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| Packers quarterback Brett Favre runs with the football after Green Bay defeated Pittsburgh to clinch the 1995 NFC Central Division title. |
With their six NFL championships between 1929 and 1944, then the five NFL championships and two Super Bowl titles in 1960s, the city of Green Bay gave itself the nickname "Titletown, USA" thanks to the success of their beloved Packers under head coaches Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi.
But after Lombardi left the Packers following their win in Super Bowl II, the nickname "Titletown" did not seem to fit Green Bay as the Packers would have 15 losing seasons between 1968 and 1991 as the team would make the NFL playoffs only twice and win one division title during that 24-year span with the division title coming in 1972.
Things began to change for the Packers in 1992 when they hired San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren as head coach and traded for quarterback Brett Favre as the pair lead Green Bay to a 9-7 season in 1992.
Things only got better in the offseason as the Packers were able to sign defensive end Reggie White as as a free agent as the Packers would make the playoffs in 1993 where they won their first postseason game since Super Bowl II as they defeated the Detroit Lions 28-24 in the NFC Wild Card round, then again in 1994 with a 16-12 win in front of nearly 60, 000 fans at Lambeau Field.
The Packers entered the 1995 season with hopes of going beyond the Divisional Round, where they had been eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys in two straight years, and do that a division title would go a long way in achieving in that goal.
The Packers entered their final game of the 1995 regular season with a chance to clinch their first division title since 1972 as they played host to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Eve, who also had a lot on the line in this game.
The Packers came in with a 10-5 record, holding a one-game lead over the Detroit Lions, who held the tiebreaker over the Packers to clinch the NFC Central as the Lions had a better division record than the Packers.
If Green Bay was to secure its first division title in 23 years, they would need a big game from Favre, who was playing hurt with a high ankle sprain in his left ankle, limiting his mobility.
Meanwhile, the Steelers entered the regular season finale with a 11-4 record, having won their previous eight games to clinch the AFC Central division title.
The Steelers were led by head coach Bill Cowher, who had directed Pittsburgh to the playoffs in his first four seasons, but was looking for retribution as the Steelers had lost in the AFC Championship Game the previous season 17-13 to the San Diego Chargers as the Steelers had been stopped on 4th & goal at the Chargers' three-yard-line in the final minutes.
The Steelers had a ferocious defense led by linebackers Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd and an offense that had become a pass-first offense under quarterback Neil O' Donnell.
Plus, the Steelers had a secret weapon in rookie quarterback Kordell Stewart, who they lined up at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver earning him the nickname "Slash".
While the Steelers had secured the AFC Central and a first-round-bye, they still needed a win over the Packers plus a Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Seattle Seahawks to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs.
If the Steelers were going to win, they would have to do it without their top three running backs as Erric Pegram, Bam Morris, and John L. Williams were all out with injuries, meaning Fred McAfee and Tim Lester would have to carry the load at running back.
The stakes could not be higher for both teams as they played in front of a soldout crowd at Lambeau Field on Christmas Eve where gameday temperatures was just a nudge above 20 degrees with a wind chill of 9 degrees.
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| Packers wide receiver Robert Brooks caught 11 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. |
The Steelers got the ball first and drove from their 19-yard-line to their 47-yard-line when O' Donnell went deep on 3rd & 5 and fired a pass for Ernie Mills, only to have Mills drop the pass and what would have been a 53-yard touchdown that would have put the Steelers on the scoreboard first.
Pittsburgh would be forced to punt to the Packers, who drove 36 yards to the their 45-yard-line before punting the ball back to the Steelers who took over at their nine-yard-line.
The Steelers would drive 54 yards in 11 plays until they were faced with a 4th & 1 situation at the Packers' 37-yard-line.
Figuring a long field goal would be difficult to make, Cowher decided to go for the 1st down as Stewart lined up as quarterback on the play.
Stewart took the snap and tossed it to McAfee, who was stopped for no gain by Packers linebacker George Koonce giving Green Bay the ball with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter.
From there, the Packers would drive to the Pittsburgh 18-yard-line as Favre completed passes of 13 + 9 yards to Robert Brooks while Edgar Bennett would run for 23 yards on the final play of the opening quarter.
As the second quarter began, Favre connected with tight end Mark Chumra for nine yards, then handed it off to Bennett who ran it in for the nine-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 7-0 lead just 42 seconds into the second quarter.
The Packers would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 33-yard-line and drove to the Pittsburgh 30-yard-line as Favre completed four of five passes for 38 yards on the drive, three of those passes going to Brooks for 35 yards, until Favre was sacked on 3rd & 5 by Steelers linebacker Jason Gildon, causing a fumble that was recovered by Steelers cornerback Carnell Lake to give Pittsburgh the ball at its own 47-yard-line.
O' Donnell would complete five of six passes for 38 yards on a drive which culiminated with the Steelers' first points of the game, a 33-yard field goal by Norm Johnson to cut the Packers' lead to 7-3 with 5:03 left in the second quarter.
The Packers would begin its ensuing possession at its 18-yard-line where after a two-yard run by Bennett on the first play of the drive, Favre connected with Brooks for 14 yards, then with running back Dorsey Levens for 13 yards to give Green Bay a 1st down at its 47-yard-line.
On the very next play, disaster nearly struck as Favre's pass for Mark Ingram, appeared to be intercepted by Lake, only to have officials rule that Lake did not get both feet in bounds, thus making it an incomplete pass.
Favre took advantage of the reprieve as hit Ingram for 28 yards on the very next play to give Green Bay a 1st down at the Steelers' 25-yard-line.
Then after a six-yard run by Bennett, Favre found Brooks for a 19-yard touchdown to increase the Packers' lead to 14-3 with 1:56 left before halftime.
The Steelers would get the ball at their 30-yard-line for their next possession hoping to get some points before the end of the first half.
Going to a no-huddle offense, O'Donnell would complete back-to-back passes to Andre Hastings that totaled 29 yards to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Packers' 41-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass, O'Donnell would complete his next four passes for 33 yards to give the Steelers a 1st & goal at the Green Bay eight-yard-line as time winded down in the first half.
Following another incomplete pass, O'Donnell found Mills who in the back of the end zone, who this time held on for the eight-yard touchdown to cut the Green Bay lead to 14-10 with 20 seconds left in the first half.
Favre would take a knee to send both teams into the locker room with the Packers holding on to a 14-10 halftime lead.
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| Steelers quarterback Neil O' Donnell completed 33 of 55 passes for 318 yards and throw one touchdown. |
After both teams punted on their opening possessions of the second half, the Packers got the ball at the Steelers' 32-yard-line where on 2nd down, Favre threw a screen pass to Levens, who turned into a 23-yard gain to give Green Bay a 1st & goal at the nine-yard-line.
After Bennett was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Favre scrambled to tried to get in the end zone, only to be crushed by Steelers strong safety Myron Bell at the one-yard-line, causing the Packers to call timeout as Favre begin to spit out blood following the hit.
Favre would catch his breath and throw an one-yard touchdown pass to Chumra to push the Packers' lead back to 11 points at 21-10 with 9:26 left in the third quarter.
The Steelers would respond with a l2-play, 72-yard drive that took off more than six minutes off the clock and ended with a 25-yard field goal by Johnson to cut the Packers' lead to 21-13 with 3:12 remaining in third quarter.
The Packers would begin its ensuing possession at its 13-yard-line as Favre would complete his next passes for a total of 45 yards to drive Green Bay to the Pittsburgh 38-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.
However, on the opening play of the first quarter, Favre would be knocked woozy following a hit by Greene on an incomplete pass intended for Levens.
This time, Favre would come out of the game and be replaced by Jim McMahon, who after a three-yard run by Bennett, completed a six-yard pass to Brooks, to set up Chris Jacke's 47-yard field goal which pushed the Packers' lead back to 11 points at 24-13 with 13:26 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers would get the ball back at their 33-yard-line when O'Donnell connected with Yancey Thigpen for 20 yards to start the drive and give Pittsburgh a 1st down at the Green Bay 47-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 12 from the Packers' 49-yard-line, O'Donnell hit Hastings for a 36-yard completion to put the Steelers at the Green Bay 13-yard-line.
Following two passes to Stewart that picked up 11 yards, Lester would score his first career NFL touchdown on a two-yard run to cut the Green Bay lead to 24-19.
The Steelers would go for two to try and make it a three-point game but Stewart, who lined up at quarterback, threw an incomplete pass to keep the score 24-19 with 9:49 left in the fourth quarter.
When the Packers' offense came back onto the field to begin their next possession at their 29-yard-line, Favre would come back in and complete his next three passes for 26 yards until he threw an incomplete pass on 3rd & 5 at the Pittsburgh 40-yard-line, forcing Green Bay to punt the ball back to the Steelers who took over at their 20-yard-line with over five minutes left in the game.
The drive would begin with a 11-yard pass from O'Donnell to tight end Mark Bruener for a 1st down, followed by a nine-yard completion to Mills to set up 2nd & 1 where O'Donnell's pass for Stewart would fall incomplete.
O'Donnell would look for Stewart again on 3rd down, this time hitting him for six yards and a 1st down at the Pittsburgh 46-yard-line, which was followed by a 13-yard pass to Thigpen to put the Steelers in Green Bay territory at the Packers' 41-yard-line.
O'Donnell would hit Thigpen for five yards on 1st down, only to give the five yards back when left tackle John Jackson was called for a false start, setting up 2nd & 10 when O'Donnell found Stewart for 15 yards and a 1st down at the Green Bay 26-yard-line.
An incomplete pass, followed by a three-yard run by McAfee, and then a six-yard pass to Hastings set up a do-or-die 4th & 1 at the Packers' 17-yard-line.
That is when O'Donnell tried to sneak to pick up the 1st down, only to be met by Green Bay defensive tackles Gilbert Brown and John Jurkovic, who were convinced they stopped O'Donnell short of the 1st down.
A measurement was taken to see how far O'Donnell had made it which took several seconds as officials tried to make sure they got the spot right(Remember there was no instant replay in 1995).
The chains showed that O'Donnell had made the 1st down, though the Packers believed he had been short and that the referees gave him a generous spot, but the call stood and it was 1st & 10 at the Green Bay 16-yard-line.
Then after two more incomplete passes and a nine-yard run by McAfee, the Steelers were faced with another 4th & 1, this time at the Green Bay seven-yard-line.
There would be no need for a measurement this time as Lester picked up the 1st down after a two-yard-run to give the Steelers a 1st & goal at the Packers' five-yard-line as O'Donnell would spike the ball with 29 seconds to go.
O'Donnell tried to find Thigpen in the end zone on 2nd down, but couldn't and was forced throw the ball away to set up 3rd down when Stewart lined at quarterback in the shotgun formation.
Stewart attempted to a draw only to be dropped for an one-yard-loss by Packers strong saftey LeRoy Butler and defensive end Sean Jones, forcing the Steelers to spend their final timeout as they would face another 4th down conversion, this time needing six yards.
That is when O' Donnell dropped back and fired a pass toward the left corner of the end zone where Thigpen was wide open, only for Thigpen to juggle and drop the ball on a sure touchdown that would have given the Steelers the lead.
Instead, it fell for an incomplete pass and gave the ball back to the Packers with 11 seconds left at their six-yard-line.
Favre took a knee to run out the clock and begin the celebration at Lambeau Field as the Packers celebrated not only the 24-19 win but also their first division title since 1972.
In a postgame interview, Thigpen said "That's my Christmas present right there to Green Bay".
Thigpen was able to laugh off the drop as the Chiefs defeated the Seahawks 26-3 to clinch the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs, meaning even if the Steelers won they still wouldn't have gotten home field advantage.
But in the end, the Steelers would get home field advantage as the Chiefs were knocked out in the Divisional Round by the Indianapolis Colts in a 10-7 upset while the Steelers defeated the Buffalo Bills 40-21 to advance to the AFC Championship Game which was played in Pittsburgh as the Steelers held off the Colts 20-16 as Jim Harbaugh's "Hail Mary" pass on the final play of regulation fell incomplete(To read more about that game, click on the link which is highlighted: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-steelers.html).
As for the Packers, they would host the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card Round where they easily defeated the Falcons 37-20 to advance to the Divisional Round where they shocked the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers 27-17 to earn a trip to the NFC Championship Game where they would fall to the Dallas Cowboys 38-28.
However, the Packers would come back the following season and win their first Super Bowl in 29 years ,which was followed by another trip to the Super Bowl in 1997 where they would fall to the Denver Broncos.
Since 1995, Green Bay has won 15 division titles, 3 NFC championships and two Super Bowls, once again living up to the town's nickname of "Titletown, USA".
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| Packers head coach Mike Holmgren and defensive end Sean Jones hug it out after the Packers clinched their first division title since 1972. |
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