24. After the game, GM Ron Wolf said, “We’re a one-year wonder, just a fart in the wind.”
While the 1990s Packers never became a dynasty like the Lombardi Era teams, they did provide the franchise with its first championship in 29 years and returned a title to Titletown.
You can follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers
Leave a Reply