13. Packers 42, Seahawks 20 (2008)

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.