Moving on with my countdown of the top 10 Green Bay Packers teams since 1992, at number six I have the 1995 Packers.
The 1995 Green Bay Packers were the first team that got fans to truly believe something special was going to happen in Green Bay. The Packers finished 11-5 that year, which was their best record since Brett Favre took over as the starting quarterback.
1995 represented a year where everyone was waiting for a Cowboys/49ers grudge match in the playoffs, but somebody forgot to tell the Packers.
Green Bay went into San Francisco during the playoffs and dominated the defending champions from the first play from scrimmage as Craig Newsome forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.
Eventually, the Packers would open up a 21-0 lead on the 49ers and the defending champs were never able to make things interesting. It appeared that the 1995 Green Bay Packers were in the midst of a Cinderella story that postseason.
Unfortunately, midnight struck for Cinderella in Dallas. The Packers had a lead going into the fourth quarter at Texas Stadium, but were unable to finish off the Cowboys and Dallas would go on to win their third Super Bowl in four years. However, it was the heartbreak and experience that the Packers needed to fuel their Super Bowl run the next season.
Key players
Brett Favre – This was the first of Favre’s three consecutive MVP seasons. He grew from a quarterback that took too many chances, into a player that was a force around the NFL.
It was no longer about potential with Favre, but rather what was actually taking place on the field. Mike Holmgren used to always tell him that if he didn’t improve he would always be a 9-7 quarterback. Favre took his advice to heart and grew into the league’s MVP in the 1995 season.
He finished the year with 38 touchdown passes and just 13 interceptions. His fewest since becoming a full-time starting quarterback. He outdueled Jeff George and Steve Young in the postseason and he stood toe-to-toe with Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys.
Favre would build on that campaign and take the throne as the best quarterback in all of football over the next two years. Favre’s shining moment came in November against the Chicago Bears where he played on a severely sprained ankle and lit up the Bears at Lambeau Field. He threw five touchdown passes and the Packers won 35-28.
Robert Brooks – The career-ending injury to Sterling Sharpe put the Green Bay Packers in a bit of a tough spot at the receiver position. They needed one of their young guys to step up and Brooks was the man for the job.
In 1995 he would top 1,000 receiving yards and he was able to make plays in the open field as well as be the deep threat that the Packers’ offense needed. That season Brooks began to transform into one of the league’s bright young stars.
Mark Chumura – Chewy became part of a two tight end attack the Packers would deploy during the latter half of the season. Chumura formed a dynamic tandem with Keith Jackson and he was one of Favre’s favorite targets throughout his career in Green Bay, but Chumura really grew into his own during the 1995 season.
Leroy Butler – Let’s start this by saying Leroy Butler should be in the Hall of Fame. He was a better player than John Lynch and Steve Atwater, both of whom have already been enshrined.
None the less, the 1995 season was a big one for Butler. He led the team with five interceptions and began to show why he could change the way the entire position was played. Butler was dangerous both in the box and deep down the field and this was the first season he really came into his own as one of the leaders of the defense.
Reggie White – A fully healthy Reggie White would total 12 sacks during the 1995 season and would become one of the two pillars that would lead the Green Bay Packers to Super Bowl XXXI the following season.
Highlights
Favre’s performance against the Bears came when they were 5-4 and reeling after a loss in Minnesota the previous week and at a point when the season could have begun to slip away from them. However, Favre’s gutty performance against Chicago would spark a four game winning streak that got them to 9-4 and in prime position to win the NFC Central.
Then to cap off the regular season, a game that has affectionately been referred to as “The Yancey Thigpen Game” took place during the final game as Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Yancey Thigpen dropped an easy touchdown pass that catapulted the Packers to the win and the division title.
It was in that same game Favre was hit hard and was seen coughing up blood on the sideline. But in true Favre fashion, he would return and throw a touchdown pass on the very next play. It was a play that came to define Favre’s toughness.
The team’s biggest highlight in 1995 came in the postseason when they eliminated the 49ers. It was a sign that a changing of the guard was forthcoming and the 49ers were never really the same after the beating they took that day. And as a result, the Green Bay Packers took their place atop the NFC’s pantheon of contenders.
Lowlights
A two game losing streak in the middle of the season against divisional opponents, Detroit and Minnesota, cast some doubt as to how serious of a contender this team could be. During those games, they resembled the same inconsistent nature that we had seen from the last two Green Bay Packers teams, both of which finished 9-7.
The way the season ended would be a lowlight as well as they had a chance to go to the Super Bowl but would fall short. Of all the losses to the Cowboys, the 1995 NFC Championship Game has hurt the most.
Why didn’t they win a championship?
To put it simply, in 1995 they were just a year early. And as any member of the 1990s Packers would tell you as well, had they played the NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field, they would have played for the Super Bowl.
It was one of the great regrets of that era. Those teams lament the fact that they were never able to play the Cowboys at Lambeau Field. Instead on the road, they had a fourth quarter lead against that Cowboys team but were unable to finish the job and they were sent home.