NFL Old School Game of the Week: Packers Dominate Buccanners in Infamous "Snow Bowl"

 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers played their Week 13 game of the 1985 NFL season in a blizzard.

Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin is nicknamed the "Frozen Tundra" because of its notoriously cold games that are played during the winter.

That was the famous "Ice Bowl" in 1967 when the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL Championship with a kickoff temperature of -13 and a wind chill of -35, which was followed by the 2007 NFC Championship Game with the Giants where the kickoff temperature was -1.

Then there is the "Mud Bowl" where a mix of rain and snow which made the field muddy in the Packers' 1996 NFC Divisional Playoff win against the San Francisco 49ers.

And then there is the "Snow Bowl" a game played on December 1, 1985 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that was played in blizzard-like conditions.

The Packers entered the game with a 5-7 record, needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive as they were coached by Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman Forrest Gregg, who was a part of the Packers' dynasty in the 1960s which won five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls.

On the field, the Packers were led by quarterback Lynn Dickey, who was in his 15th and final NFL season and all-pro wide receiver James Lofton.

Meanwhile, the Buccaneers entered the game with a 2-10 record under first-year head coach Leeman Bennett, who had been hired to replace John McKay, who had retired after coaching the Bucs since their inception in 1976.

Tampa Bay had sadly secured its third straight losing season but hope was alive for the future as the Bucs had signed quarterback Steve Young from the rival United States Football League, or USFL, in hopes he would Tampa Bay back to its winning ways like it had from 1979-82 where they made the playoffs three times in four years.

But as Young and the Bucs traveled to Green Bay to take on the Packers, a blizzard hit the city the night of the game dumping nearly a foot of snow before kickoff.

With snow continuing to fall and a 25 miles per hour wind plus the fact the team was from Florida, it seemed like the Buccaneers were going to be in for a long day at the office.

If there was one thing the Bucs had going for them, it was that only about 19,000 fans showed up to Lambeau Field, leaving the stadium about two-thirds empty, so crowd noise was not going to be a big factor.

The Bucs got the ball to start the game and ran the ball three straight times with James Wilder, who gained nine yards on three carries, forcing Tampa to punt the ball to the Packers who took over at their 23-yard-line.

Unlike the Bucs, the Packers came out throwing as Dickey throw passes on the first two plays of Green Bay's drive, with the second one hitting Lofton along the left sideline, who seemed to be on his way to an easy touchdown until he fumbled the ball at midfield at the end of a 27-yard reception.

The ball was recovered by Tampa Bay linebacker Ervin Handle at exactly the 50-yard-line, but the Bucs could not pick up a 1st down and punted the ball back to the Packers who took over at their 25-yard-line after a 19-yard punt by Frank Garcia.

This time the Packers would drive 80 yards in 15 plays as Dickey completed all three of his passes on the drive for 42 yards with two of those completions going to Lofton for 31 yards to help set up a 25-yard field goal attempt by Al Del Greco.

However, Buccaneer cornerback John Holt would around the Packers' offensive line and block the kick to keep the game scoreless.

Packers wide receiver James Lofton caught six passes for 106 yards.

The Bucs would get the ball at their nine-yard-line and would pick their initial 1st down of the game when Wilder got two yards on a 3rd & 1 from the 18-yard-line, but would punt the ball again as the Packers would take over at their 39-yard-line.

Green Bay drove to the  Tampa Bay 43-yard-line until they had to punt only to have Randle run into the Packers' punter, Don Bracken, to draw a running into the kicker penalty, which gave the Packers five yards on 4th & 3 and a 1st down at the Tampa Bay 38-yard-line.

After Ivery was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Dickey connected with Lofton over the middle for 18 yards and a 1st down, then on 3rd & 12 from the 22-yard-line found tight end Paul Coffman for 19 yards to give the Packers 1st & goal at the three-yard-line.

Following a two-yard run by Jessie Clark, Dickey looked to pass on 2nd down, but found nobody open, so he decided to run it in for the touchdown to give the Packers a 7-0 lead with 7:16 left in the second quarter.

The Bucs would get good field position for their next drive as Phil Freeman returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Tampa Bay 45-yard-line, but the Bucs went three-and-out to give Green Bay the ball back at their five-yard-line with 4:55 left before halftime.

Despite the blizzard-like conditions, Dickey would complete four passes in a row totaling 47 yards to lead Green Bay to the Tampa Bay 46-yard-line until an incomplete pass on 2nd & 2, followed by a quarterback sack forced the Packers to punt the ball away to the Bucs with 1:23 left in the first half.

Once again, the Bucs would go three-and-out, giving the Packers one more chance to get points on the scoreboard before halftime as they took over at their 36-yard-line with 22 seconds left.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Gerry Ellis would run for 36 yards to the Tampa Bay 28-yard-line giving the Packers at a chance at a Hail Mary, since a 45-yard field goal would be next to impossible in these conditions.

Dickey would throw a pass toward the end zone intended for Phil Epps as time expired but it was incomplete keeping a 7-0 game in favor of the Packers who would get the ball to start the second half.

Ellis would return the opening kickoff of the second half 40 yards to the Packers' 45-yard-line where disaster nearly struck on the first offensive snap as Dickey fumbled the snap, only to recover it two yards back.

The next play would go much smoother as Dickey hit Coffman for 19 yards and a 1st down at the Tampa Bay 38-yard-line.

Then after Clark ran for three yards on 1st down, Ellis took the ball on a sweep to the left side and ran 35 yards for the touchdown to increase the Packers' lead to 14-0 just a little over two minutes into the second half.

Green Bay quarterback Lynn Dickey completed 22 of 36 passes for 299 yards and ran for a touchdown.

The Packers defense would force another three-and-out as Green Bay defensive end Alphonso Carreker sacked Young on 3rd down to force another punt from the Buccaneers.

Starting at his own 48-yard-line, Dickey would lead Green Bay down the field  as he completed a 12-yard pass to Clark to start the drive, then hit Preston Dennard for 10 yards on 3rd & 10 from the Tampa Bay 40-yard-line.

After Lofton drew a pass interference penalty for 17 yards, Dickey found Eddie Lee Ivery for 10 yards to give the Packers a 1st & goal at the Buccaneers' three-yard-line.

But that is when the drive fell apart as Dickey was sacked on 1st down for a nine-yard-loss, forcing the Packers to settle to try a 24-yard field goal by Del Greco, which sailed wide left and no good to keep it 14-0 with 6:06 left in the third quarter.

Another sack by Carreker lead to another  Tampa Bay three-and-out as the Packers would begin their next drive in Buccaneer territory, taking over at the Tampa 46-yard-line.

A 20-yard-pass from Dickey to Epps would give the Packers a 1st down at the Tampa Bay 20-yard-line, but Dickey would be intercepted on a pass intended for Lofton in the end zone by Buccaneers free safety Ivory Sully to give Tampa Bay the ball at their 20-yard-line.

But two plays later, the Packers had the ball again as tight end Jimmie Giles could not handle a Young pass which landed in the hands of Green Bay cornerback Tim Lewis to give the Packers the ball at the Tampa Bay 38-yard-line.

But after a nine-yard-run by Ivery on 1st down, the Packers turned it over again as Clark fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Buccaneers at their 36-yard-line.

That is when the Tampa Bay offense put together their best drive of the game which started with a 34-yard pass interference penalty on Tim Lewis to give the Buccaneers a 1st down at the Packers' 30-yard-line.

Then Young completed a 10-yard pass to Kevin House to give the Buccaneers another 1st down at the Green Bay 20-yard-line.

The next three plays would only gain four yards to force the Buccaneers into a 4th & 6 situation as the third quarter coming to a close.

Even though kicking would been very difficult and his team was down two touchdowns, Bennett decided to send in the field goal unit and have Donald Igwebuike attempt a 33-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.

But Igwebuike's kick sailed wide left to give Green Bay the ball at their 20-yard-line where Ivery ran for 11 yards to begin the drive, which was followed by a 15-yard run by Ellis on 2nd down to put the Packers at their 46-yard-line.

From there, Dickey would complete three straight passes for 34 yards to lead the Packers to the Tampa Bay 25-yard-line.

After a four-yard run by Ellis, Dickey found Epps for 18 yards to give Green Bay 1st & goal at the three-yard-line where Clark would run it for the touchdown to extend the Packers' lead to 21-0 with 9:52 left in the game.

The Bucs would drive into Green Bay territory on their next drive but two sacks by Carreker, giving him a total of four for the game, forced another Tampa Bay punt.

Packers defensive end Alphonso Carreker celebrates after one of his four quarterback sacks.

The Packers took over at their 13-yard-line but would turn it over for the fourth time in the game as Dickey was intercepted by Tampa Bay cornerback Jeremiah Castille, whose 20-yard return gave the Buccaneers the ball at the Green Bay 25-yard-line with 3:33 left and a chance to end the shutout.

But the Packers defense held the Bucs to just three yards on four plays, forcing a turnover on downs and giving Green Bay the ball at their 22-yard-line as Ivery ran the ball five times for 61 yards to run out the clock as the Packers came away with the 21-0 win.

The Buccaneers were lucky it was only 21-0 as the Packers outgained Tampa Bay 512-65 and had 31 1st downs compared to the Bucs' five.

The Bucs would not win another game for the rest of the season as they finished with a 2-14 record, earning the #1 pick in the NFL Draft which they used to pick 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson.

But Jackson refused to sign with the Bucs and instead went to play baseball with the Kansas City Royals as Tampa Bay forfeited their rights to him which allowed the then Los Angeles Raiders to pick him in the seventh round of the 1987 NFL Draft.

Jackson's refusal to play with Tampa Bay and Young's continuing struggles lead to another 2-14 season and the firing of Bennett as head coach.

Young would be traded to the 49ers as the Buccaneers would not have a winning season until 1997.

As for the Packers, they would win their final two games of the regular season to finish with a 8-8 record for the third straight year.

However, the Packers would win only nine more games over the next two seasons leading to Gregg resigning as head coach and taking over the SMU coaching job as they were coming off the "Death Penalty" for NCAA violations.

The Packers would not return to the playoffs until 1993 when head coach Mike Holmgren and a quarterback named Brett Favre helped bring back the glory days to Green Bay.