This is a blog primarily dedicated to sports, but I will also talk about what is on my mind once in awhile. Also, two of my good friends, Paul and Alex, have an MLB blog. You guys should all go check it out at http://715sports.blogspot.com/
Green Bay was fighting for a playoff spot. Heading into the last game, it was simple. If the Packers win, they are in. If they lose, they are out. Green Bay was 9-6 and was fighting for a spot in the playoffs with the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Chicago, on the other hand, was 11-4 and had already wrapped up the NFC North and a first round bye. However, the Bears were going to go all out in an effort to keep the Packers out of the playoffs. As it turns out, this would be a preview of the NFC Championship game. It would be a close, defensive game, with the Packers coming out on top. The difference would be an Aaron Rodgers 1-yard pass to Donald Lee. Jay Cutler would be intercepted with less than 20 seconds left to punch Green Bay’s ticket to the playoffs. And anything can happen in the playoffs, as the Packers proved.
The Green and Gold had a gut-wrenching Monday Night Football loss week three at Soldier Field. The Packers dominated the game statistically, but had 18 penalties, including a pass interference to set up Chicago’s game-winning field goal. It would be a scoreless first quarter, but the Packers had their chances. On the first two possessions of the game for the Green and Gold, they moved into Chicago territory. On the first drive, they had to punt and on the second one, Donald Driver fumbled inside the Bears 40 and Chicago recovered.
Jay Cutler would heat up in the second quarter. He would lead his team to a field goal to take the 3-0 lead. He would go 5-of-6 on the drive for 65 yards. Three of those completions went to Rashied Davis for 35 yards, while the other two went to Matt Forte. However, after the Bears reached the Packers 4, the Green Bay defense stood tall and held Chicago to a field goal. On 3rd-and-Goal, Erik Walden sacked Cutler to force the field goal. The score would 3-0 at the half.
The Bears were primed to increase the lead early in the third quarter. The first drive would end up in Packers territory, but Cutler’s pass for Davis fell incomplete. But on the following play, Rodgers threw a pick to Charles Tillman and the Chicago defensive back returned it all the way to the Green Bay 15. After a holding on Chicago, the Bears gained one yard on the first two plays to set up a 3rd-and-19. That would set up a momentum-changing play for the Packers. Cutler threw a pass into the end zone for Johnny Knox, but it was intercepted by Charlie Peprah in the end zone for the touchback.
Tramon Williams would set up the Packers with a great punt return into Chicago territory late in the third quarter. Rodgers would connect with Greg Jennings down the right side for 33 yards to the 1. However, it was Chicago’s turn to make a defensive stand. The three plays would lose four yards and Green Bay would have to settle for a tie game.
Walden turned into a force in the game. In addition to the one he had earlier, he had two more on the following Chicago possession. He single-handedly would force the Bears into a 4th-and-25. Then Rodgers and Co. would give the Packers the lead.
Facing a 3rd-and-3, Rodgers threw a 21-yard pass to Driver to move into Bears territory at the 47. That was followed by a Rodgers pass to Jennings down the right sideline for 46 yards down to the 1. That set up the Lee touchdown and Green Bay had its first lead of the game.
Neither team would threaten again until the final drive of the game. The Bears would start on a 15-play drive that started on their own 2. Olsen and Forte had a big part in the drive and Chicago was driving with 20 seconds left to go at the Packers 32. But Cutler gonna Cutler. He threw an interception to Nick Collins to punch the Packers ticket into the playoffs.
Green Bay would make the most of its playoff ticket, as the Packers would win four straight away from Lambeau Field to win the Super Bowl. In that run, the Green and Gold would defeat Chicago again in the NFC Championship game.
If you were to mention the name Scott Starks to a Purdue fan, it might ruin their day. Starks has single-handedly killed the Purdue football program. Going into the 2004 matchup between Wisconsin and Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium, the No. 5 Boilermakers had one of the best offenses in the country. Purdue had scored at least 38 points in four of its first five games. The No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers, on the other hand, had only allowed three touchdowns total in their first six games of the year, and one of those was a punt return. With the game hanging in the balance, Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton would run a bootleg for the first down, but would be helicoptered and fumble. Starks picked it up for the Badgers and would race 40 yards for the touchdown to give the Badgers the 20-17 lead. Purdue’s Ben Jones would miss a potential game-tying field goal in the the final minute to seal the deal and give the Badgers a 7-0 start. It would also send Purdue’s football program into a tailspin that it has yet to recover from.
It was a less than exciting first half with only seven points being scored and even the touchdown was scored with just two minutes to go in the first half. Wisconsin would move the ball into Purdue territory on its opening drive, but would be forced to punt. The best drive by the Boilermakers in the first half would end in a Starks interception. Purdue would drive 40 yards in seven plays. Orton would throw for 54 yards on the drive (Purdue was whistled for 15 yards in penalties). But on the seventh play, Orton would be hit as he threw and the ball floated into the arms of Starks.
Wisconsin would go on back-to-back three-and-outs, but luckily for the Badgers, their defense would hold down the high-powered Boilermakers offense. With six minutes left in the first half, the Badgers would start a drive that would end with the first points of the day. Anthony Davis started off the drive with a 33-yard gain off right tackle to move Wisconsin into Purdue territory. The Badgers would convert two third downs on the drive, both on 14-yard completions from Stocco to a wide receiver named Brandon (White and Williams). The conversions moved the Badgers to the Boilermakers 8. Two plays later, Davis found a hole on the right side and would score from six yards out to score the first points of the night.
Purdue would try to respond at the end of the half. The Boilermakers would get a big kickoff return by Jerome Brooks of 66 yards down to the Wisconsin 32 with a minute and a half remaining in the first half. However, the threat went away as on the first play following the kickoff return, Wisconsin’s Jamal Cooper sacked Orton and forced him to fumble. Cooper also recovered the loose ball for the Badgers. The score would remain 7-0 the rest of the half.
Somebody woke up Purdue’s offense at halftime. After back-to-back punts, Purdue would start its second drive of the half at its own 18. The Boilermakers would drive the 82 yards in 11 plays. Purdue would use a mix of short passes and runs to drive down the field. Only one play of the 11 went for more than 10 yards. Orton went 4-of-5 on the drive for 30 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown pass came on an Orton pass to a wide open tight end Charles Davis on the left side of the end zone to tie the game up.
It would look like Wisconsin would answer right back. A pass from Stocco to Owen Daniels for 17 yards and a pass to Darrin Charles for 25 yards put the ball at the Boilermakers 34. The Badgers would pick up one more first down, but then would go backward. On 3rd-and-19 from the 32, Stocco threw over the middle and it was picked off by George Hall, who returned the ball 44 yards to the Badgers 36.
Purdue would pick up a first down by a penalty that would move the Boilermakers to the 21. However, the Badgers would hold the Boilermakers offense to a field goal by Jones and Purdue took the 10-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Badgers would go on a three-and-out and the Boilermakers would make it three consecutive drives with points. This would be a drive that was dominated by the running game for Purdue. Orton only threw one pass on the drive, and it was a 23-yard toss to Taylor Stubblefield to move to the Badgers 20. Brandon Jones would carry the ball six times on the nine play drive for 29 yards. On 2nd-and-Goal, Purdue thought it had the game won. Orton rolled to the right and tucked it and ran. He had all kinds of running room and could have moon walked his way into the end zone. The Badgers had not done much all half, so Wisconsin was basically left for dead after the Boilermakers took a 17-7 lead.
All of a sudden, something clicked for the Badgers offense. Wisconsin would just need a little more than two minutes to drive 73 yards to cut the deficit to 17-14. Stocco would go 6-for-7 for all 73 yards on the drive. Three of the six passes went to Brandon Williams for 44 yards. However, the touchdown was a pass to Booker Stanley from seven yards out. Stocco was looking into the end zone, but would drop it off to Stanley and he would run it the rest of the way for the score.
Purdue would get the ball at its own 17 with five and a half minutes remaining. Just a couple first downs would wrap up the game. The Boilermakers would face two third downs on the drive. On the first one, Orton would rush for five yards for a first down. Jerod Void would rush for seven yards in two plays to set up a 3rd-and-3. Wisconsin would take a timeout with 2:49 remaining. If Purdue were to pick up a first down, the game is pretty much over. That would set up one of the most remembered plays in Wisconsin history.
On the third down play, Orton would take the snap and roll out the right on the bootleg. He would run and pick up the first down with a yard to spare. However, instead of sliding to make sure he would not get hurt and/or turn the ball over. Orton would be helicoptered by a pair of Badgers defensive backs. It was Robert Brooks who tackled Orton down low and Starks up high. When up in the air, the ball was hanging in Orton’s right hand and would come loose before hit the ground. With the ball on the ground, Starks got up and picked up the loose football and raced 40 yards for the score. The extra point would be blocked by Bernard Pollard, so the Badgers would only be up by a field goal.
Purdue would have one more shot to tie the game up or win it. The Boilermakers would travel 62 yards in 16 plays. Orton would go 6-for-12 on the drive for 54 yards. Purdue would convert two third downs and a fourth down, but the drive would stall at the Wisconin 25 and Jones would come onto the field to kick a 42-yard field goal. The field goal was wide right and the Badgers would take a knee to end the game.
The Badgers would win two more games to start 9-0, but in the Purdue game, star defensive lineman Erasmus James was injured and would not play as well as he did prior to the injury. After the 9-0 start, Bucky lost his final three games of the season to finish 9-3. But the poor ending to the season does not take away from how great this ending was as it takes its rightful spot at No. 3 on this list.
Green Bay was 3-2 and coming off a mini-bye week after not having played in 10 days following a blowout win over Minnesota. Miami, on the other hand, was coming in after its bye at 2-2. The Dolphins showed that they could beat anybody on any given day in their opening win over New England. It also was still early enough in the season where the Florida heat could be a factor. In this matchup, Green Bay would score the final 10 points of the game and Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to a touchdown with three seconds left in the game to give the Packers the 27-24 win in Miami.
The Green and Gold would start out the game hot, driving 80 yards for the score to give the Packers the lead 7-0. Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson each caught a pair of passes on the drive, but Cobb caught the longest pass. Cobb’s reception of 28 yards set the ball at the Miami 9, which was proceeded by a Rodgers pass to Nelson for the score to put Green Bay on the board first.
Jarvis Landry would waste little time getting the Dolphins going, as he returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Green Bay 49. Miami would pick up one first down before Caleb Sturgis would kick a 48-yard field to cut the Packers lead to 7-3. It would stay that way until near the midway point of quarter No. 2.
On a 3rd-and-12 from the Dolphins 25, Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw a pass intended for Landry, but it was picked off by Casey Hayward at the Miami 46. That would lead to a Mason Crosby 43-yard field goal and the Packers regained the lead seven point lead. It would remain 10-3 the remainder of the first half.
The teams would trade punches to begin the second half. On the first drive, Miami would motor down the field and tie the game up. The score was on a Tannehill pass to Landry from 11 yards. The Dolphins quarterback put his team is position to score on the drive with a 40-yard run on the second play from scrimmage in the half. A pass interference on Davon House would move the Dolphins into the red zone, and the drive was capped off on a third down pass from Tannehill to Landry.
Green Bay would score its touchdown on a Rodgers pass to Cobb from five yards out to regain the lead. It was a 13-play drive that took eight minutes off the clock. On the score, Rodgers went back to pass and had great protection. He rolled out to the right and eluded a sack attempt and fired across the middle of the field to an open Cobb for the score to give the Packers the lead back, 17-10.
But Miami would come down and score twice to take the lead in the fourth quarter. First, it was Lamar Miller scoring from five yards out to tie it up. After a three-and-out by the Packers offense, the Dolphins blew down the field to take the lead. Miami just needed six plays to travel 79 yards for the score. Three of those plays went for at least 20 yards, all to different receivers. Tannehill would complete the drive on a pass to Mike Wallace of five yards and Miami had the lead 24-17.
With Miami’s offense on fire, you’d think Green Bay was in must-score mode on the following drive. The Packers would drive into the Dolphins red zone, but would be faced with a 4th-and-6. Green Bay decided to kick the field goal with Crosby, relying on the defense to get them the ball back despite having allowed a touchdown on back-to-back possessions.
After two first downs, Miami was forced to punt. Green Bay started with the ball at its own 40 with a little more than two minutes to play. Rodgers would convert a fourth down pass to Nelson for 18 yards down to the 30. With time running out and the Packers at the 16, With Green Bay playing in Miami, Rodgers pulled the ‘ol Dan Marino move. He fake spiked it and threw it to Adams, who ran for 12 yards and stepped out of bounds at the 4. On the next play, following a Miami timeout, Rodgers threw a pass into the end zone for a touchdown to Andrew Quarless with three seconds left to give the Packers the win in Miami.
Sometimes you only get one chance to make a name for yourself in athletics. If you are to mention the name Matt Schabert to any die-hard Wisconsin Badgers fan, one play will pop into your head. Schabert had a solid game two years before as a freshman against Michigan State, but he did not accomplish much at Wisconsin outside of one game. But that ‘one shining moment’ for him happened to be on national television and has turned out to be one of the most memorable plays in the history of Wisconsin football. Ohio State was the defending national champion and and were the proud owners of a 19-game winning streak. The Badgers were 5-1, with the loss being an embarrassing 23-5 home loss to UNLV the previous month. Ohio State was 5-0 and ranked No. 3 in the nation. However, three of those games were decided by one score, including a 44-38 home win in triple overtime over North Carolina State.
With Ohio State living dangerously in all of 2002, even in winning the championship, and keeping that trend through the first part of 2003, their luck was bound to run out at some point. Schabert got his chance in the third quarter to show what he could do after Ohio State linebacker Robert Reynolds choked Wisconsin’s starting quarterback Jim Sorgi, knocking him from the game. After Michael Jenkins caught a game-tying touchdown with six minutes to play, Schabert and Wisconsin made the play of the night. The backup quarterback would find star wide receiver Lee Evans down the right sideline for a 79-yard touchdown to give the Badgers a 17-10 lead and the eventual win to snap the Buckeyes 19-game winning streak.
It looked like it would start out well for the Badgers, as Wisconsin forced a three-and-out on the Buckeyes first drive of the game. The punt by future Green Bay Packers draft bust B.J. Sander would be returned by Jim Leonhard 26 yards to the Ohio State 44. Wisconsin would pick up one first down, but a run by Dwayne Smith for a loss and a penalty on the Badgers forced Bucky to punt on his first drive. It would remain scoreless at the end of the first quarter, but the Badgers were on the doorstep as the second quarter began.
The Badgers would go on a seven and a half minute drive to take the lead. Playing for the injured Anthony Davis, Booker Stanley would have a big game. He would rush for 38 of his 125 yards on the drive, and he scored from two yards out to give the Badgers the first lead of the game. The Badgers would convert three third downs on the drive, including the Stanley touchdown. On the last play of the first quarter, Sorgi fumbled, but fullback Matt Bernstein recovered for the Badgers to retain possession. On the following play, Stanley scored to put Bucky on top on the first play of the second quarter.
It would remain 7-0 until late in the second quarter. After a three-and-out was forced by the Wisconsin defense, Sander’s punt was muffed by Leonhard in the rain and Ohio State’s Jason Bond recovered the loose ball at the Badgers 18. Ohio State would get one first down and would move down to the 7, but the Badgers defense would hold and Mike Nugent’s 24-yard field goal was good to cut it to 7-3. It would remain that way the remainder of the half.
Wisconsin was looking at increasing the leading coming out of the half. Stanley rushed for 33 yards on two carries to open the drive. However, Sorgi would throw an interception to Dustin Fox at the Badgers 14 to end the threat. Sander would have booming punt after the Buckeyes drive ended and it was downed at the Badgers 1. Wisconsin would go three-and-out and Ohio State was expected to get terrific starting field position. Chris Gamble was back deep to receive the punt and Wisconsin’s R.J. Morse boomed it to the Ohio State return man, but Gamble would muff the punt and the Badgers would recover at the Buckeyes 39. That would set the stage for one of the signature moments in the game.
Stanley would gain 16 yards on the first two carries of the drive to move the ball to the 23, but would lose five on the next two. That would set up Wisconsin with a 3rd-and-15 from the 28. Sorgi would drop back to pass and not find a receiver open, so he took off and ran. He got what he could, down to the 20. When on the ground, Sorgi was being held down by a number of Ohio State defenders, including A.J. Hawk. Buckeyes linebacker Robert Reynolds would come in and and grab a hold of Sorgi’s neck and started choking him. Wisconsin center Donovan Raiola came in and started protecting his quarterback. There would be no flag on the play, but Reynolds was suspended for the following game for his actions. Sorgi would have a hard time breathing and was unable to speak. So obviously he would be unable to come back into the game. Enter backup Matt Schabert. But first, Mike Allen would kick a 38-yard field goal to put the Badgers in front 10-3. It would stay that way until midway through the fourth quarter.
Ohio State would tie it up with six minutes to go, ending a 75-yard drive. Senior wide receiver Drew Carter would only make three catches on the night, but two of them would come on this drive. He would lead off the drive with a 12-yard reception up to the Ohio State 37. After a third down reception by Jenkins, Craig Krenzel would go back to Carter. On the first down play, Krenzel aired it out down the right sideline for Carter, who would make a great catch down to the Badgers 6 for a 46-yard gain. Two plays later, Krenzel found Jenkins for the touchdown to tie the game up at 10.
At that point, most people expected the Buckeyes to come out on top. First of all, the momentum had shifted squarely to Ohio State. Wisconsin was playing with its backup quarterback and he would need to make a play in order for the Badgers to win since the Buckeyes would stack the box in order to stop the run. Wisconsin had not reached midfield in the two possessions with Schabert up to that point. Secondly, Ohio State was used to winning these types of games. For the last year and a half, the Buckeyes had made a living winning games like this. Nobody thought Wisconsin had a chance to win.
On the second play of the drive following the kickoff, the Badgers were faced with a 2nd-and-9 from their own 21. That is when the training wheels were taken off the backup quarterback. Bucky was in desperate need of somebody to make a play, and then would come on the following snap. Up to that point, Evans was shut out. Gamble had not allowed one catch to the Badgers star wide receiver. On the play of the game, Schabert went back to pass. The play was called 56 Jerk. It worked against Akron earlier in the season and Sorgi found Evans for a 99-yard score. On the outside, Evans ran an out and up against Gamble. Expecting the Badgers to play it safe and go for the short pass, Ohio State’s star cornerback bit hard on the out route. But Evans then ran right by him down the right sideline. Ohio State brought a blitz, but the Wisconsin offensive line picked it up well and Schabert had a clean pocket to throw it deep down the field to the wide open Evans. The receiver caught it at midfield and raced into the end zone for the 79-yard touchdown to give Wisconsin the 17-10 lead with 5:20 remaining in the game.
Ohio State would move into Wisconsin territory after two Krenzel passes for 21 yards and a 19-yard run. However, a holding penalty would push the Buckeyes back into their own territory, forcing them to punt. The punt by Sander was downed at the 6. The expectations were that the Ohio State defense would force a three-and-out and the offense would get great starting field position to begin its next drive. However, the Buckeyes would not get the ball back.
The Badgers took over at their own 6 after the Sander punt. The drive did not start well for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes were whistled for offsides to give Wisconsin five free yards. The first two carries by Stanley gained three yards and Ohio State used its final two timeouts. With the game on the line, offensive coordinator Brian White made an unexpected play call. The Ohio State defense was expecting another run by Stanley, but Schabert would make another huge play. Schabert faked it to Stanley and ran a bootleg to the left and gained five yards to pick up a huge first down with a little under three minutes left. Wisconsin could not take a knee and run out the clock quite yet, but Stanley would insert the dagger two plays later. On a 2nd-and-7 from the 22, Stanley received the handoff and went down the left sideline for 24 yards to seal the deal. Schabert would take a knee twice and the Badgers would come out with a huge win and end Ohio State’s 19-game winning streak. Schabert would also become a folk hero in Madison after this performance.
There is not much better than a redemption story. I touched on it a bit a few days back in a Wisconsin story, but Ryan Grant fumbled twice in his first three times getting the ball. He nearly single-handedly spotted Seattle a 14-0 first quarter lead. Despite the early 14-point hole he dug his team in, the Packers had plenty of time to catch up. After the early fumbles, Grant would rush for a Packers postseason record 201 yards and three touchdowns to help the Packers score a then-postseason record 42 points in a 42-20 victory over Seattle. Green Bay would score on six consecutive possessions in the snow and the Packers would never look back. And neither would Grant, who stuck with it and had a record performance despite his early troubles.
I mentioned that Grant had a tough beginning, and it started right away. Brett Favre threw a swing pass out to the running back on the first play of the game. Grant would slip and fall before getting up and having the ball punched out by Seattle’s LeRoy Hill. Lofa Tatupu picked it up and ran down to the Green Bay 1. Shaun Alexander would score on the very next play and the Seahawks had a great start, leading 7-0.
If that was not bad enough, Grant would put the ball on the ground once again on the next drive. After a solid return by Tramon Williams out to the 35, Grant had a run of eight to set up a second down and short. That would be when Grant would have a first down carry, but would be hit by Brian Russell and would fumble. Jordan Babineaux would recover the loose football at the Packers 49. Six plays later, Matt Hasselbeck would find Bobby Engram in the back of the end zone and the Seahawks had jumped out to an early 14-0 lead four minutes into the game.
The bad news? The home team had spotted the Seahawks 14 points to start the game. The good news? There was still 56 minutes left in the game and the Packers had one of the best offenses in the NFL. Once they actually held onto the ball, the Green and Gold went on a march to cut it to 14-7. On a 3rd-and-6 near midfield, Favre threw a 31-yard pass to James Jones to move the Packers down to the Seahawks 20. Two plays later, Favre lofted a pass for Greg Jennings, who came back for it and caught it and reached for the end zone for the 15-yard score to put Green Bay on the board and right back into the game. After this drive, people were thinking that if the Packers could just hold onto the football, there is no way this Seattle defense would stop them. And that is exactly what happened.
With the Green Bay offense able to give the defense a break, the defense was able to force the Seahawks into a three-and-out and the Packers were able to get nice field position once again at the 36. After the two lost fumbles at the beginning of the game, Grant made his presence known for the Packers in a positive way. After a Bubba Franks first down reception, Grant would carry the ball on five of the last six plays of the drive. He gained 49 yards on those five carries, and would blast his way into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown with 1:02 left in the first quarter. At this moment, fans thought the Packers had weathered the early storm and would end up winning comfortably.
On the first play of the second quarter, it was Seattle’s turn to be in a giving mood. On a second down play, Hasselbeck did a play action pass and dumped it off to tight end Marcus Pollard. The big tight end would only gain a yard to the 20 before getting drilled hard-hitting safety Atari Bigby and fumbling the ball. It was recovered by Green Bay’s Aaron Kampman at the 18 and the Packers were in business to take their first lead of the day. Three plays later, the Green and Gold did just that. On a 2nd-and-Goal from the 2, Favre lofted a perfect fade pass to the right corner of the end zone to Jennings for his second touchdown of the game and the Packers had their first lead of the game at 21-14.
It would look like Green Bay forced another three-and-out by Seattle, but on the punt, reserve running back Brandon Jackson was called for roughing Seattle’s punter Ryan Plackemeier. That would give the Seahawks a fresh set of the downs and they would take advantage. They would travel to the Green Bay 10 before having to settle for a Josh Brown field goal to cut it to 21-17.
However, the Packers would slam the door shut on the Seahawks on the next drive. Green Bay would convert two third downs on their way to a touchdown to give Green Bay a 28-17 lead at halftime. Facing a 3rd-and-8 at the 14, Favre used some of his magic to give the Green and Gold a first down. On the play, Seattle brought the blitz and Favre spun away and stumbled and just as he was about to go down, he underhand tossed it to Donald Lee, and he rumbled for a first down at the 3. At that moment, everyone thought that there was no way Seattle was going to win the football game. On the next play, Grant crashed in from three yards out and the Packers had an 11-point lead heading to halftime.
The lead would just get bigger after halftime. The Packers forced a three-and-out on Seattle’s opening drive to start the second half and Green Bay’s offense went back to work. Back-to-back 24-yard plays by Jennings and Grant moved the ball to the Seahawks 12. Two plays later, Jackson wold redeem himself after his penalty earlier. He would catch a screen pass and followed his blocking on the way to a 13-yard touchdown and it was 35-17.
After a Seattle field goal to cut it to 35-20, the Packers would close out the scoring in the 42-20 win. Toward the end of the third quarter, Green Bay closed the door on Seattle. Facing a 3rd-and-3 from the 42, Favre ran a stretch play to Grant, who found the edge and ran down the left sideline for 43 yards before being caught from behind at the Seahawks 15. Four plays later, Grant was in again and the Packers took a 42-20 lead and that would be the final score.
The Packers would lose the following week to New York in the NFC Championship game, but nothing would take away from the great season for the Packers that year.
John Stocco was a terrific three-year starting quarterback for the Badgers, but he will always be remembered for one play. It was Sept. 24, 2005, and Wisconsin was playing No. 14 Michigan. It was Barry Alvarez’s last season as Wisconsin’s coach and he had not won against the Wolverines since 1994, a six-game losing streak. Even when the Badgers went to Rose Bowls following the 1998 and 1999 seasons, Wisconsin lost one Big Ten game in each season......and both were to Michigan. In the last time they met at Camp Randall Stadium in 2001, Michigan won on a last-second field goal after a Wolverines punt hit Wisconsin’s Brett Bell in the leg and Michigan recovered. In this game, Stocco would score on one of the most memorable plays in the history of Wisconsin football. His quarterback draw for the touchdown with 24 seconds left gave Wisconsin a thrilling 23-20 victory over the Wolverines and end the losing streak to Michigan.
Late in the year, Wisconsin would have a long, non-scoring drive of 98 yards in the win over Auburn in its bowl game. In this game, Michigan almost matched that. Starting at its own 5, the Wolverines had a 94-yard drive that ended on the Wisconsin 1 when Kevin Grady was stuffed on 4th-and-Goal. Of the 94 yards, Max Martin rushed for 37 yards and Chad Henne threw for 38, but the drive would end at the Wisconsin 1. The game would remain scoreless at the end of the first quarter.
Michigan would go onto score on three consecutive drives in the second quarter. After an incompletion on first down, Henne threw to Mario Manningham for 24 yards down to the Wisconsin 35 on the first full drive of the second quarter for the Wolverines. That would lead to a Garrett Rivas 44-yard field goal to give Michigan the 3-0 lead.
Wisconsin would go three-and-out on the following possession and the Wolverines would add to the lead. Henne would have a great drive, going 4-for-5 for 57 yards and a touchdown. It was a 9-play drive, going 71 yards, ending with a Henne pass to Jason Avant from four yards out and the Wolverines took a 10-0 lead with four and a half minutes to go in the half.
Bucky would be in desperate need of a score to put the Badgers on the scoreboard at the end of the half. The Badgers went on an 11-play drive in which Stocco completed passes to four different receivers. Stocco went 4-for-8 on for 53 yards on the drive, but he would throw three consecutive incompletions to end the possession and Taylor Mehlhaff kicked a 35-yard field goal to put Wisconsin on the board.
However, the Wolverines would zoom down the field to give Michigan a 13-3 lead at halftime. Martin would rush twice for 22 yards and Henne went 2-for-4 for 33 yards on the drive. However, the Wisconsin defense stood tall and forced a field goal after the Wolverines moved inside the Badgers 10.
Wisconsin’s offense would come alive in the second half. After a Michigan punt to begin the second half, the Badgers would go 37 yards in 11 plays to cut the deficit back down to seven. Calhoun would have 25 total yards on the drive to help set up Mehlhaff’s 43-yard field goal to make it a 13-6 game. That would start a string of possessions where the Badgers would score on three of four drives.
Michigan would drive and knock on Wisconsin’s territorial door, but the Badgers would hold and force a Wolverines punt. Calhoun would dominate the next drive once again, as he would have 52 combined yards, but the Badgers would have to settle for a 27-yard field goal to cut it to 13-9. That would end the 15-play, 64-yard drive. However, Wisconsin would need to punch it in the end zone when it gets that close. Settling for field goals would not work out against the Wolverines.
The score would not remain 13-9 for long. After a poor kick return by Steve Breaston, who only made it out to the 8, the Wolverines would make their first major mistake of the night. Martin would have a first down on a run up to the 23, but Dontez Sanders would force a fumble and Mark Zalewski recovered for the Badgers. Michigan was also whistled for a personal foul after the play, which would put the ball on the 12 to start the drive. The possession would last just two plays with Calhoun getting the ball both times. After a rush of five on first down, he would get the handoff on second down and would find the edge and dive to the pylon for the score to give Wisconsin its first lead of the night. Calhoun would have a terrific game, rushing for 155 yards and the touchdown. He also was the leading receiver for the Badgers, catching seven passes for 59 yards.
The momentum would stay with the Badgers on the following drive. On the second play of the Michigan series, Henne threw a pass to the left side intended for Avant that was picked off by Johnny White. However, following a holding penalty, Stocco gave it right back. Stocco threw a short pass that was picked up by Grant Mason at the Michigan 39.
It did not take long for the Wolverines to take advantage of the turnover. After back-to-back 6-yard runs, the Wolverines had the ball at the Badgers 49. That would be when Michigan would take the lead back. On the first down play, Henne handed the ball to Grady, who then pitched it back to Henne for the flea flicker. Henne launched a pass to an open Manningham, who got behind the defense for a 49-yard scoring play and the Wolverines led 20-16 with 9:03 to play.
Wisconsin would have an important drive on the next possession, despite having to punt. DeBauche’s punt was downed at the 3. The Badgers defense would force a three-and-out and Michigan would punt from deep in its own territory, After the punt, Wisconsin would take over on its own 48 with 4:20 remaining.
Calhoun would play a big role in Wisconsin’s final drive. The Badgers would go on an 11-play drive to gain those 52 yards. Wisconsin would convert three third downs on its final drive, thanks to Calhoun and Stocco. The star running back would combine for 38 yards rushing and receiving on the 52-yard scoring march, but he would play the role of decoy on the game-winning play. After a pair of Stocco incompletions, Bucky was faced with a 3rd-and-Goal from the 5. Everybody from the fans to the Michigan defense expected the ball to be in No. 2‘s hands. But offensive coordinator Paul Chryst had other ideas. On the third down play, Stocco went back to pass and much to the surprise of the Michigan defenders, Calhoun played the role of lead blocker. Stocco tucked it and ran, following his blocking and he would crash his way into the end zone on the quarterback draw to give the Badgers a 23-20 lead with 24 seconds remaining.
Michigan would have one more chance to tie it up. After starting at its own 20, the Wolverines would move to their own 44 on a 24-yard completion from Henne to Avant. But that was as far as they would get. After an incompletion on first down, Michigan was whistled for a holding penalty, which pushed Michigan back to the 34. On the final play of the game, Henne dropped back to pass preparing to throw the Hail Mary. However, the Michigan quarterback slipped and fell and Wisconsin would have its first signature win of 2005.
Green Bay was coming in off a 6-10 season in 2008, but felt like it was a better team that its record would indicate. Of the 10 losses, only three of those were by more than one score and two of those were the first two losses of the season. After starting out 5-5, the Packers would lose their next five before winning against Detroit to finish the season. Aaron Rodgers, playing in his first season as the starting quarterback, had a solid year where he threw for more than 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. Bigger things were expected in 2009 and many were expecting Green Bay would make the playoffs. The 2009 season started on Sunday Night Football with the Packers hosting their rivals to the South. With the Packers trailing by two late, Rodgers connected with Greg Jennings for a 50-yard touchdown with 1:11 left for the game-winning score.
This game also marked the beginning of a new era in Chicago Bears football, as Jay Cutler would make his debut. In the offseason, Chicago acquired Cutler in exchange for two first round draft picks, a third and quarterback Kyle Orton. Cutler did Cutler things on his second possession as the new Bears quarterback. On a first down from the Green Bay 31, Cutler rolled to the right and fired across his body to the middle of the field. The awful decision predictably resulted in an interception by Nick Collins, who would returned it to the Packers 43.
The game would remain scoreless until the second quarter. Green Bay would travel 43 yards in nine plays and Mason Crosby would kick a 52-yard field goal to put the Packers on the board first. Ryan Grant would rush for 24 yards to put the Green and Gold in Crosby field goal range.
Cutler was being Cutler again on the following drive as well. After a 68-yard pass to Johnny Knox moved the Bears down to the Packers 8, Cutler tried to throw a screen to Matt Forte, but defensive lineman Johnny Jolly picked it off to stop Chicago’s drive. But three plays later, Rodgers was sacked by Danieal Manning in the end zone for the safety and Chicago cut the Packers lead to 3-2.
Cutler is the gift that keeps on giving. On the drive following the safety, Cutler rolled out to the right on third down. He once again threw late across his body over the middle. This time it was Tramon Williams who picked it off. Williams would weave his way all the way down to the Chicago 1 for a 67-yard return. That was Cutler’s third interception of the first half. Grant would punch it from a yard out to give the Packers the 10-2 lead. It would remain 10-2 for the remainder of the half.
Once Cutler stopped giving the ball away, Chicago started to put drives together and points on the scoreboard. The Bears would travel 79 yards in 10 plays to cut the deficit back to one. Cutler threw for 61 yards on the drive and the touchdown. After he ran a quarterback sneak to pick up a yard on 4th-and-1 to keep the drive going, Cutler would throw a beautiful pass to Devin Hester down the right sideline for a 36-yard touchdown.
After a Packers punt, Cutler stayed red hot. On the drive of eight plays, Cutler threw for 38 yards to move into field goal range. He was sacked for a loss of nine on a 2nd-and-13 from the 21 and the Bears would have to settle for a Robbie Gould 47-yard field goal to give the Bears their first lead of the game. It would remain 12-10 Chicago until the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, the teams traded field goals. First, on a 4th-and-11, Chicago tried to catch Green Bay with 12 men on the field and run it with Garrett Wolfe and he was stopped after a gain of four. Chicago challenged that the Packers did have 12 men on the field and it was upheld, so the Bears gave the ball to the Green and Gold at the Bears 30. The Packers would move nine yards in three plays and Crosby booted through a 39-yard field goal to give Green Bay a 13-12 advantage.
However, Chicago would answer back. Cutler would throw for 51 yards on a 14-play drive that went 69 yards. The Bears would convert three third downs on the drive to set it up for a short Gould field goal to give the Bears the 15-13 lead.
But the Packers still had Rodgers, who would announce his name to the world with one pass. Green Bay was facing a 3rd-and-1 at midfield with 1:18 remaining. It was a power formation with Jennings being the only wide receiver in the game. Chicago was expecting run and Rodgers went back to pass and was under pressure. But he was able to loft it to Jennings, who burned Nathan Vasher on the play and he would catch it and jog into the end zone for the 50-yard score with 1:11 left. The two-point conversion to Jennings was also successful, and the Packers took a 21-15 lead.
Chicago had one chance left, but Cutler gonna Cutler. He threw it over the middle and was intercepted by Al Harris, who returned it to the Chicago 14. That was Smokin’ Jay’s fourth and final pick of the game and the Packers would go to 1-0.
It’s the axe game, ‘nuff said! Because of this game, I doubt poor Justin Kucek will ever have to buy a beer in Madison again. Wisconsin was licking its wounds after giving up an incredible 674 yards of total offense and 51 points in a 51-48 loss the previous week in Evanston, while the Gophers were riding high and coming off their first win over Michigan since 1986 to bring the Little Brown Jug back to Minneapolis. Minnesota was trying to win the axe back after losing it in 2004, but would have to do it without starting quarterback Bryan Cupito. Backup Tony Mortensen made his first start, but the Gophers still had the deadly running back duo of Laurence Maroney and Gary Russell. After a slow start to the game, the Badgers and Gophers had a track meet in the second half. With Wisconsin down 10 late in the game, Bucky came back with two late touchdowns in the final minutes to stun Minnesota. Kucek, Minnesota’s punter, would become a well-known figure in the Wisconsin/Minnesota rivalry. In one of the wildest endings you’ll ever see, the Badgers blocked Kucek’s punt and recovered it with 30 seconds left to defeat their archrival and retain the axe.
Like I said earlier, the game started slowly. The score would be 10-10 at the half. Every time the Badgers would score, Minnesota would come right back to tie the game up. Wisconsin scored first on a 1-yard run by Brian Calhoun with less than a minute to play in the first quarter. The 68-yard touchdown drive was highlighted by a 38-yard pass from John Stocco to Jonathan Orr and a 21-yard pass from Stocco to Brandon Williams on a 3rd-and-14 to move into the red zone to set up the touchdown run by Calhoun.
Minnesota would tie it up on the next possession. The Gophers would score on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mortensen to Matt Spaeth. Mortensen was 3-for-3 for 32 yards on that drive, including throwing his first ever touchdown pass to tie the game up early in the second quarter.
The teams traded field goals the remainder of the half and the game was tied at 10 heading into halftime. After a snoozefest in the first half, the fireworks would come early and often in the second half.
After Minnesota stuffed Calhoun on a 3rd-and-1 on the opening drive of the second half, the Gophers took over on their own 6 after a Ken DeBauche punt. The first play of the drive was a Maroney run for a yard. The second play was a Maroney run to the house. On the long touchdown run, Mortensen pitched it to the right, but Maroney cut it back to the left and found all kinds of running room. He was able to elude a tackle attempt near the 25 and went untouched the rest of the way down the left sideline for the 93-yard touchdown run to give Minnesota its first lead of the game.
The Gophers would add to the lead minutes later on a 49-yard field goal by Jason Giannini. Minnesota would start with good field position on the drive after a 22-yard punt return by Logan Payne to the Gophers 48. Gary Russell rushed for 21 yards on four carries to move Goldy into field goal range.
Just when people thought the Gophers were on the verge of opening up the game, Bucky Badger would fight back. Calhoun would gain 58 total yards of the 68 yards on the drive, and would end the drive on an 18-yard scamper into the end zone to cut the Minnesota lead back down to just three.
But Minnesota would counter Wisconsin’s jab with a jab of its own in this back-and-forth second half. Russell would do the honors this time, rushing for a 37-yard touchdown to cap off the 80-yard march. He would receive the pitch to the right side and find a lane, where he exploded for the touchdown, nearly untouched. That put the Gophers ahead 27-17. People thought Minnesota had the game won on the following drive, as Stocco was sacked and he fumbled. The Gophers would pounce on the loose football at the Wisconsin 18. With Minnesota having scored on its last four possessions, most thought the Gophers would score on this drive as well to put the game away. But the Gophers lost four yards on the drive and Giannini would miss a 40-yard attempt wide left to keep it a 10-point game.
Wisconsin got a huge break on the missed field goal and would take advantage. After a Williams punt return to the Minnesota 44, Wisconsin blew down the field. The Badgers needed just four plays to travel the 44 yards to cut it to 27-24. After a 14-yard completion from Stocco to Orr, Calhoun did the rest. The star running back rushed three times to cover the final 30 yards of the drive and scored from two yards out.
This is when Minnesota fans thought the game was over. The Gophers were going to win back the axe after they scored on a 19-play drive that covered 80 yards and ended with a Russell 1-yard touchdown with just 3:27 to play. Of the 19 plays on the drive, 18 of them were runs. It took nearly eight minutes off the clock and when the dust settled the Gophers had a 34-24 advantage. Despite the fact that Maroney rushed for 258 yards, this was mostly Russell’s drive. Russell, who also had a great day on the ground, rushed for 43 yards and the score (which many thought would be the clincher) on the possession. Russell would rush for 139 yards on 19 carries and the two scores. The Gophers, as a team, rushed for an incredible 411 yards. That meant that in the past two games, Wisconsin had given up a total of 724 yards rushing and 1,184 yards of total offense. Ouch!
On Wisconsin’s next drive, ESPN’s Lou Holtz made the quote of the game. Holtz, during a preview for the post-game show, made a comment that Minnesota had the Little Brown Jug and now they have the axe. After knowing how the game ended, his comments have made me laugh every time I hear them. The Badgers would zoom down the field, traveling 71 yards in a little more than a minute to cut it to 34-31. Williams would do most of the damage on this drive, catching three passes for 60 yards on the drive and the touchdown. On the scoring play, Stocco threw a pass over the middle into the end zone and Williams hauled it in despite being on the receiving end of a vicious face mask penalty.
The penalty moved the kickoff ahead 15 yards and Wisconsin would attempt the onside kick. The attempt pinballed around and bounced all the way down to the Minnesota 8, where it was covered by Maroney. One first down would be all it would take for the Gophers to seal the win. Unfortunately for them, the Badgers knew Minnesota would be running the ball. There was no way the Gophers were going to put the game in the hands of the backup quarterback. Two Maroney runs gained seven yards, so the Gophers faced a 3rd-and-3 as Bucky used his last timeout. It was do-or-die time for the Badgers, and the give to Maroney would gain only two yards. Minnesota would not go for it from its own 17, even if it only needed a yard for the first down. So on came the punting team...
Kucek made a mistake that will live in infamy. On the punt, he muffed it, and tried to roll out to the right and kick it instead of kicking it out of the back of the end zone for the safety. If he would have kicked it out of the back of the end zone, Minnesota would have maintained the lead. But he tried to kick it downfield and freshman Jonathan Casillas blocked it and the ball bounced into the end zone. There was a scrum in the back of the end zone. For a few seconds, people thought the ball may roll out of the end zone for a safety, but Ben Strickland recovered for the Badgers in the end zone for the score and Wisconsin took a 38-34 lead with 30 seconds left. The crowd was stunned.
Not only was Minnesota now trailing, but the Gophers were needing a touchdown and had to do it with a backup quarterback. Unless Minnesota had a great kickoff return, things were looking bleak for the home team. Mehlhaff’s kickoff went to Jakari Wallace at the goal line and he ran along the right sideline, but was hit and fumbled. DeAndre Levy recovered for Wisconsin at the Gophers 17 and all Wisconsin had to do was take a knee and the game was over.
This game was just another game in a memorable season. Not many thought Wisconsin would do much in 2005, but the Badgers would go onto have a special season, which would end with an upset victory over Auburn in the Capital One Bowl.
It was one of the biggest games of the year and many thought it would be a preview of the Super Bowl. After an embarrassing 41-14 loss in Kansas City on Monday Night Football in week four, the Patriots had won seven in a row to improve to 9-2. Of those seven wins, only one was won by fewer than 14 points. Green Bay had won three in a row and seven of eight to come into the game at 8-3. This game was at Lambeau Field, and the Packers had been rolling at home. Since the 7-point win over the Jets in their home opener, Green Bay had won its next next four home games by an average of 31.8 points per game. It was a true heavyweight fight and it turned out to live up to the hype. Green Bay would jump out early and hold off New England for a 26-21 win in Green Bay.
I mentioned Green Bay would jump out early. Well, the Packers scored 13 consecutive points to start the game. On their first two possessions, the Green and Gold would move into the red zone, but would have to settle for a pair of Mason Crosby field goals to put Green Bay in front 6-0. Eddie Lacy was featured quite a bit early in the game, as he accounted for 51 of the Packers 58 yards on the opening drive. The second drive would belong to rookie wide receiver Davante Adams. He would catch two passes for 45 yards, including a 33-yard catch to move into New England territory. It would be a 66-yard drive for Green Bay, but the Packers missed on a 3rd-and-9 from the Patriots 17, so Crosby would come on and make his second field goal of the day to give the Green and Gold a 6-0 advantage.
While the Green Bay offense was driving up and down the field, but settling for field goals, the Packers defense was keeping the high-powered New England offense off the scoreboard. The Patriots would have just seven combined plays on their first two drives, which both resulted in punts. After the second New England punt, the Green and Gold finally were able to break through for six. On a 3rd-and-2 from the Packers 23, Aaron Rodgers would lob a perfect pass to Adams once again. His catch and run down the left sideline of 45-yards moved the ball down to the Patriots 32. On the very next play, Rodgers made a hard pump fake to the right, but somehow held onto the ball. He then threw a perfect pass into the end zone to Richard Rodgers for the 32-yard scoring play and it was 13-0 Green Bay with eight seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Patriots offense would wake up, though, early in the second quarter. It would only take New England five plays to travel 73 yards to cut it to 13-7. After a run of three by LeGarrette Blount on first down, Tom Brady would slide away from pressure to buy time and find Rob Gronkowski for a 29-yard gain. That was followed by a 23-yard pass from Brady to Michael Hoomanawanui to move the Patriots into the red zone. Two plays later, Brandon Bolden would run through the Packers defense for a 6-yard score to cut into the deficit.
Every Packers player was getting involved in the first half. The Packers would drive down the field once again, but would have to settle for another field goal. On this drive, Randall Cobb would the key player. Cobb would catch a 33-yard pass on 3rd-and-5 down to the New England 34. He would catch four passes on the drive for 55 yards to set up the Packers inside the 10. However, a sack on third down would force Green Bay to settle for a field goal and a 16-7 lead.
The Patriots would move down the field once again to cut into the lead further. They would travel 80 yards in 12 plays. Julian Edelman would move the Patriots into Packers territory with two catches for 22 yards to start out the drive. That was followed by a 26-yard pass from Brady to Shane Vereen to move to the Green Bay 20. Three plays later, Brady faced a third down and went to Gronk. The big tight end caught it and plowed his way all the way to the 2. Three plays later, Brady found Brandon LaFell for the 2-yard touchdown in the right corner of the end zone and Green Bay’s once 13-point lead had been trimmed to just two.
When it looked like the Patriots would escape the first half only trailing by two, Rodgers and Jordy Nelson made the biggest play of the game. Prior to the drive, All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis had shut down Nelson. The big-play wide receiver for the Packers did not have one catch to that point. Green Bay started its final drive of the half on its own 19, but on second down, Rodgers rolled out and threw a perfect pass to James Starks down the right sideline for 28 yards. After Nelson caught his first pass of the game for eight yards, the Packers faced a 3rd-and-2 from the New England 45 with 23 seconds to go in the half. With the Green and Gold having a timeour available, Rodgers threw a slant over the middle to Nelson, who beat Revis on the play. He would outrace the New England defenders to the pylon on the left side of the end zone for the score with 14 seconds left in the half. With Patriots fans thinking it will be a one-score game at halftime and then receiving the ball to start the second half, that was a gut punch. The Packers would lead 23-14 at the half.
The scoring would die down significantly in the second half. However, there were many chances. After a three-and-out to begin the second half, Green Bay would move 32 yards on a drive of nine plays. The Packers would drive down to the Patriots 22, but Crosby would miss a 40-yard field goal attempt that would have pushed it to 26-14. The Packers would also drive into New England territory on its next possession, but had a penalty and sack that pushed them back and they were forced to punt.
The Patriots would score the first points of the second half early in the fourth quarter. Green Bay appeared to have forced another New England punt early in the drive, but Tramon Williams was whistled for an illegal contact penalty and the drive stayed alive. Brady would pass to Gronkowski for 19 yards up to midfield and Blount would rush for back-to-back 13-yard gains and the Patriots moved into the red zone. That was when Brady found LaFell again for the touchdown. LaFell beat Davon House on the left side of the end zone and ball was thrown on the money to cut it to 23-21.
Once again, the Packers would drive into the red zone, but would have to settle for a field goal. The Packers outgained the Patriots on the day 478-320, but the game was down to the wire because they had to settle for five field goal attempts (four made). On the third down play, Rodgers threw it to Adams on a slant. Adams had a big day, but dropped what would have been a touchdown to give the home team some breathing room. But the Packers held a 26-21 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the game after the Crosby field goal.
New England would drive down to try to take the lead. The Patriots converted one fourth down and one third down to keep the drive alive. But with New England faced with a 3rd-and-9 from the Packers 20, Brady was sacked by Mike Daniels and Mike Neal and the Patriots were forced to kick a long field goal. Stephen Gostkowski’s kick was wide right and the Packers held the 26-21 lead with less than three minutes to play.
Green Bay would do what it does best: run out the clock in the closing minutes to secure a win. When facing a 3rd-and-4 from its own 43, Rodgers had great protection and he found Cobb for the first down to seal the deal. Green Bay would move to 9-3 on the year, and if it were not for a collapse in Seattle in the NFC Championship game, there would have been a Super Bowl rematch.
It was a night game at Camp Randall. College Gameday was there. It was the first Big Ten football game ever for the University of Nebraska. It was a matchup of two top 10 teams. What more could you want? The setting was perfect and the weather was perfect. It was a fantastic night for football in Madison. Wisconsin was coming in at 4-0, demolishing each team in the process. In Bucky’s four wins to begin the year, he won by an average of 40 points per game. However, the schedule was about to get much tougher. The combined record at the end of the year for Wisconsin’s non-conference opponents was 22-27, but that includes the 6-5 FCS record of South Dakota. Nebraska was also coming in at 4-0. The defense was surrendering a bunch of points, but the offense was as potent as any in the conference. The Cornhuskers were averaging nearly 43 points per game, and with the Badgers averaging nearly 49 per game, most figured this would be a shootout. Wisconsin did its share, but the Badgers defense forced Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez into a number of mistakes and Bucky turned what was a close game at the start into a one-sided contest. It did not help that during his head gear pick, Lee Corso picked Nebraska. That will teach him to mess with Buckingham U. Badger.
Wisconsin and Nebraska each would punt on their first possession, but on the Nebraska punt, Jared Abbrederis had a nice return near the Wisconsin 40, but would fumble and Kenny Bell for the Cornhuskers fell on it at the 39. It took Nebraska nine plays to score the first points of the night on a Martinez 1-yard run to give the Huskers a 7-0 lead. Martinez would have 29 combined yards rushing and passing on the drive.
It looked like Nebraska was building up momentum after the kickoff when Wisconsin was called for holding and had to start at its own 9 to begin the drive. No problem for Bucky’s offense. Four straight double digit yardage plays after a short Montee Ball run will help. Wisconsin started out with a Wilson pass to Abbrederis for 18 yards. After a pass interference and a Ball 10-yard run, Wisconsin had a 1st-and-10 at the Nebraska 46. Wilson dropped back to pass and quickly was under pressure. He escaped the first rusher and rolled out to his left and juked out another to run for 21 yards and a first down at the 25. Ball would do the rest of the damage on the drive, getting five carries to gain those 25 yards to put the ball in the end zone. The touchdown would come when Ball crashed in from a yard out with 1:27 to play in the first quarter.
Nebraska would come right back, though, on the strength of the arm of Martinez. On the 74-yard drive, Martinez was 3-of-3 on the drive for 66 yards. His 28-yard pass to tight end Ben Cotton down to the Wisconsin 1 set up the touchdown by Rex Burkhead to give the Huskers the lead right back. The Nebraska quarterback also rushed for 13 yards on the drive.
The rest of the half would be all Bucky Badger. On the first play after the kickoff, Wilson threw a deep ball into double coverage intended for Nick Toon. The wide receiver hauled it in over two defenders, giving the Badgers a first down at the Nebraska 39. Wisconsin would be called for a holding penalty a few plays later to set up a 1st-and-20 at the 32. Wilson would find Jacob Pedersen over the middle for a 28-yard gain to move the Badgers down to the 4. Two plays later, Ball scored his second touchdown of the game. The extra point was blocked, so the score remained 14-13.
After a pair of punts, Nebraska had the ball facing a 3rd-and-16. Martinez rolled out to the right and fired across his body to the middle of the field. Predictably, it was picked off by Wisconsin linebacker Mike Taylor, who returned to the Wisconsin 46. Six plays later, the Badgers took the lead. With Wisconsin facing a 3rd-and-3 at the Nebraska 36, Wilson faked a toss to Ball and went deep to Abbrederis. The sophomore receiver made a diving catch at the goal line off a great throw by Wilson. The tremendous touchdown grab gave the Badgers the 20-14 lead with 2:03 left in the first half.
But the Badgers were still not done. Martinez was not done giving Bucky gifts. The Nebraska quarterback passed to Jamal Turner for 26 yards to midfield, but would give it away three plays later. Martinez looked to the left and overshot Turner and was picked off by Aaron Henry and he brought it back to the Badgers 37. Two passes from Wilson to James White moved Wisconsin to the Nebraska 46. Two plays after that, Wilson threw a perfect pass deep over the middle to Toon in between defenders for a 46-yard touchdown with 32 seconds left in the half.
Nebraska’s Brett Maher would miss a long field goal attempt at the end of the first half and the Badgers led 27-14 at the half, so Bucky still had all the momentum heading into halftime.
Much like the start of the second half between the two teams in the Big Ten Championship game two years later, Martinez threw a pick to begin the half. This one was intercepted by Antonio Fenelus, who returned it to the Huskers 42.
Ball rushed for 27 yards of the 42 yards on the touchdown drive, including converting a fourth down on a 2-yard run to the 10. On the following play after the fourth down conversion, Wilson faked it to Ball and around the left side, escaping a would-be tackler and going in for the 10-yard touchdown. The Wilson score put the Badgers in front 34-14.
After a punt by the Huskers, Wisconsin would put the game away with a 14-play, 81-yard drive that ended with Ball’s third touchdown of the game. The drive started with a third down conversion on a tight end middle screen to Pedersen for 16 yards. Ball rushed for 24 yards on the drive and the touchdown. The score by Ball was one of the more impressive plays of the game. Wilson handed the ball off to Ball and was initially stopped, but he kept fighting and would break free for the score. That made it 41-14 and the game was over.
The Cornhuskers would kick a field goal early in the fourth to cut it to 41-17. However, Wisconsin would put the final nail in the Nebraska coffin on a 73-yard drive to put the Badgers in front 48-17. This was a 13-play drive with every one of the plays being a run. Ball rushed for 43 yards on the drive, including the 15-yard touchdown. Ball would rush for 151 yards and four touchdowns in the game. Even with the nice drive put together by the Badgers, the most impressive part of the drive was the Wisconsin fans singing “Build Me Up Buttercup” in unison. It was that kind of day for the Badgers, as they rolled the Cornhuskers in their first test of the season.
Green Bay was coming in at a surprising 2-0, while the Chargers were 1-1, but the one loss was at the New England Patriots. That New England team would go 16-0, so it was expected that the Chargers would come in at 1-1. However, San Diego was coming off a 14-2 season in 2006, so a 1-2 start would be quite the letdown. Brett Favre was on a countdown to the NFL passing touchdowns record. He was three behind former Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino in that category. After missing on fourth down with less than six minutes to play, the Packers redeemed themselves, as Favre found second-year wide receiver Greg Jennings on a slant for a 57-yard touchdown for the eventual game-winning score. That touchdown to Jennings was touchdown pass No. 420 for Favre, which tied him with Marino for the most all-time.
San Diego wasted little time drawing first blood. After the Packers drove to the Chargers 39, Green Bay missed it on fourth down. On San Diego’s 61-yard scoring drive, Tomlinson carried the ball four times for 21 yards. However, the Chargers big wide receiver Vincent Jackson would catch the game’s first touchdown. After a holding penalty, the Chargers faced a 1st-and-20 fron the 27. No problem for San Diego, as Philip Rivers hooked up with Jackson for the 27-yard score and the Chargers were on the board first.
Green Bay would respond with a field goal by Crosby and it was 7-3 after one quarter. James Jones had two catches for 34 yards and Brandon Jackson had a pair of receptions for 20 yards on the 77-yard drive that resulted in Crosby’s 28-yard field goal to cut the deficit to four.
The Packers would control most of the second quarter, as Green Bay scored the first 14 points. On the first touchdown drive early in the quarter, the Packers had terrific starting field position at the Chargers 49. Driver caught two passes on the drive for 21 yards, including the 5-yard touchdown to give the Packers the lead. On the score, Favre threw it where only his guy could catch it and Driver made a diving grab on the left side of the end zone to give the Packers the 10-7 lead.
They would not take long to score again, either, as Driver would catch a pass of 46-yards to move to the San Diego 22. Favre threw touchdown pass No. 419 to Bubba Franks on a 2nd-and-Goal from the 5. On the score, Favre pump faked before finding Franks over the middle for the score to cap a 79-yard drive and the Packers had the 17-7 lead with less than three minutes to play in the first half.
San Diego would respond in the final minute of the half. Starting at their own 20, Rivers and Co. would drive 80 yards in nine plays to cut it to 17-14 just before halftime. Antonio Gates would catch four passes for 34 yards on the drive. Rivers on the drive was for 7-of-8 for 67 yards and a touchdown, which he threw to Craig Davis with a little more than a half minute to play in the first half. It would stay 17-14 the rest of the half.
LaDainian Tomlinson made it 14 straight points by San Diego on the first drive of the second half. Rivers started it out with a 25-yard completion to Malcom Floyd on 3rd-and-13 to move the ball near midfield. Tomlinson had 38 total yards on the drive, capped off with a 21-yard touchdown reception. Rivers had 54 yards passing on the drive. He would finish with 306 yards passing and three touchdowns, but one costly interception late in the game.
It would stay 21-17 until late in the game, but the Packers had a chance with six minutes to go in the game. Green Bay would travel 69 yards to the San Diego 1 on the strength of Favre’s 76 yards passing on the drive (the Packers had 15 penalty yards on the drive). The Packers had a 1st-and-Goal at the 1, but Junius Coston was whistled for a false start. Green Bay would get the five yards back in three plays, but were faced with a 4th-and-Goal from the 1. The fourth down pass from Favre was incomplete intended for Franks and the Chargers took over.
The Packers would have one last chance to win the game, though. Green Bay would take over after a Chargers punt with good field position at the Packers 43 with 2:18 to play. Favre threw an incompletion on first down for Franks. The second down play went a little bit better. Favre threw a slant to Jennings, who beat Antonio Cromartie. The former Western Michigan standout split the defenders and raced all the way to the end zone for the 57-yard touchdown. It not only put the Packers in front 24-21, but the touchdown pass to Jennings was No. 420 for Favre, which tied him for first all-time.
In an effort to try to tie the game up in the last two minutes, Rivers threw a pass over the middle, which was intercepted by Nick Barnett. The fifth-year linebacker brought it back 38 yards to the Chargers 2. Instead of trying to get Favre the record at Lambeau, the Packers gave it off to Brandon Jackson to score the touchdown to give the Packers the 10-point edge. He would break the record the following week in Minneapolis.
San Diego would put three more points on the board with less than half a minute to play in the game to cut it to a one score game, but Driver recovered the onside kick to seal the game and the 3-0 start.
After 16 seasons as the coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, this would be Barry Alvarez’s last as the permanent head coach. He was stepping down to focus all of his attention on being the Athletic Director for Wisconsin. After Pat Richter stepped down in 2004, Alvarez took over. He was both the football coach and AD at Wisconsin for two seasons, but he knew he could not do the dual role for a long period of time and announced he would step down as the football coach at the conclusion of the 2005 season and defensive coordinator Bret Bielema would be the new coach. The Badgers were not expected to be a power in the Big Ten in 2005, especially after losing all four of their fearsome defensive line, as well as starting cornerback Scott Starks. The Badgers also lost the second leading rusher (at the time) in school history in Anthony Davis. John Stocco was subpar in his first season as a starter, so they needed a big improvement from him in his second season as the starter. Wisconsin’s defense struggled early on, giving up 42 points in a week one win over Bowling Green. The Badgers would give up at least 34 points four times on the season, and lost three of them. People knew new running back Brian Calhoun was good, but the transfer from Colorado was a Godsend for the Badgers. He not only rushed for more than 1,600 yards, but he was also a very reliable receiver out of the backfield for Stocco. Calhoun and Stocco helped the Badgers send Alvarez out on top, with a dominating performance over heavily favored Auburn in the Capital One Bowl.
The Tigers were a 10.5-point favorites and were on a roll, having won their last four, including back-to-back wins over top 10 teams to close out the regular season. Auburn had nice starting field position to open the game, as Devin Aromashodu returned the kickoff to the Auburn 41. However, on the second play from scrimmage in the game, Brandon Cox had his pass intercepted by Levonne Rowan at the Wisconsin 13. Stocco would find Brandon Williams for a 27-yard gain on the first Badgers offensive play, but could not move any further, so Wisconsin punted.
The Tigers would have their second turnover in as many drives, as Kenny Irons would lose a fumble, which was recovered by Nick Hayden. However, Wisconsin would waste a golden opportunity to score, as Taylor Mehlhaff missed a 53-yard field goal and it remained scoreless with less than 10 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Bucky would force a three-and-out and would finally get something going offensively. Three plays would do all the damage on the first scoring drive of the Capital One Bowl. Starting at its own 25, Stocco would find Williams for 18 yards and that was followed by Calhoun finding the edge and running along the left sideline for 27 yards to move to the Auburn 30. Two plays later, Stocco found Williams on a wide receiver middle screen and he caught it and received great blocking before juking an Auburn defender at the 22 before running the rest of the way and diving into the end zone for the first points of the day.
After forcing another Tigers punt, the Wisconsin offense went back to work. On the first play of the drive, Calhoun would break off another long one. He would find the edge on the right side and stiff arm an Auburn defender and race down the field 60 yards down to the Auburn 13. That would set up a Mehlhaff field goal, which made it 10-0 in favor of the slow, plodding Big Ten school. That would be the score at the end of the first quarter.
Wisconsin would force another punt and the Badgers would get the ball. Starting at the 20. Auburn would pick up a pair of first downs, but a sack by Joe Monty and a delay of game penalty derailed the Tigers possession. The Badgers would start their drive on their own 13. Wisconsin would use a 12-play drive to take a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. The drive started out well with a Stocco pass to Owen Daniels for 18 yards, but that was one of only three plays that went for at least 10 yards on the drive. Daniels had two of three, with the other one being the 12-yard touchdown reception on 3rd-and-10 to give Wisconsin the surprising 17-point lead. It would stay that way until halftime. The Badgers had shut down Auburn’s offense, which was No. 1 in the SEC. The Tigers also had not been shutout in any first half the entire year before being shutout by Wisconsin.
You knew Auburn would not stay silent for long, and the Tigers made a play early in the second half. On a 3rd-and-7 from the Wisconsin 23 on its first possession of the second half, Stocco was sacked by Stanley McClover and fumbled and T.J. Jackson pounced on the loose football for Auburn. The Tigers would move down to the Wisconsin 2, but would have to settle for a John Vaughn 19-yard field goal to cut it to 17-3. The Badgers still had a 14-point lead, but you could sense Auburn was gaining momentum.
The Tigers would gain even more momentum as Mehlhaff missed his second field goal of the day on the next Wisconsin drive and it remained 17-3. Then, Auburn would make it a one score game early in the fourth. On a 4th-and-Goal from the 9, Cox would find Courtney Taylor in the end zone for the score to cut it to 17-10.
Bucky then went on a drive to seal the game. It started with Auburn’s Matt Clark kicking the ball out of bounds, which gave Wisconsin nice starting field position at the 35. A 19-yard pass started the drive from Stocco to Williams to move into Auburn territory. The Badgers would move down to the 33 after a third down conversion on a run by Calhoun. Then, the Colorado transfer gave Bucky a two score lead once again. On the play, Calhoun received a toss from Stocco and he received great blocking. He cut back to the middle at the 15-yard line to elude a would-be tackler and he dove into the end zone for the 33-yard touchdown to give the Badgers the 24-10 lead, which would end up being the final.
Auburn moved the ball into Wisconsin territory, but two penalties and a Mike Newkirk sack moved the ball back to Tigers territory and had to punt on 4th-and-29. The punt by Kody Bliss was a great one and downed at the 1.
That would be where the Badgers would start on the longest non-scoring drive in Wisconsin Badgers history. After two plays gained a total of three yards, Bucky was forced with a 3rd-and-7 from his own 4. That would be when Stocco made his best play of the game. The Wisconsin quarterback dropped back to pass and the pressure was heavy. Just as he was about to get drilled in the end zone, Stocco found Williams over the middle, who caught it at the 17 and broke away from the Auburn defensive back and ran up to the Wisconsin 40 for a 37-yard catch and run. The play not only flipped the field in case the Badgers would have to punt, but it also took more valuable time off the clock. In addition to the 37-yard reception, Williams also rushed for 17 yards on the drive. The possession would start on their own 1 and end on the Auburn 1 for a 98-yard drive.
In a season with very little expectations, the 2005 Wisconsin Badgers gave Alvarez a season he’ll never forget, culminating with a huge upset in the Capital One Bowl, a bowl very few people thought the Badgers had a chance in. It was a great send-off for the best coach in Wisconsin history. The game could not have gone any better.
Aaron Rodgers has had two games where he has thrown six touchdowns, as well as a big-time shootout in the 2009 Wild Card round against Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals. However, this was Rodgers’ best performance ever, in my opinion. Rodgers would have one of the best performances in playoff history. After knocking off Philadelphia on the road to end the Wild Card round, Green Bay played a Saturday night game in Atlanta. The Falcons were a slight favorite, but many people were picking the Packers to pull the upset. In the earlier meeting that season, Atlanta won on a last-second field goal by Matt Bryant, despite the fact that Green Bay dominated the game statistically. The Packers had 418 yards in that meeting, compared to 294 for the Falcons. But Rodgers fumbled into the end zone on a quarterback sneak and Atlanta recovered for the only turnover of the game. In the rematch, the Packers not only dominated statistically (442-194), but also in points as well, as the Packers crushed the Falcons 48-21 to earn a berth in the NFC Championship game.
It was a back-and-forth game early on. Atlanta drove into Green Bay territory early, but had to punt. However, on Green Bay’s first third down of the day, Rodgers threw a strike over the middle to Greg Jennings and would move across the 35. But Stephen Nicholas brought down Jennings and forced a fumble, which Atlanta recovered in Packers territory. Atlanta would move down into the red zone on the strength of a Matt Ryan 22-yard pass to Michael Jenkins. On a 4th-and-1 from the Green Bay 13, Atlanta went for it and converted with a 1-yard plunge by fullback Ovie Mughelli. On the following play, Michael Turner would blast ahead into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown run to put the Falcons on the board first.
The Green Bay offense had an answer, like it did all day. The Packers went on a 13-play drive Green Bay, converting two third downs along the way. The first was an 18-yard pass from Rodgers to Jennings over the middle to move down to the Falcons 23. The second would be an 8-yard pass to Jordy Nelson on a third down from the Atlanta 16. Two plays later, Nelson would score on a 6-yard pass from Rodgers and the game was tied at 7. But it would stay that way for only a matter of seconds, as Eric Weems returned the ensuing kickoff 102 yards to the house virtually untouched to give the Falcons the lead right back.
That would be about it for the Atlanta in the game. Green Bay would go onto score 35 unanswered points to give the Packers a commanding lead. A mistake my James Starks forced the Green Bay offense to start deep in its own territory to begin the following drive. No problem for Rodgers and Co. Three straight completions moved the ball out to midfield. On a second down from that spot, Rodgers escaped a Falcons rusher in the backfield and threw a perfect pass along the sideline to James Jones, who ran down to the 16 for 34 yards. Green Bay just had so many weapons. Atlanta thought it had a stop on third down as Rodgers was sacked by Jonathan Babineaux, but there was an illegal contact penalty on Atlanta’s Christopher Owens that kept the drive alive. John Kuhn would eventually crash in from a yard out to tie the game at 14.
Green Bay would stop all Atlanta momentum late in the first half. The Falcons were on the move on 2nd-and-9 at the Green Bay 14, but a false start penalty and a sack by Charles Woodson forced the Falcons into a 3rd-and-21 from the 26. Ryan looked into the end zone and fired a pass intended for Jenkins, but it was intercepted by Tramon Williams for the touchback. That certainly would not be the last time Williams would make a big play that night.
Rodgers would go 5-of-6 for 74 yards on a drive that would give the Packers the lead. Rodgers threw to four different receivers on the drive. On a 3rd-and-2 from the Falcons 40, Rodgers found Driver for 20 yards down to the 20. That was followed up by Rodgers’ second touchdown pass of the day. He threw a jump ball for Jones in the end zone and Jones caught it over Brent Grimes for the score with 42 seconds remaining in the half.
Everybody figured it would be a one-score game at the half, but the question would be if it would be a 21-14 or 21-17 lead for the Packers. Atlanta was one of the best in the league at the end of half two minute drill situations. The Falcons would move 35 yards on pass interference penalties on Green Bay down to the 26. Clay Matthews came through with a sack to move them back on the edge of Bryant field goal range. That sack would become even bigger because the Falcons had to try to move closer to get in more comfortable range for a Bryant field goal. That would come back to bite the Falcons, as Ryan rolled to the left and throw a short pass to Roddy White. But I told you that you would hear Williams’ name again. On the pass for White, Williams jumped the route and picked it off and raced up the right sidelines. At the Green Bay 45, he split three Atlanta players trying to tackle him and he was gone, racing 70 yards for the score as time expired at the end of the first half. So instead of a Green Bay lead by four, the Packers made a monster play to end the half and the Green and Gold took a 28-14 lead at halftime.
The second half was all Packers. It started on the opening possession of the second half. On the first play, Rodgers was sacked by John Abraham for a loss of 10. After the sack, Abraham did Rodgers’ belt celebration. But having 2nd-and-20 did not faze Rodgers one bit, as he completed his next two passes to Jennings and Jones for a combined 22 yards and a first down. The second third down conversion by Green Bay on the drive was on a Rodgers bullet over the middle to Nelson for 14 yards to the Falcons 18. Two plays later, from the Atlanta 7, Rodgers stepped up in the pocket and tucked it and ran it seven yards for the score and the Packers had a 35-14 lead in Atlanta over the NFC’s top seed.
Green Bay was far from done. After a shank of a punt from Atlanta’s Michael Koenen gave the Packers the ball at midfield to start the drive, the Packers would drive 50 yards in eight plays to put the game away. On a 3rd-and-5 from the Falcons 33, Rodgers threw a dart to Driver for 22 yards for a first down down to the 11. Two plays later, Rodgers threw a pass to the flat to Kuhn, who was wide open. Kuhn rumbled into the end zone for the 7-yard score to give the Packers a 42-14 lead and the rout was on.
Atlanta would score early in the fourth on a Ryan touchdown pass to White, but the Packers answered with two consecutive field goals to make the final 48-21. After Atlanta cut it to 42-21, Mason Crosby missed a long field goal and the Falcons had a bit of life. But that quickly went away when Atlanta fumbled on a 3rd-and-1 quarterback sneak and Green Bay recovered. The Packers went onto kick a field goal to make it 45-21 and that was all she wrote.
The Packers made a statement with the win in Georgia. It was the second consecutive playoff win away from Lambeau Field for the Packers, as they also went onto win in Chicago and then won in Texas at Jerry World in Super Bowl XLV. No matter how many great games Rodgers has, I don’t think any will measure up to this one. Considering the stage and the opponent, this has to rank as one of the greatest playoff performances of all-time. Rodgers had almost as many touchdowns (3 passing, 4 total) as incompletions (5). This game could have been higher, but I don’t really want to put all four playoff games so close together. But there is no denying that this was one of the more memorable games in the Mike McCarthy era.
