They called it the most important game played at Lambeau Field since the legendary Ice Bowl. On January 12, 1997, the Green Bay Packers won the NFC Championship Game and earned a trip to Super Bowl XXXI. Brett Favre threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns while running back Dorsey Levens gained 205 combined yards and scored a touchdown to lead the Packers to a 30-13 win over the Carolina Panthers. Today examine how the Packers beat the Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game.
How the Packers Beat the Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game: The Buildup
The two teams presented a contrast in the eyes of the public. The Packers were considered a favorite to win the Super Bowl before the 1996 season started. Favre led the team to the NFC Championship Game the previous year, but the Packers lost to the Dallas Cowboys. After dominating their first three games, the Packers rolled to a 13-3 mark in the regular season. They had the league’s top ranked offense and top ranked defense.
Meanwhile, the Panthers surprised everybody by reaching the NFC title game in only their second season of existence. Dom Capers led the Panthers to a 12-4 regular season record and a 26-17 win over the Cowboys in the NFC Divisional playoffs.
Lambeau Field had a rare electricity for this game. The Packers had an opportunity to return to the Super Bowl for the first time in 29 years with a win. They hadn’t reached those heights since Vince Lombardi retired as coach after Super Bowl II.
Falling Behind Early
Both teams felt the tension and neither team moved the ball on their first possession. But the Packers faltered the second time they got the football. The Packers started the drive at their own six-yard line. On second down, Favre looked for wide receiver Don Beebe, but linebacker Sam Mills intercepted the pass and returned it to the Green Bay 2.
One play later, Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins found running back Howard Griffith on a three-yard touchdown pass. The crowd was stunned as the Packers trailed 7-0.
But just as he did all season, return specialist Desmond Howard came up with a big play. The former Heisman Trophy winner returned the ensuring kickoff 49 yards to the Carolina 34. That not only gave the Packers great field position, but it also got the crowd right back into the game and muted the momentum the Panthers had by taking the early lead. Unfortunately, penalties stalled the drive which ended when Chris Jacke missed a 46-yard field goal try.
How the Packers Beat the Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game: Taking Control
The Packers offense kicked into gear on their next possession which started in the closing minutes of the first quarter. Levens led the charge both as a runner and a receiver. On 3rd-and-1, he ran off the right side for 35 yards to get the ball to the Carolina 29. Then, on the next play, Levens made an acrobatic catch in the end zone to tie the game 7-7.
“Dorsey Levens was unbelievable,” Beebe told reporters after the game. “That just goes to show the depth of talent on this team. Here’s a guy who doesn’t even start on this team and he comes away from this game with 200 yards of total offense.”
The Packers offense turned the ball over a second time on their next drive. Favre was sacked and hit hard, and he lost control of the ball. Lamar Lathan recovered the fumble, and Carolina took over at the Green Bay 47. The Packers defense stiffened at the Green Bay four and held the Panthers to a 22-yard field goal. Carolina led 10-7.
The Packers responded immediately. Favre led the team on a 16-play, 71-yard drive that chewed up nearly half of the second quarter. The drive established the Packers dominance. Only one play went for more than 10 yards, a 22-yard pass to Andre Rison. The rest of the plays were runs by Edgar Bennett and Levens and short passes. Favre found Antonion Freeman for a six-yard touchdown pass with just 48 seconds left in the half and the Packers were ahead 14-10.
“I remember that play,” Freeman said years later. “Their corner liked to jump on the first move. It was a post corner, and I sold the slant and it was wide open. I made Sports Illustrated on that one, the cover shot.”
A Key Turnover
The Panthers got the ball back at their own 27 with 42 seconds left in the half. They could have run a play or two and run out the clock, but they tried to be aggressive, and it backfired. Collins looked for Willie Green, but Packers cornerback Tyrone Williams intercepted the pass, and the Packers had the ball back at their own 38 with 35 seconds left.
Favre found Rison for 23 yards and Freeman for 25. That set up a 31-yard field goal which gave the Packers a 17-10 halftime lead.
How the Packers Beat the Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game: A Third Quarter Battle
The Packers received the second half kickoff and went on another lengthy drive. Key plays included a 29-yard pass to Beebe and a 19-yard strike from Favre to tight end Keith Jackson. Jacke connected on a 32-yard field goal to extend the Packers lead to 20-10.
But the Panthers responded on their next drive. Collins connected twice with Mark Carrier for 41 yards and that set up a field goal for Carolina. The Panthers were back to within one score at 20-13 with a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter.
The Packers responded quickly. It took only three plays for them to score. After a four-yard run by Bennett, Favre found Levens for a 66-yard gain to the Carolina four. Bennett ran for a touchdown on the next play and the lead was 27-13.
The Packers defense stepped up on the next drive. Big Gilbert Brown knocked the ball out of Anthony Johnson’s hands and LeRoy Butler recovered the fumble at the Carolina 47. The Packers ran the ball nine times on the ensuring drive and threw only one pass. It set up a 28-yard field goal by Jacke, and the Packers were head 30-13.
“It was our time,” said defensive end Reggie White. “We built up to it. Guys worked hard and dedicated themselves to it. Everybody in the organization deserves this, because they all worked hard to get here.”
Finishing Them Off
The Green Bay defense rose to the occasion. Both of the next two Carolina drives ended with big plays. The first possession ended when linebacker Wayne Simmons sacked Collins in Green Bay territory midway through the fourth quarter. Then, the next time the Panthers had the ball, Keith MacKenzie recorded a sack and then cornerback Craig Newsome intercepted Collins with 3:32 left in the game.
The rest of the game was a celebration at Lambeau Field. The Packers sent in backup quarterback Jim McMahon to run out the clock. Favre ran to the sidelines and jumped into the arms of “The Minister of Defense” in celebration. Green Bay never relinquished possession of the ball, Lambeau Field turned into party central. The Packers were heading back to the Super Bowl.
How the Packers Beat the Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game: The Aftermath
The Packers were thrilled to earn this win. “I think we’re a really good football team,” Favre said. “Everyone expected us to win this game today, including ourselves, and we did. I’m assuming everyone will pick us to win the Super Bowl. But anything can happen. We want to enjoy these two weeks and see what happens.”
Other players were happy to establish their own legacy so they could escape the shadow of the Lombardi dynasty. “It’s about 1997 right now,” Freeman said. “We’re here. This is real. It isn’t 30 years ago anymore.”
“I’ve been saying all year, and especially this week, that the only way we can get rid of all that talk is to win,” said defensive end, Sean Jones. “The difference between those teams [from the 1960s] and this one is that they’ve won championships and we haven’t done that yet. Until we’ve done that, we have no right to claim that. Until we’ve done some of the things that the great teams that have been here before us have, then we can’t speak in the same vein as those great teams. But we’re looking forward [to it].”
Even the Lombardi era players who were on hand were excited for the current team. “This means a lot to me,” Hall of Fame halfback Paul Hornung told reporters. “I just want them to win [and] I want them to win for their own sake. I want them to win so they can walk around here and hold their heads up and they’re the 1997 world champion Green Bay Packers and they don’t have to listen to all the stuff about the Lombardi era. We can bury a lot of that now.”
One week later, the Packers would bury it with a 35-21 win in the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots. But for the Packers, this game was special.
Packers president Bob Harlan recalled receiving the George Halas Trophy after the game. “I looked over at Ron [Wolf] and I said to him, ‘I feel like crying.’” Harlan recalled. “Ron told me, ‘So do I.’ It was as emotional a day as I’ve ever had in the stadium. It was tough to top that.”
“It was a very special moment in my NFL career,” Wolf later told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It was a marvelous thing, a very euphoric feeling, to be in Lambeau Field that day. We went on to win the Super Bowl, but for me that was the pinnacle.”
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