In 1995, “the real Super Bowl” was going to be the Cowboys and 49ers in the NFC championship, as no AFC team could compete with either powerhouse. San Fransisco was the favorite to beat Dallas and, by default, win the Super Bowl. All the 49ers had to do was to beat the Packers, the Cinderella team that managed to make it to the divisional playoff game, and they would be in “the real Super Bowl.” I remember vividly watching with my extended family when, in the opening moments of the game, Craig Newsome returned a fumble 38 yards for a touchdown. All of a sudden, it seemed like the 49ers were not so unbeatable. Favre followed this with back-to-back touchdowns to Keith Jackson and Mark Chmura to put the Packers up 21-0, a lead that proved insurmountable to the 49ers, who would lose 27-17. Green Bay and San Francisco would go on to become strong playoff rivals in the 1990s.
The Packers faced them 5 postseasons in a row. Four times in a row, 1995 through 1998, the Packers ended the 49ers’ season in the playoffs. These were tough, hard physical games in which both teams played hard and with great passion. Adding to this rivalry for “King of the NFC,” was the coaching staff rivalry. Mike Holmgren was a disciple of Bill Walsh and George Seifert, and a former assistant coach and coordinator for the 49ers. When Holgren faced Seifert, and later Steve Mariucci, Holmgren was always fired up and determined to win. This rivalry included two other classic games.
The Mud Bowl
The first was the Divisional playoff game in 1996. This game was played in Candlestick Park in what was by half time, a torrential downpour. Mud stuck to and coated the players as they played, giving this game the nickname the “Mud Bowl.” Desmond Howard returned the first punt of the game for a touchdown and then on his next return brought the ball back to the 49ers five-yard-line. The Packer running back, Edgar Bennett, seemed to live for the muddy and sloppy conditions. Covered in mud, Bennett mercilessly pounded the 49ers defense for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Packers won 35-14 and from the stands of Candlestick, the well traveled Packers fans chanted “Dallas.”*
The Jerry Rice Fumble
The 1998 Packers, 49ers wild card playoffs game, would become the stuff of legend. Again, it was played in Candlestick. The Packers were down by 3, late in the fourth quarter, when Brett Favre led a 89-yard, 15-play touchdown drive to put the Packers up 27-23. With less than two minutes on the clock Steve Young led his team on the final drive of the game. After moving his team to the Green Bay 47 yard line, Young threw a pass to Jerry Rice. Rice caught the ball and started running when Packers LB Bernardo Harris stripped him. The fumble was immediately recovered by Green Bay. In a horrible officiating failure, the referees ruled Jerry Rice down by contact. Four plays later, Steve Young threw to Terrell Owens, who had already dropped four passes and fumbled. Owens was covered by a sea of Packers and Steve Young threw a perfect pass with a perfect catch as the clock expired, giving the 49ers a dramatic 30 – 27 victory. This game-winning play became known as “the Catch II” and can be seen here:
The blown call preceding it was the catalyst to that brought instant replay back in the NFL.
The Packers and 49ers would only meet in the playoffs one more time and that was in 2001. This was a one-sided beat down of the 49ers and became the end of their playoff rivalry. The 49ers have not gone to the playoffs since. Now the 49ers and Packers meet at Lambeau field, both teams with their seasons on the line. The team who loses is effectively eliminated from the playoff hunt and that won’t be the Packers. Go Pack Go!
* After the victory in the Mud Bowl, had Dallas beaten the Panthers as expected, the Packers would have hosted them at Lambeau for the NFC championship. This would have been a rematch of the previous NFC Championship but the Cowboys lost to the Panthers later that day.
