We have officially entered the slowest period on the NFL calendar. We have roughly six weeks until Green Bay Packers training camp begins with the team’s first practice at Ray Nitschke Field on July 23. That’s right: There will be no football or team activities for the next six weeks.
What is a Packers fan to do with all that time and no football to keep them occupied?
Fear not. One of my favorite offseason activities during this part of the calendar is to rewatch old games.
I have picked three of my favorite games and suggest you watch them over these six weeks. One is from the Brett Favre era, one from the Aaron Rodgers era, and one from the Jordan Love era. I think each of these games is underrated in building the legacy of each quarterback. Looking back at their careers, these games should be included in their highlight reels.
This week, we’re starting with the Favre era game, a Week 11 matchup against the rival Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in 1995.
Brett Favre’s incredible Iron Man streak will always define his legacy. With 297 consecutive games started, he is the all-time leader in this category, and it’s one of the least likely streaks ever to be broken in sports.
However, in 1995, that streak was all but certain to end. In Favre’s 54th consecutive start the week before this contest, he had to leave the game against the Minnesota Vikings with a severely sprained ankle.
All week leading up to the Bears game, Favre barely practiced. With his mobility nearly nonexistent, it was almost certain he wouldn’t play. Head coach Mike Holmgren said Favre’s practice week consisted of taking six snaps in seven-on-seven drills on the Friday before the game. Holmgren said he was “anxious” about playing his star quarterback when his maneuverability would simply not be there, and he’d drastically have to alter his play style.
Favre was also concerned.
“My ankle was swollen about six times its normal size and was badly discolored,” Favre said afterwards, “an ugly shade of purple, as I recall.”
Favre typically had nerves of steel. Still, he admitted he would have to play differently against the Bears.
“The things that I do well — improvise, make things happen — I’ve never really had to play a game where I just had to sit there and play a control game,” he would say. “Before the game, me and several players were saying this was as nervous as we had been in years, dating back to college.”
He would channel those nerves and go out to play his best game of the career to date.
Favre started the game and tied a franchise record with five touchdown passes while leading the Packers to a 35-28 win over the Bears for a tie of first place in the old Central Division. Favre played one of the most efficient games of his career that day. He finished 25 of 33 for 336 yards, with no interceptions (amazingly) and five touchdowns. His 147.2 passer rating that day was in the top five of his career.
The Packers and Bears traded scores throughout the contest. Green Bay was trailing late in the game until Favre found wide receiver Robert Brooks on a huge 44-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 28. In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Favre found running back Edgar Bennett on his final of five touchdown passes, a 16-yard screen pass that Bennett would take to the end zone and give the Packers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
This game will always play a significant role in Favre’s career and the Packers-Bears rivalry. It was the 150th all-time meeting of the two rivals and would go a long way in helping the Packers win the Central Division that season and overtake the Bears.
Green Bay won the division that season with an 11-5 record, their first division title in 23 years. Coming off back-to-back losses at the hands of the Detroit Lions and Vikings, a third-straight division loss would have been detrimental to Green Bay’s division title hopes and playoff chances. The odds of the Packers winning that football game had Favre not played against a good Bears team were very slim.
Favre and the Packers used this game as a springboard to a division title. No. 4’s performance that day was a significant factor in winning his second of three consecutive Most Valuable Player awards, cementing him as one of the biggest stars in the sport. Packers.com would go on to vote this game Favre’s best of the 1995 season and top 10 of his 16-year Packers career. It is a fantastic performance from an all-time Packers legend and is worth watching to get your football fix this summer.