Best moments in the 49ers-Packers rivalry.
The San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers will meet again in the NFC Divisional Round.
This will be yet another edition in a postseason rivalry that stole the spotlight in the 1990s, with both teams led by legendary quarterbacks in Steve Young and Brett Favre. The rivalry has been renewed multiple times in the 21st century.
Saturday will be the ninth playoff showdown between these teams, tying the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams as the most common playoff matchup in NFL history. The teams have split the previous eight meetings, with the 49ers riding a streak of three consecutive postseason victories dating back to 2012.
Here are some of the most defining moments between these foes, as chosen by NFL Nation reporters Rob Demovsky and Nick Wagoner.
1995 NFC DIVISIONAL ROUND.
The first postseason meeting between the two teams was also the first time Green Bay head coach Mike Holmgren coached against San Francisco, where he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 1986-91 and won two Super Bowls.
This game was all Green Bay.
The Packers’ defense came up with four steals. The party started when linebacker Wayne Simmons forced a fumble on San Francisco’s first offensive play that cornerback Craig Newsome returned for a touchdown. The Packers took advantage of their hot start to take a 21-0 lead in the first half. 49ers quarterback Steve Young attempted a playoff-record 65 passes, but it still wasn’t enough to take the win and the defending Super Bowl champions lost 27-17.
1996 NFC Divisional Round
Nicknamed the “Mud Bowl” because of the poor conditions at Lambeau Field, this was the Packers’ first postseason victory en route to winning Super Bowl XXXI. As in their last Divisional Round matchup, Favre and company took a three-touchdown lead in the first half. But this time, two Green Bay turnovers helped San Francisco recover and their lead was cut to 21-14.
Once again, the Packers’ defense aided in the scoring efforts by recording five steals against a Niners offense that was without Young for most of the game due to rib fractures.
Green Bay scored the final 14 points to take the 35-14 victory.
1997 NFC Championship Game
Green Bay was the reigning Super Bowl champion, but had to travel to Candlestick Park in the postseason.
The visiting team had a 13-3 lead at halftime, but a scoreless third quarter kept the game within reach for San Francisco.
The Packers scored 10 points in the final quarter before their opponent found the diagonals for the first time on a 95-yard kickoff return for touchdown by running back Chuck Levy.
It was too little too late, Green Bay notched its third straight playoff win over San Francisco, 23-10.
Packers deep man LeRoy Butler, creator of the Lambeau Leap, grew fond of a familiar postseason opponent.
“I probably enjoyed playing against San Francisco more than anybody,” Butler told Forbes in 2020. “Beating them was very satisfying, because I knew all those guys would be in the Hall of Fame. The quarterback, the receivers, the linebackers, the head coach, the owner.”
1998 NFC Wild Card Round
Unlike their previous postseason matchups, Game 4 was a back-and-forth battle. It all came down to the last series.
The first and only reception of the game for Jerry Rice came with less than 40 seconds left to play. Despite clearly having lost possession of the ball, the officials got the call wrong and instant replay was not in use at the time, so the series continued.
Young found Terrell Owens for a 25-yard scoring strike that sealed the victory and was known as “The Catch II,” as an ode to the Joe Montana-Dwight Clark connection known as “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the Cowboys.
San Francisco ended its losing streak of three consecutive postseason losses to Green Bay with a 30-27 win and it was a moment that helped turn Owens into a superstar.
2012 NFC Divisional Round
This game was Colin Kaepernick’s postseason debut.
In just his eighth NFL start, Kaepernick set a record for quarterbacks rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns and threw two touchdown passes along with 263 air yards.
San Francisco came away with a 45-31 victory.
2013 NFC Wild Card Round
The 49ers and Packers faced a frigid temperature at kickoff of 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 degrees Celsius) at Lambeau Field. The game turned into a duel between Aaron Rodgers and Kaepernick as well as the teams’ kickers.
Rodgers led the offense downfield for Mason Crosby’s game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter, but there were more than five minutes left on the clock for Kaepernick’s squad. San Francisco’s next series included four consecutive carries by Frank Gore that forced Green Bay to exhaust its three timeouts.
Phil Dawson’s 33-yard field goal to take the lead was the difference maker that lifted the Niners over the Packers, 23-20.
2019 NFC Championship Game.
This matchup was decided early as the 49ers took a 27-0 lead into halftime.
Raheem Mostert ran all over Green Bay, racking up 220 ground yards and four touchdowns. As a result of the dominant ground attack, Jimmy Garoppolo only threw eight passes, tying the second fewest passes thrown in a playoff game. He even went 24 minutes of playing time between his sixth and seventh passes.
San Francisco’s 37-20 win sent the 49ers to the Super Bowl, where they eventually lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
