1998 Green Bay Packers season

1998 Green Bay Packers season
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 DB LeRoy Butler
← 1997 Packers seasons 1999 →

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. They aimed to threepeat in the NFC for a third consecutive year. 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]

Offseason[]

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]

1998 NFL Draft selections

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[]

1998 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Jim Nelson	Linebacker	Penn State

Staff[]

1998 Green Bay Packers staff

	Front office President/Chief Executive Officer – Bob Harlan Executive Vice President/General Manager – Ron Wolf Director of Player Personnel – Ted Thompson Director of Pro Personnel – Reggie McKenzie Director of College Scouting – John Dorsey Pro Personnel Assistant – Will Lewis Head coaches Head Coach – Mike Holmgren Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Sherman Lewis Quarterbacks – Andy Reid Running Backs – Harry Sydney Wide Receivers – Nolan Cromwell Offensive Line – Tom Lovat Assistant Offensive Line/Tight Ends – Mike Sherman Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Gary Reynolds			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Fritz Shurmur Defensive Line – Larry Brooks Linebackers – Jim Lind Defensive Backs/Secondary – Bob Valesente Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Ken Flajole Special teams coaches Special Teams – Johnny Holland Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Kent Johnston Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Barry Rubin

^[5]

Roster[]

1998 Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks  4 Brett Favre 13 Rick Mirer 18 Doug Pederson Running Backs 27 Michael Blair 29 Raymont Harris 33 William Henderson FB 22 Darick Holmes 32 Travis Jervey 48 Jim Kitts FB 25 Dorsey Levens Wide Receivers 85 Corey Bradford 87 Robert Brooks 86 Antonio Freeman 82 Brian Manning 80 Derrick Mayes 88 Roell Preston 84 Bill Schroeder Tight Ends 89 Mark Chmura 81 Tyrone Davis 47 Scott Galbraith 83 Jeff Thomason		Offensive Linemen 70 Joe Andruzzi T 67 Jeff Dellenbach C 72 Earl Dotson T 58 Mike Flanagan C 62 Marco Rivera G 63 Adam Timmerman G 78 Ross Verba T 76 Matt Willig T 68 Mike Wahle G 52 Frank Winters C Defensive Linemen 91 Jonathan Brown DE 90 Vonnie Holliday DE 92 Reggie White DE 96 Vaughn Booker DE 93 Gilbert Brown DT 71 Santana Dotson DT 94 Bob Kuberski DT 98 Billy Lyon DT		Linebackers 55 Bernardo Harris OLB 56 Lamont Hollinquest OLB 53 George Koonce MLB 57 Jim Nelson MLB 54 Jude Waddy OLB 51 Brian Williams OLB 95 Keith McKenzie OLB Defensive Backs 23 Roosevelt Blackmon CB 46 Juran Bolden CB 21 Craig Newsome CB 31 Rod Smith CB 37 Tyrone Williams CB 36 LeRoy Butler SS 42 Darren Sharper FS 45 Kerry Cooks CB 43 Scott McGarrahan FS 39 Mike Prior SS 40 Pat Terrell FS/SS Special Teams  8 Ryan Longwell K  7 Sean Landeta P 60 Rob Davis LS		Injured Reserve 57 Antonio London OLB (IR) 28 Roderick Mullen CB (IR) 35 Edwin Watson FB (IR) Practice Squad 11 Matt Hasselbeck QB Rookies in italics

Schedule[]

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]

Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
August 1	Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–24	1–0	Tokyo Dome	42,018
August 8	New Orleans Saints	W 31–7	2–0	Lambeau Field	60,080
August 16	Oakland Raiders	L 21–27	2–1	Lambeau Field	60,078
August 24	at Denver Broncos	L 31–34	2–2	Mile High Stadium	73,183
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

Standings[]

NFC Central
view talk	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

Season summary[]

Week 1[]

Playoffs[]

NFC Wild Card Playoff[]

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. 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.

Awards and records[]

• 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)

References[]