The Green Bay Packers earned a dramatic, last-minute road win on a touchdown pass from backup quarterback Anthony Dilweg to tight end Ed West to beat the Phoenix Cardinals 24-21. Dilweg replaced starter Don Majkowski who left with an injury in the second quarter. The win kept the Packers playoff hopes alive.
“Just call me ‘The Wizard,’” Dilweg said, playing off Majkowski’s nickname of “The Majik Man.” Then Dilweg added, “You want to come in when you have a chance to bring your team back.”
Anthony Dilweg Leads the Packers to a Last Second Win: The Leadup to the Game
The 1990 season wasn’t an easy one for Majkowski and the Packers. After the Pack surprised everybody by finishing 10-6 in 1989, expectations were high in Green Bay. But Majkowski held out for a new contract after his Pro Bowl season and missed the opening of the season before finally agreeing to a new deal in September.
The Packers entered this game with a 4-5 record and were just finding their groove, having won two of their last three games before traveling west to face the 2-7 Cardinals.
The Packers needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The team was getting more confident with Majkowski rounding into form. Their only loss in the last three games coming against the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers by just four points.
A Fast Start
The Packers got off to a very fast start when their two stars, Majkowski and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe connected on a long pass. The Pack received the opening kickoff and drove 81 yards on five plays. The touchdown came on a 54-yard pass to Sharpe which gave the Pack the early 7-0 lead. As was usually the case back then, Sharpe was the centerpiece of the Packers offense. He finished the game with 10 catches for 157 yards and this score.
The teams traded turnovers on the next two drives. First, Packers defensive back Jerry Holmes recovered a fumble by Cards receiver Roy Green and returned the ball to the Packers’ 47. But the Packers gave it back three plays later when safety Tim McDonald intercepted Majkowski at the Phoenix 27.
The Cardinals were driving late in the first quarter but safety Chuck Cecil intercepted quarterback Timm Rosenbach at the Green Bay six to snuff out the drive.
In the second quarter, the Packers added to the lead on a 21-yard field goal by Chris Jacke to make the score 10-0 Green Bay. The drive went 90 yards and took almost 10 minutes off the clock, but it stalled at the Cardinals three and the Pack had to settle for the field goal.
Anthony Dilweg Leads the Packers to a Last Second Win: Majik Gets Hurt
In the second quarter, Majkowski was knocked out of the game on a questionable hit by Freddie Joe Nunn. Majik was lost for the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff. Nunn was penalized on the play.
Late in the second quarter, the Cardinals cut the Packers lead to three on a 22-yard scoring pass from Rosenbach to wide receiver Ernie Jones. That’s where the score remained at the half.
The Cardinals Take the Lead
The Cardinals took command in the second half. It started when Dilweg led the Pack downfield until he threw an interception at the Cardinals 2-yard line. The Cards then drove 98 yards on eight plays to take the lead on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Green.
In the fourth quarter, Rosenbach found Jones for a second scoring play and suddenly, the 10-0 Packers lead had become a 21-10 deficit.
Anthony Dilweg Leads the Packers to a Last Second Win: Late Drama
The Packers didn’t quit. Dilweg engineered a 65-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter that culminated with a 15-yard touchdown pass to receiver Clarence Weathers. Dilweg scrambled 13 yards to convert on a 3rd-and-11 play and then ran six yards on 4th-and-3 to keep the drive alive. That made it a one-score game at 21-17 with 6:20 left in the game.
Then, it was the Packers defense that came up big. The Cardinals had a chance to control the ball and run out the clock. They faced a 4th-and-1 situation at the Packers 44. They handed the ball to Johnny Johnson who finished the game with 103 yards rushing on 15 carries, but the Packers defense stuffed him for a loss and the Pack took over with one more chance to win the game.
“I always go for it on fourth and inches,” Cardinals coach Joe Bugel said after the game. “You never second guess a call like that. If you don’t have guts, get out of the game.”
The Winning Drive
On the final drive, Dilweg got hot. He completed passes of 18, 16, and nine yards and got the Pack to the Phoenix one-yard line.
“They left some guys wide open,” Dilweg said after the game when asked about the winning drive. “I was surprised how easy it was. Maybe they were waiting for me to make a mistake.”
But he didn’t. The drive culminated on a one-yard touchdown toss to veteran tight end Ed West who held on despite some very tight coverage.
“We had a running play called, but there was 22 seconds left and we wouldn’t have had enough time left if we got stopped, so we changed it to a passing play,” Dilweg said after the game. “We faked left, went right and I saw our tight end. He did a nice job to get open.”
The Packers pulled off a 24-21 comeback win. Dilweg finished the game by completing 11-of-21 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
Anthony Dilweg Leads the Packers to a Last Second Win: The Aftermath
“The offense missed Don, but they rallied very, very well around Anthony,” head coach Lindy Infante said. “It was a great win. This gives us another little step to get us into the playoffs.”
A week later, the Pack would win again to improve to 6-5 but then they lost their final five games as Majkowski’s absence was too much to overcome.
This was the last great moment for Dilweg, whose grandfather, Lavvie Dilweg, played for the Packers in the 1920s and 30s.
Still, it was a magic moment that at the time and one of the highlights of a disappointing 1990 season in Green Bay.
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