The 50 Greatest Games of the Favre-Rodgers Era: #30-26

Today we’re wrapping up the first half of the games on our Greatest Games list. After these, you’ll likely have a pretty good idea of what’s remaining.

The march on toward number on continues. Here we go!

#30 to #25

30. San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers, 1996 (GB 23, SF 20 in OT)

Overall score: 7.09/10 (30/55)

Significance: 6.04/10 (31/55)

Entertainment value: 7.5/10 (32/55)

Intensity: 7.73/10 (15/55)

This was a hotly anticipated Monday Night Football contest in 1996. The Packers were coming off a shocking defeat of the 49ers in the 95-96 playoffs, and were looking like the best team in football. A tough back-and-forth contest featuring over 200 receiving yards by Don Beebe (in relief of Robert Brooks, who went down with a season-ending knee injury early) came down to overtime. Chris Jacke set an NFL overtime record with a 53-yard game winning field goal in a huge victory.

View full game here.

View highlights here.

29. Super Bowl XXXII (Denver 31, Green Bay 24)

Overall score: 7.10/10 (29/55)

Significance: 6.86/10 (21/55)

Entertainment value: 6.77/10 (46/55)

Intensity: 7.68/10 (20/55)

An incredibly painful loss, made only less painful by the championship won a year earlier. It’s a game voters don’t see much entertainment value in, but agree that it was quite significant for the franchise and a heck of an intense watch. The Packers had no answer for Terrell Davis, going so far as to let him score late in hopes of getting the ball back to win. In losing, the Packers snapped a lengthy streak of NFC dominance over the AFC and gave up one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets to that point in league history.

View full game here.

View highlights here.

28. Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers, 1997 (GB 45, DAL 17)

Overall score: 7.11/10 (28/55)

Significance: 6.87/10 (20/55)

Entertainment value: 7.87/10 (20/55)

Intensity: 6.58/10 (38/55)

This one is just pure catharsis, folks. For years, the Packers had to travel to Dallas, where they would get stomped back into the astroturf by the dynasty of the early 90s. Finally, though, the Packers were the superior team, and the Cowboys were forced to make a rare trip to Lambeau Field. The Packers beat up on the Cowboys with the intensity of a team that had been waiting years for this opportunity. 

View full game here.

View highlights here. 

27. Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys, 2017

Overall score: 7.12/10 (27/55)

Significance: 5.34/10 (42/55)

Entertainment value: 8.29/10 (15/55)

Intensity: 7.73/10 (16/55)

Returning to Dallas for the first time since shocking the Cowboys to end their season in the 2016-2017 divisional playoffs, the Packers were once again in a position where they needed to prove themselves against strong competition. The 2017 season had gotten off to a solid start, but looked like it was about to hit a snag when the Packers went down with 1:13 remaining in the fourth. Of course, Cowboy fans began celebrating too early, and the rest is history. Aaron Rodgers drove the team downfield and hit Davante Adams for a game-winning touchdown to once again stun the Dallas fans and keep the Packers unbeaten in AT&T Stadium. Unfortunately, Rodgers would go down the next game to a collarbone injury in a hit by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr, and the rest of the season was lost.

View highlights here.

26. Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals, 2015 Divisional Playoffs (ARZ 26, GB 20 in OT)

Overall score: 7.19 (26/55)

Significance: 5.81/10 (36/55)

Entertainment value: 8.02/10 (20/55)

Intensity: 7.73/10 (17/55)

The fact that the Packers were in this game with their receiving corps in the state it was is nothing short of a miracle. After a hot start to the 2015 season, the Packers were broken by the Denver Broncos and remained a shell of themselves until the start of the playoffs. After sneaking by Washington, the Packers came into the game in Arizona with players like Jeff Janis and Jared Abbrederis expected to lead the offensive charge. This was a Cardinals team many thought could get to the Super Bowl. Rodgers’ miracle heaves to Jeff Janis on the final drives will live on in Packer lore, even if the ultimate result was that the Packers would never get the ball in overtime, as Dom Capers’ defense got shredded by Larry Fitzgerald.

View full game here. 

View highlights here.

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CURRENT RANKINGS:

Honorable Mentions:

55. Denver at Green Bay, 2003

54. Seattle at Green Bay, 2012

53. Packers at Vikings, 1997

52. Packers at Broncos, 2007

51. Packers at Patriots, 1997

Countdown:

50. Detroit at Green Bay, 2011

49. Tennessee at Green Bay, 2020

48. Baltimore at Green Bay, 2001

47. Green Bay at Miami, 2014

46. Chicago at Green Bay, 2014

45. Atlanta at Green Bay, 1994

44. LA Raiders at Green Bay, 1993

43. Tampa Bay at Green Bay, 1999

42. Seattle at Green Bay, 2016

41. San Francisco at Green Bay, 2013-2014 Wild Card

40. Green Bay at Dallas, 2007

39. Minnesota at Green Bay, 1999

38. Green Bay at Chicago, 2021

37. New Orleans at Green Bay, 2011

36. Green Bay at Minnesota, 2019

35. Seattle at Green Bay, 2007 divisional playoffs

34. Minnesota at Green Bay, 2010

33. Detroit at Green Bay, 1994 wild card

32. Dallas at Green Bay, 2022

31. Green Bay at Arizona, 2021

30. San Francisco at Green Bay, 1996

29. Super Bowl XXXII

28. Dallas at Green Bay, 1997

27. Green Bay at Dallas, 2017

26. Green Bay at Arizona, 2015-2016 NFL Divisional Playoffs

METHODOLOGY:

• Fans had the opportunity to submit games they loved into a Google form
• The 55 most-mentioned games were chosen to be in this poll
• Fans voted in the poll, giving a 1-10 rating for each game in three categories:
  • SIGNIFICANCE: How important or significant is the game to the franchise?
  • ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: How entertaining do you find the game?
  • INTENSITY: How intense was the action or atmosphere for the game?
• With all votes in, I created averages in each of these categories for each games. Their overall ranking is the mean value of the averages for each of those categories using the formula: (SIG + ENT + INT)/3