Packers all-time tournament: 1996 holds off 1995 in battle of familiar teams

You might say the teams which met in the first-round all-time Packers tournament matchup between the Nos. 3 and 14 seeds were quite familiar with each other.

After all, it pitted the 1996 Super Bowl champions against the 1995 team which made it to the NFC championship. The names across both rosters were very similar.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the game between the two was a low-scoring, knockdown, drag ‘em out affair which came down to late in the fourth quarter and the team that won the Super Bowl prevailed 16-10.

It didn’t look like a close game at the start, however. After a scoreless first quarter, the ’96 team got the only points of the first half on a Brett Favre (14-of-25, 215 yards) 34-yard touchdown pass to tight end Keith Jackson.

After a third quarter in which the ’96 team again scored all the points, this time on two Chris Jacke field goals, it appeared as though the only question would be is would the ’95 Packers be shut out?

The ’95 Packers did move the ball, though. Favre completed 20 of 27 passes, Robert Brooks had six catches for 92 yards and Edgar Bennett produced 102 yards on 22 rushes. But they couldn’t find the end zone; going 3-for-12 on third-down conversions certainly didn’t help.

LeRoy Butler got to do the Lambeau Leap, the 1995 version of himself picking off ’96 Favre early in the fourth quarter and running 20 yards for a touchdown. Just like that the ’95 Packers were within one score.

On their next possession, the ’96 Packers drove right down the field – a 33-yard completion to Antonio Freeman to the 12 the big play – but despite having first-and-goal from the 2, they had to settle for a Jacke 20-yard field goal.

The ’95 Packers also had a drive stall in the red zone with Jacke’s 31-yard boot making it 16-10 with 3:05 remaining.

Eschewing an onside kick proved to be a mistake. The ’96 Packers took over at their own 29 with 2:59 left and ran off the rest of the clock, getting three first downs before Favre took a knee to send their near dopplegangers home.

The third-seeded 1996 Packers will next face an ’07 Packers team which already knocked off one Super Bowl winner (No. 6 seed 2010).

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