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Green Bay vs. Tampa Bay
12/24/00 - Packers Win 17-14
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| RB Ahman Green continued his stellar December, rushing for two touchdowns and accounting for 152 total yards. |
Packers' Season Ends with Overtime Thriller.
The Green Bay Packers' season came to an end Sunday with a 17-14 overtime
victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Because the St. Louis Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints, the Packers
missed qualifying for the playoffs. The defending Super Bowl champion Rams
filled the sixth and final NFC postseason slot with a 10-6 record, just one
game in front of 9-7 Green Bay.
The 59,692 in attendance at Lambeau Field, who braved frigid 15-degree
temperatures with a minus-15 wind chill at game time, were nevertheless
treated to Green Bay's second overtime win of the season.
Ryan Longwell's 22-yard game-ending field goal gave the Packers their fourth
consecutive victory and their seventh win in 10 games. They finished the
season 6-2 at Lambeau Field.
"I hope it sends a message that things in Green Bay are getting to a point
where you'd better have your chin strap buckled when you play the Packers,"
said Packers Head Coach Mike Sherman after the game.
"I think we're a playoff-caliber team right now," Sherman went on to say.
"We stumbled a couple of times this season on a couple of games that will
stay with me for the rest of my life. I think we're the type of team right
now, we just came up short at the end. Very often a 9-7 team makes it into
the playoffs. This just doesn't happen to be one of those years."
Sherman kept the stadium in suspense all afternoon when he arranged to keep
the scoreboard from flashing scores of the St. Louis-New Orleans and
Detroit-Chicago games, which were not shown in order to prevent distractions
on the sideline.
The Packers not only needed a New Orleans victory, but also a Chicago win.
The team, including Sherman, were unaware of their fate as the Bears
defeated the Lions and the Rams grabbed the final playoff spot.
"I found out when I walked into the locker room (after the game) and asked
someone, and they told me," the coach explained. "My reaction was, 'We'll
get them next year.' "
Buccaneers kicker Martin Gramatica could have provided his team victory with
14 seconds to play in the game, but instead he sent a 40-yard field goal
wide right.
The Packers won the overtime coin toss and took possession at their own
38-yard line following Allen Rossum's 29-yard kickoff return.
A first-down catch by fullback William Henderson and two runs by Ahman Green
placed the Packers on the Tampa Bay 45-yard line with a third-and-4.
But Green, who already had rushed for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns, then was
forced to leave the playing field after being kicked in the ankle.
Backup De'Mond Parker entered and quickly made a dramatic impact, catching a
six-yard pass from Brett Favre to gain a first down.
Parker, who Sunday celebrated his 24th birthday, then took 5 consecutive
handoffs of 4, 5, 6, -1 and 21 yards to set up Longwell's game- and
season-ending attempt.
"He came in colder than heck and put us in position," Sherman said of
Parker. "I think he did a tremendous job. He was put in a very
pressure-cooker situation and responded. I think that tells you a lot about
the young man."
"The offensive line made some big blocks, and I just ran through the big
holes and did my thing," Parker said. "Ahman went down, and so it was up to
me to step up. That's what I did, just made my plays and stepped up."
Green Bay managed the only score of the first half on an 11 play, 48-yard
drive, which used 5:42 of the first-quarter clock.
One of the game's key plays came during the series, when on fourth-and-4
from the Tampa Bay 32, the Packers elected not to kick into the cold,
swirling, 15-mph winds.
Instead, Favre took the snap and passed to wide receiver Donald Driver for
13 yards and a first down. Four plays later, Green raced across the goal
line.
Green's three-yard run was the only score until 10:01 to play in the third
quarter, when he again rumbled into the end zone on a two-yard run. His 10
rushing touchdowns for the season are the most by a Packers player since
Terdell Middleton's 11 in 1978.
In addition to his rushing performance, which gave him 1,175 yards on the
ground in 2000, Green was the Packers' leading receiver on Sunday, catching
9 passes for 78 yards.
Later in the quarter, Gramatica connected from 38 yards to cut the lead to
14-3.
Tampa Bay switched to a no-huddle offense in the fourth quarter and had
success, going 84 yards in 6 plays. Shaun King found Keyshawn Johnson open
in the end zone from 18 yards, and then King scored on a two-point
conversion to get his team within 14-11.
After Favre was intercepted by Buccaneers safety John Lynch, Tampa Bay was
in position for Gramatica's tying 43-yard field goal with 7:50 left in the
fourth period.
But that was the extent of the Bucs' scoring, as the Packers kept them off
the scoreboard the rest of the way.
"We played hard, all the way around," said Tampa Bay Head Coach Tony Dungy,
whose team still is headed to the playoffs as a wild-card winner. "We had
trouble converting our third downs. In this game we had our chances to win,
but we had three bad drives - the Packers stopped them all.
"This (Tampa Bay) is a good team - we have been playing well. In Green Bay,
we keep getting close, but we can't pull it off."
The Buccaneers nearly did pull off the victory, thanks in large part to four
Packers turnovers on two interceptions and two lost fumbles.
Green Bay counterbalanced their errors with timely plays and solid defense.
The first half, in particular, saw little production from the Tampa Bay
offense against the defenders of the Green and Gold. The warm-weather
visitors did not get a first down until nearly 12 minutes into the game and
had just 5 first downs in the half. The Bucs punted to end all seven of
their first-half drives.
"We sustained our defense well the first part of the game," said Packers
safety Darren Sharper. "Then they came out and ran a little no huddle, kind
of threw us off guard a little bit and were able to get some yards and make
some plays. We busted a coverage and gave them a touchdown, and then they
also scored later on kicking field goals. But we thought we held them in
check pretty much. That's a tough team to hold in the fourth quarter
because of their offensive threats."
The Packers will watch the playoffs from home, even though they've defeated
three of the six teams representing the NFC in the postseason - the
Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay. Green Bay did not
play the other three conference teams still alive (St. Louis, New Orleans
and New York Giants).
"Our goal to start the season was to make the playoffs, and that's a
disappointment in itself," said Sherman. "But what this team has achieved
in the face of continuous adversity throughout the season makes this season
very gratifying for me. Up in that locker room is, I believe, a special
group of men who know what it takes to be a Green Bay Packer.
"We've won five in a row at Lambeau, hopefully re-establishing it as a tough
place to play. We've won two overtime games against very good opponents
(Minnesota and Tampa Bay). We've won four in a row in December, which is
really the time of year when playoff and championship teams are built. So
in spite of the fact that we're not going to the playoffs, I will have a
very good Christmas."
Noteworthy
*Longwell tied a club record Sunday with his 33rd successful field
goal (in 38 attempts), tying Chester Marcol's 1972 mark.
*Green's 1,175 rushing yards rank as the fourth-best single-season
rushing mark in team annals behind only Jim Taylor's 1,474 in 1962 and 1,307
in 1961, and Dorsey Levens' 1,435 in 1997.
*Favre, who was 20-of-42 for 196 yards on Sunday, recorded his 100th
victory as a starter for the Packers. His 100-55 record as a starter
includes a 91-50 mark in the regular season and a 9-5 record in postseason
competition.
*Favre continued his mastery of the cold, pushing his home record
when the game-time temperatures are 34 degrees or below to 27-0.
*Wide receiver Bill Schroeder came within a yard of having his
second-consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season. His 999 follow a 1,051
performance in 1999.
*The Packers now own a perfect 4-0 regular-season record on Christmas
Eve. Their overall record on December 24 is 4-1, with their only loss at
the hands of the Washington Redskins in a 1972 divisional playoff game.
Game Highlights (Real Audio)
Packers-Bucaneers archived complete game broadcast (Real Audio)
Post-Game Audio Clips
Head Coach Mike Sherman (RealAudio)
QB Brett Favre (RealAudio)
RB Ahman Green (RealAudio)
K Ryan Longwell (RealAudio)
DE John Thierry (RealAudio)
T Mark Tauscher (RealAudio)
DE Vonnie Holliday (RealAudio)
G Marco Rivera (RealAudio)
DT Russel Maryland (RealAudio)
S Darren Sharper (RealAudio)
FB William Henderson (RealAudio)
QB Matt Hasselbeck (RealAudio)
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
GBP: A.Green run for 3yds and TOUCHDOWN (R.Longwell Extra Point is good)
2nd Quarter
No Scoring
3rd Quarter
TBB: M.Gramatica 38 yd Field Goal is good
GBP: A.Green run for 2yds and TOUCHDOWN (R.Longwell Extra Point is good)
4th Quarter
TBB: M.Gramatica 43yd Field Goal is good
TBB: S.King 18yd pass to K.Johnson and TOUCHDOWN. (S.King 2yd run for 2 point conversion)
Overtime
GBP: R.Longwell 22yd Field Goal is good!
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