1998_Green_Bay_Packers_season
1998 Green Bay Packers season
NFL team season
The 1998 season was the Green Bay Packers' 78th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 80th overall. The Packers entered the 1998 campaign as the two-time defending NFC champions, losing the Super Bowl the year before. The season began with the team attempting to improve on their 13–3 record from 1997, three-peat as National Football Conference (NFC) champions, and win their second Super Bowl in three years.
| 1998 Green Bay Packers season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Green Bay Packers, Inc. |
| President | Bob Harlan |
| General manager | Ron Wolf |
| Head coach | Mike Holmgren |
| Home field | Lambeau Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–5 |
| Division place | 2nd NFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at 49ers) 27–30 |
| Pro Bowlers | WR Antonio Freeman WR Roell Preston TE Mark Chmura SS LeRoy Butler |
| |
With an 11–5 record on the season, during which the Minnesota Vikings brought an end to the Packers' 25-game home winning streak in Week 5, Green Bay finished second in the NFC Central, the first time in four years that they had not won the division. They qualified for the playoffs as the NFC's fifth seed, but they were beaten 30–27 by the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card round, with Steve Young throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens with three seconds left.[1] This was the final season that the Packers would qualify for the postseason during the 1990s; they would not return to the playoffs until 2001.[citation needed] It was also the last season with the team for both head coach Mike Holmgren and Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White.[2][3]
| Additions | Subtractions |
|---|---|
| P Sean Landeta (Buccaneers) | FS Eugene Robinson (Falcons) |
| LB Antonio London (Lions) | RB Edgar Bennett (Bears) |
| CB Doug Evans (Panthers) | |
| DE Gabe Wilkins (49ers) |
1998 NFL draft
Notably, the Packers drafted future all-pro quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in the 6th round (187th overall).[4]
| Round | Sel# | Player | Pos. | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Vonnie Holliday | DT | North Carolina |
| 3 | 90 | Jonathan Brown | DE | Tennessee |
| 4 | 121 | Roosevelt Blackmon | CB | Morris Brown |
| 5 | 150 | Corey Bradford | WR | Jackson State |
| 6 | 156 | Scott McGarrahan | SS | New Mexico |
| 6 | 187 | Matt Hasselbeck | QB | Boston College |
| 7 | 218 | Edwin Watson | RB | Purdue |
Undrafted free agents
| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Keaton Cromartie | Linebacker | Tulane |
| Jason Davis | Punter | Oklahoma State |
| Terrell Farley | Cornerback | Nebraska |
| David Hoelscher | Defensive end | Eastern Kentucky |
| Chris McCoy | Running back | Navy |
| Jude Waddy | Linebacker | William & Mary |
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
|
| 1998 Green Bay Packers roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Injured Reserve
Practice squad
53 active, 12 inactive, 5 practice squad rookies in italics | |||
Preseason
In the 1998 NFL Preseason, the Packers traveled to Japan to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Tokyo Dome. It was the ninth American Bowl game to be staged at the 48,000 capacity stadium.[6]
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 27–24 | 1–0 | Tokyo Dome | 42,018 |
| 2 | August 8 | New Orleans Saints | W 31–7 | 2–0 | Lambeau Field | 60,080 |
| 3 | August 16 | Oakland Raiders | L 21–27 | 2–1 | Lambeau Field | 60,078 |
| 4 | August 24 | at Denver Broncos | L 31–34 | 2–2 | Mile High Stadium | 73,183 |
| 5 | August 28 | at Miami Dolphins | L 7–21 | 2–3 | Pro Player Stadium | 61,915 |
Regular season
The Packers finished the 1998 regular with an 11–5 record in 2nd place in the NFC Central (qualifying for an NFC Wild Card playoff game), behind the Randall Cunningham-led 15–1 Vikings.[7]
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 6 | Detroit Lions | W 38–19 | 1–0 | Lambeau Field | 60,102 |
| 2 | September 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 23–15 | 2–0 | Lambeau Field | 60,124 |
| 3 | September 20 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 13–6 | 3–0 | Cinergy Field | 56,346 |
| 4 | September 27 | at Carolina Panthers | W 37–30 | 4–0 | Ericsson Stadium | 69,723 |
| 5 | October 5 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–37 | 4–1 | Lambeau Field | 59,849 |
| 6 | Bye | |||||
| 7 | October 15 | at Detroit Lions | L 20–27 | 4–2 | Pontiac Silverdome | 77,932 |
| 8 | October 25 | Baltimore Ravens | W 28–10 | 5–2 | Lambeau Field | 59,860 |
| 9 | November 1 | San Francisco 49ers | W 36–22 | 6–2 | Lambeau Field | 59,794 |
| 10 | November 9 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 20–27 | 6–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | 60,507 |
| 11 | November 15 | at New York Giants | W 37–3 | 7–3 | Giants Stadium | 76,272 |
| 12 | November 22 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 14–28 | 7–4 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 64,471 |
| 13 | November 29 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–16 | 8–4 | Lambeau Field | 59,862 |
| 14 | December 7 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 22–24 | 8–5 | Raymond James Stadium | 65,497 |
| 15 | December 13 | Chicago Bears | W 26–20 | 9–5 | Lambeau Field | 59,813 |
| 16 | December 20 | Tennessee Oilers | W 30–22 | 10–5 | Lambeau Field | 59,888 |
| 17 | December 27 | at Chicago Bears | W 16–13 | 11–5 | Soldier Field | 58,393 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text
| Playoff round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Game site | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | January 3, 1999 | San Francisco 49ers (4) | L 30-27 | 0-1 | Candlestick Park |
| NFC Central | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| (1) Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 1 | 0 | .938 | 556 | 296 | W8 |
| (5) Green Bay Packers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 408 | 319 | W3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 314 | 295 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 306 | 378 | L4 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 276 | 368 | L1 |
Week 1
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Date: September 6, 1998
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C)
- Game attendance: 60,102
- TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton and Matt Millen
- Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database
NFC Wild Card Playoff
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 3 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 27 |
| 49ers | 7 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
at 3Com Park, San Francisco
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
- Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C), clear
- Game attendance: 66,506
- Referee: Gerald Austin
- TV announcers (Fox): Pat Summerall (play-by-play) and John Madden (color commentator)
The 49ers defeated the Packers, who had eliminated them from the playoffs in each of the past 3 seasons, in one of the wildest back-and-forth games in league playoff history. After a Brett Favre touchdown to Antonio Freeman with 1:55 to go, Steve Young began driving the Niners down field; Jerry Rice had just one catch for six yards all game, coming on this drive and when he fumbled the ball, but was ruled down by contact, but instant replay was not available at the time. The next play, Young's pass fell incomplete and was initially ruled intercepted. With eight seconds to go, Young from the Packers 25 dropped back, momentarily stumbled, then launched the ball where it was caught in the end zone by Terrell Owens, who had dropped several catches during the game.
- Brett Favre, NFL leader, passing yards (4,212)
- Brett Favre, NFC leader, attempts (551)
- Brett Favre, NFC leader, completions (347)
- Brett Favre, NFC leader, pass completion percentage (63)
- Brett Favre, NFC leader (tied), interceptions (23)
- Reggie White, National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award
- Reggie White, NFC leader, sacks (16.0)
Milestones
- Brett Favre, second 4,000-yard passing season (finished season with 4,212)
- "Packers lose 30–27". Packers.com. January 3, 1999. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
- "Mike Holmgren's stats page". profootballreference.com. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
- "Hall of Famers – Reggie White". Packers.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
- "NFL Draft History – Green Bay Packers". NFL. Archived from the original on January 29, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
- "All Time Coaches Database". Packers.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
- "Packers win 27–24". Packers.com. August 1, 1998. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
- "1998 NFL Standings". NFL. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2007.