The 1983 Green Bay Packers were an exciting and unpredictable team. They put points on the board at a very fast pace but often gave up points just as quickly. The team made the playoffs in 1982 but were struggling with inconsistency in an attempt to return to the postseason. They were fighting for their playoff lives entering their Week 15 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Today, we recall the record setting game by Jan Stenerud in what would be Bart Starr’s final win as coach of the Packers.
The Record Setting Game by Jan Stenerud in Bart Starr’s Last Win as Packers Coach: The Buildup
The Packers entered this game with a 7-7 record. The team alternated wins and losses, never being more than one game above or below .500 all season. They were coming off a 31-28 win over the Bears that evened their record for the season and kept them in both the NFC Central race and the wild card hunt.
The team was led by an explosive offense. Quarterback Lynn Dickey was closing in on being the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. He had an elite receiving corps led by future Hall of Famer James Loften, John Jefferson and tight end Paul Coffman.
The Bucs were struggling in a big way. They entered the game with a 2-12 mark. They had lost four straight and were shutout in two of those games. Head coach John McKay continued to make funny quips to the media to describe his team’s struggles.
A national television audience tuned in on Monday Night Football to see the Packers in a must-win game at the “Big Sombrero” in Tampa. The Packers entered the game as four-point road favorites. In their first meeting this season, the Packers scored a franchise record 49 points in the first half to beat the Bucs 55-14.
A Quick Start
The Bucs won the toss and elected to receive. The Green Bay defense stepped up and made a big play on the first drive of the game. Bucs quarterback Jack Thompson dropped back to pass on third down and was intercepted by Packers linebacker Randy Scott. Scott returned the ball to the Tampa Bay 24.
The Packers couldn’t move the ball and settled for a 35-yard field goal by Stenerud to lead 3-0. That was the Norwegian born kicker’s 335th career field goal, tying the NFL all-time record held by Hall of Famer George Blanda.
Those were the only points of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, the Bucs started to move the football for the first time. The key play was a 41-yard pass from Thompson to running back Adger Armstrong. The Bucs reached the Green Bay four, but the Packers defense held and Tampa Bay settled for a 22-yard field goal by Bill Capece. The game was tied 3-3.
That was the score at halftime as neither team could move the ball consistently. The moribund Bucs defense managed to step up and stifle the explosive Packers attack. Meanwhile, the Packers struggling defense kept the Bucs pop gun offense from moving the ball.
The Record Setting Game by Jan Stenerud in Bart Starr’s Last Win as Packers Coach: A Tight Second Half
The teams continued to struggle to score points in the second half. Late in the third quarter, Dickey finally got the Packers offense moving. Key plays in the drive were a 22-yard pass to running back Jessie Clark and a 24-yard pass to wideout Phil Epps. The Packers reached the Tampa Bay 3 but stalled there. Stenerud kicked a 32-yard field goal which gave him the record all to himself and gave the Packers a 6-3 lead with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
“I’m very happy about the record. I’ve been thinking about it for several weeks,” Stenerud told reporters after the game.
Early in the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay put together their most successful drive of the game. The running of Mel Carver and two clutch catches by Theo Bell set up a four-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Armstrong. But Capece missed the extra point, hitting the left upright. Tampa Bay led 9-6 but the missed PAT meant that the Packers needed just a field goal to tie instead of a touchdown. There was 7:33 left in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Dickey found Coffman for 25 yards to get near midfield. But one play later, Dickey was intercepted by safety Beasley Reece and the drive was over. The Bucs reached the Packers 17, but Capece missed a 35-yard field goal. The Packers were still within three points with 2:49 left in regulation time.
The Packers knew this was their last chance. Dickey mixed runs and passes to move the ball downfield. The biggest play was a 24-yard catch by Lofton, his only catch of the game. Running backs Gerry Ellis and Harlan Huckleby also caught key passes on the drive. It set up 23-yard field goal by Stenerud with just 31 seconds left on the clock that tied the game at 9-9.
“I was extremely nervous before the field goal to take the game into overtime,” Stenerud admitted. “I tried to block it out of my mind, but it was difficult.”
The game headed to overtime.
Win or Go Home
The Packers won the toss in overtime and took the football. Back then, overtime was sudden death and the first team to score would win.
Dickey again mixed runs and passes with Huckleby and Clark both running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield. Dickey found Coffman for 15 yards for a key first down early in the drive. Another big play was a 20-yard run around right end by Huckleby that got the ball to the Bucs 7.
On second down, Starr sent in Stenerud to try to end the game. The veteran calmly kicked a 23-yard field goal, and the Packers won 12-9.
“He’s a pro, a winner and a clutch performer,” Starr said of Stenrud. “He’s all the cliches I could stand here and conjure up. He can play here as long as he likes.”
The Record Setting Game by Jan Stenerud in Bart Starr’s Last Win as Packers Coach: The Aftermath
By kicking four field goals, Stenerud now had 338 for his career, three ahead of Blanda.
The Packers vaunted offense, which averaged nearly 27 points per game and finished fourth in the league in points scored, was held without a touchdown but still found a way to win.
“I struggled tonight to say the least. Nothing came easy, nothing was in sync,” Dickey said. This was the Packers fifth overtime game of 1983 which set a new NFL single-season record. The Packers went 2-3 in those five games.
“The bottom line is we’re still in it,” said a relieved Starr.
Dickey threw for 278 yards in this game which made him just the fifth player in NFL history to pass for 4,000 or more yards in a season. The others were Joe Namath, Brian Sipe, Dan Fouts and Bill Kenney.
Meanwhile, McKay made a hollow promise with one game left on the schedule. “We will not kick a field goal next week if we are on the two-yard line, the one-yard line. None! There will be no more kicked field goals by the Bucs this year no matter what the score is.” He didn’t keep that promise, although Capece was not their kicker the following week. The Bucs missed an extra point and the only field goal they tried.
The Packers went into Chicago needing a win to make the playoffs. They led 21-20 with three minutes to go but the Bears kicked the winning field goal with 10 seconds left and the Packers lost 23-21. Starr was criticized for not using his timeouts on Chicago’s final drive. Shortly after the game, the Packers informed Starr he would not be back as head coach. He was replaced by Forrest Gregg.
The Packers finished 1983 with an 8-8 record. Their inconsistency kept them from the playoffs. But in this game, they found a way to win, set some records and kept their playoff hopes alive for one more week. It would be the last win in Bart Starr’s stormy nine-year tenure as Packers coach.
Follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers
Click here for more great Packers coverage
Check out our YouTube channel here
