We’re really getting to the good stuff now!...well, sort of. There are a couple heartbreakers in here that were critical moments for the franchise. Games that you almost certainly have not revisited, and almost certainly would not. But the other stuff… oh yeah. Classics.

The march on toward number one continues. Here we go!

#20 to #16

20. New York Giants at Green Bay Packers, 2007 NFC Championship (NYG 23, GB 20 in OT)

Overall score: 7.46/10 (20/55)

Significance: 8.14/10 (10/55)

Entertainment value: 6.31/10 (49/55)

Intensity: 7.94/10 (12/55)

Heartbreak. The final game for Brett Favre in a Green Bay uniform, and the end of an era. With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line and a home game in frigid Lambeau Field, everything aligned for the Packers’ magical 2007 season to end with a date with the unbeaten New England Patriots. But, as we all know, it wasn’t to be. Favre looked like he wanted to be anywhere but the Frozen Tundra, and played like it, too. His final pass: an interception that essentially iced it. Some say former Giants coach Tom Coughlin’s face is still two shades pinker than it was when the game started. In hindsight, it is likely the Packers would have lost in the Super Bowl, and we never would have received one of the NFL’s greatest upsets. But at the time, with the Favre era about to end, this was a bitter pill to swallow. 

View full game here.

View highlights here.

19. Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers, 1992 (GB 24, CIN 23)

Overall score: 7.50/10 (19/55)

Significance: 8.62/10 (6/55)

Entertainment value: 7.48/10 (34/55)

Intensity: 6.41/10 (41/55)

It is rather fitting that we go directly from the game that ended the Brett Favre era to the one that began it. No one would have ever expected that a September game between these two teams would end up reverberating through the football ages, but that’s exactly what happened, and fans voted this to be the sixth-most significant game the franchise had over the three decades covered by this poll. When Don Majkowski goes down with an injury, the recently acquired Favre, a former second-round pick that Atlanta gave up on after a single year, entered the game. Exit Wally Pipp, enter Lou Gehrig. Favre led the Packers to an impressive comeback victory, capped by a late game-winning touchdown to Kitrick Taylor (the only one they ever connected for). It was the birth of a new era, and while fans could possibly sense something special had happened, they truly had no idea what was to come.

View full game here.

View highlights here.

18. Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks, 2014 NFC Championship Game (SEA 28, GB 22 in OT)

Overall score: 7.51/10 (18/55)

Significance: 8.23/10 (8/55)

Entertainment value: 6.00/10 (52/55)

Intensity: 8.29/10 (10/55)

The game that shall not be named. Not sure it gets worse than this. But the impact of this game cannot be overlooked; there’s a reason fans voted it the 8th-most significant game of this time period. The Packers had this game wrapped up, and they looked like Super Bowl favorites after a juggernaut season from Aaron Rodgers and a relatively solid defensive performance, the best the team had seen since its 2010 championship season. After this disaster, the Mike McCarthy Packers were never the same again. Sure, they captured lightning in a bottle in the 2016 Run the Table stretch, and they had some strong stretches here and there, but something broke in this team on this day. 

View full game here.

View highlights here. 

17. San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers, 1996 Divisional Playoffs (GB 35, SF 14)

Overall score: 7.51/10 (17/55)

Significance: 7.83/10 (12/55)

Entertainment value: 7.75/10 (28/55)

Intensity: 6.95/10 (34/55)

On to happier things. This is perhaps my favorite Packer game of all time. I was a kid for the Packers’ 96 Super Bowl run, just to the point where I was watching every game all the way through. The combination of the insane conditions (MUD!!!), Desmond Howard’s magic, and the Packers’ continued magical run toward inevitability made this one special. This game was actually pretty close for a half or so, but opened up later on, and the Packers got a crucial third victory in a row against a 49ers team they now owned.

View full game here.

View highlights here.

16. Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers, 2000 (GB 26, MIN 20 in OT)

Overall score: 7.6 (16/55)

Significance: 6.14/10 (30/55)

Entertainment value: 8.94/10 (8/55)

Intensity: 7.73/10 (15/55)

He did WHAT?! A back-and-forth rainy Monday Night Football game against a divisional rival is always going to make for good television, but then you add in an all-time highlight play (and call by Al Michaels) and this is one that will stand the test of time. Antonio Freeman’s inexplicable juggle and catch off his back while on the ground is permanently etched in my memory, as is most of this game: the first Packer game I ever attended, and the only one I was fortunate enough to be able to attend with my father. Great memories abound.

View full game here. 

View highlights here.

_______

CURRENT RANKINGS:

Honorable Mentions:

55. Denver at Green Bay, 2003

54. Seattle at Green Bay, 2012

53. Packers at Vikings, 1997

52. Packers at Broncos, 2007

51. Packers at Patriots, 1997

Countdown:

50. Detroit at Green Bay, 2011

49. Tennessee at Green Bay, 2020

48. Baltimore at Green Bay, 2001

47. Green Bay at Miami, 2014

46. Chicago at Green Bay, 2014

45. Atlanta at Green Bay, 1994

44. LA Raiders at Green Bay, 1993

43. Tampa Bay at Green Bay, 1999

42. Seattle at Green Bay, 2016

41. San Francisco at Green Bay, 2013-2014 Wild Card

40. Green Bay at Dallas, 2007

39. Minnesota at Green Bay, 1999

38. Green Bay at Chicago, 2021

37. New Orleans at Green Bay, 2011

36. Green Bay at Minnesota, 2019

35. Seattle at Green Bay, 2007 divisional playoffs

34. Minnesota at Green Bay, 2010

33. Detroit at Green Bay, 1994 wild card

32. Dallas at Green Bay, 2022

31. Green Bay at Arizona, 2021

30. San Francisco at Green Bay, 1996

29. Super Bowl XXXII

28. Dallas at Green Bay, 1997

27. Green Bay at Dallas, 2017

26. Green Bay at Arizona, 2015-2016 NFL Divisional Playoffs

25. Green Bay at Dallas, 2013

24. Green Bay at San Francisco, 1998 Wild Cards

23. Green Bay at Detroit, 2015

22. New England at Green Bay, 2014

21. Pittsburgh at Green Bay, 1995

20. New York Giants at Green Bay, 2007 NFC Championship

19. Cincinnati at Green Bay, 1992

18. Green Bay at Seattle, 2014 NFC Championship

17. San Francisco at Green Bay, 1996 Divisional Playoffs

16. Minnesota at Green Bay, 2000

METHODOLOGY:

• Fans had the opportunity to submit games they loved into a Google form
• The 55 most-mentioned games were chosen to be in this poll
• Fans voted in the poll, giving a 1-10 rating for each game in three categories:
  • SIGNIFICANCE: How important or significant is the game to the franchise?
  • ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: How entertaining do you find the game?
  • INTENSITY: How intense was the action or atmosphere for the game?
• With all votes in, I created averages in each of these categories for each games. Their overall ranking is the mean value of the averages for each of those categories using the formula: (SIG + ENT + INT)/3