The Green Bay Packers started off the 21st Century win a big win in a game full of milestones and regrets. Dorsey Levens ran for 146 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers trounced the Arizona Cardinals 49-24. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Packers to make the playoffs as their postseason chances ended when the Cowboys beat the Giants later that day to clinch the final Wild Card spot in the NFC. After the game, the Packers fired head coach Ray Rhodes after just one season running the team.
Dorsey Levens Helps Packers Win on a Day Full of Milestones: The Leadup to the Game
The 1999 Packers entered the game with a 7-8 record and had lost their last three games. Their playoff hopes were hanging by a thread. The Packers needed a win and to score as many points as possible to increase their chances of winning a playoff tiebreaker with the Carolina Panthers on net conference points. This was an attempt to salvage a very inconsistent season for the Packers.
“We played like crap at times during the year and now we have to leave our destiny in somebody else’s hands,” Levens said. “There’s really nobody to blame but ourselves. I guess you can say that there’s no sense of urgency throughout the season.”
The Packers hoped to play with urgency on this day and squeeze into the playoffs. There were also personal milestones as stake, with quarterback Brett Favre closing in on 4,000 passing yards for the season, Levens close to 1,000 yards rushing and wide receiver Bill Schroeder trying to become the team’s second 1,000-yard receiver this season alongside Antonio Freeman.
The Cardinals entered the game with a 6-9 record and had been eliminated from playoff contention.
A Slow First Half for the Packers
The teams traded punts on their opening possessions. Then, Favre found Freeman for a 46-yard pass play that got the Packers to the Arizona 23. Two plays later, Favre found Schroeder for a 10-yard touchdown pass and the Packers led 7-0.
The Cardinals answered early in the second quarter when former Packers kicker Chris Jacke booted a 23-yard field goal to cut the Green Bay lead to 7-3.
Packers cornerback Mike McKenzie picked off a Jake Plummer pass early in the second quarter to give the Packers the ball near midfield. McKenzie finished the game with two interceptions, nine total tackles and four passes broken up.
A 20-yard run by Favre set up another touchdown, this one on an eight-yard run by Levens. The Packers led 14-3 at the half. But the Packers needed to improve their point differential to give themselves a chance for the playoffs, so they needed to score more points.
Dorsey Levens Helps Packers Win on a Day Full of Milestones: A Desperate Race for the Playoffs
The Packers came out in the second half determined to put points on the board. They scored on their first three possessions of the second half. On their first drive of the second half, a 36-yard run by Levens was the key play on an 11-play, 84-yard drive that took 7:06 off the clock. Levens finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run for his second score of the game and a 21-3 Green Bay lead.
The Cardinals answered when Plummer found Frank Sanders on a six-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-10. But backup running back Basil Mitchell answered back, returning the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-10 Packers.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Packers extended their lead on a five-yard run by Levens, set up by a 23-yard strike from Favre to Schroeder. That made it 35-10.
Even though the Packers were comfortably ahead, they stuck with their hurry up offense to try to score more points. The results were a 32-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Schroeder and another one-yard run for Levens. The Packers won the game 49-24.
“Strange events today,” Favre said after the game. “It was fun. We’d love to be in a different situation where we closed it out three, four weeks ago, but we’re not.”
The Packers 49 points was their highest total since they scored 55 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 1983. They also had seven plays that gained 20 yards or more.
“We knew we had to score points,” Rhodes said.
The Aftermath and Fallout
Unfortunately for the Packers, the Cowboys defeated the Giants 26-18 to clinch the final wild card spot in the NFC. Both teams finished the season 8-8 but Dallas had beaten the Pack earlier in the season.
“We were playing two teams,” Schroeder said. “That makes it tough.”
“Pity we haven’t played like that the last three or four weeks,” defensive tackle Santana Dotson added. “That’s what you have to get across to everybody. When you play every game like it’s your last, then by the end of the season you’re in a much more jubilant locker room.”
After the game, GM Ron Wolf fired Rhodes after the team finished 8-8 in his only season as coach. “I’m very disappointed by what we got done this year,” Wolf said. “There’s no question that we underachieved. Regardless of how people want to accept that, that’s a fact…It was too little, too late today.”
“I think we showed a lot of character today,” Favre said. “I know a lot of people don’t want to hear that, but we could have easily packed it in and gave up. No one did that today. A lot of people showed up to play. That’s encouraging.”
While the individual milestones were reached, the team fell short because they didn’t get the help they needed.
The Packers hired Mike Sherman to take over as head coach before the next season. In 2000, they finished 9-7 but again missed the playoffs.
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