1983 Green Bay Packers: A Wild Ride To .500

There was optimism abounding in Green Bay. While it taken the Bart Starr era several years to find its footing, the Packers had contended to the last week of the regular season in 1981, then made the playoffs in the strike-shortened year of 1982. They had a dynamic passing game. The 1983 Green Bay Packers were supposed to continue the upward trend. But while the ’83 Pack were exciting, they were also mediocre. Another near-miss in the final week of the season would spell the end of Starr’s coaching tenure.

Lynn Dickey was symbolic of the team. The quarterback could be brilliant and explosive—his 60 percent completion rate was ninth among starting QBs. And his 9.2 yards-per-attempt was off the chart fantastic, easily the best in the NFL. But he also made a lot of mistakes. The 32/29 TD-INT ratio and 6.0 percent interception rate says it all. While those latter numbers aren’t the automatic ticket to the unemployment line they would be today, Dickey was still the most mistake-prone quarterback in the league.

James Lofton was a big-play target. He caught 58 balls, and he averaged a stunning 22.4 yards-per-catch. Lofton got valuable support from John Jefferson, who caught 57 passes of his own. Paul Coffman was a Pro Bowl tight end, capable of stretching the field. And running back Gerry Ellis caught 52 passes out of the backfield, in addition to his nearly 700 rushing yards.

Larry McCarren, the 32-year-old center made the Pro Bowl and Green Bay’s offense finished fifth in the NFL for points scored. And they needed those points because the defense was a sieve. While Ezra Johnson was a talented pass rusher with 14 ½ sacks, and outside linebacker John Anderson intercepted five passes, there were no Pro Bowlers on D, and they finished 26^th in what was then a 28-team NFL for points allowed.

The Packers opened the season on the road against a terrible Houston Oilers team (today’s Tennessee Titans). Dickey was sizzling, going 27/31 for 333 yards and five touchdown passes. Lofton caught one of those, a 74-yard strike, that was the highlight of his 8 catches/154 yards day. Green Bay had a 31-17 lead in the fourth quarter. The defense made things interesting, but the Pack pulled out a 41-38 win.

They came back home to Lambeau Field to face the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers. Dickey to Lofton again made big plays—touchdown passes from 71 and 73 yards. But the Packers were pounded on the ground, losing rush yardage 285-87, and they lost the game 25-21.

The Los Angeles Rams came to Milwaukee’s old County Stadium, where the Pack used to play three home games a year. Dickey hit Jefferson with a 23-yard touchdown pass that keyed an early 17-0 lead. A defensive collapse, aided by three Dickey interceptions turned that into a 24-17 deficit. But Green Bay rallied with ten points in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 27-24 win that would loom large in the battle for the playoffs down the stretch.

Monday Night Football was the only regular prime-time slot in the NFL during this era. Green Bay’s passing offense and their playoff run of ’82 got them three dates with national television. The first one, in the Meadowlands, against the lowly New York Giants, was an epic disaster. After settling for a 20-yard field goal to open the scoring, the Packers did nothing right the rest of the evening. They were outrushed 208-53, lost three fumbles and took a 27-3 beatdown.

But what a bounceback the following week would be against woeful Tampa Bay. Phil Epps started the party at Lambeau Field with a 90-yard punt return. Linebacker Mike Douglas returned a fumble for a touchdown. Anderson brought an interception to the house. Dickey hit Lofton on a 57-yard strike and Jessie Clark from 75 yards out. The score was 49-7 at halftime. The final was 55-14.

Green Bay was nothing if not up and down and a road game against a key division rival in Detroit went back to being a disaster. They trailed 24-0 by halftime and lost 38-14.

Now 3-3, the Packers had another Monday Night game up. This one was against the defending Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. If Green Bay’s first MNF outing in New York had been an epic disaster, this one was simply epic.

It would be one of the most famous games in the history of Monday Night Football. Neither the Packers nor the Redskins could be stopped. Dickey finished 22/31 for 387 yards and three touchdowns. Coffman caught six balls for 124 yards. Lofton’s five catches went for 96 yards, although he also had a couple of important drops. Green Bay led 31-23, then fell behind, and was trailing 47-45 when they got ball back late in the game.

Ellis finished with four catches for 105 yards, and the biggest was a magnificent laser Dickey threw to him that turned into a 56-yard gain. It set up a field goal that gave the Packers a 48-47 lead. Washington raced back down the field and got a shot at a makeable field goal. But it missed. Green Bay’s incredible night ended with a win.

But the magic didn’t last. The Minnesota Vikings, another division contender, rolled into Lambeau the very next week and outrushed the Packers 211-87, building a 17-3 lead. Dickey rallied the Pack, throwing for 383 yards and a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns that tied the game. But the Vikings prevailed in overtime, 20-17.

A visit to Cincinnati saw a coaching matchup of Starr against the Bengals’ Forrest Gregg, both legends of Vince Lombardi’s great 1960s dynasty in Green Bay. Starr’s team got hammered up front again, losing rush yardage 223-73 and allowing Dickey to be sacked four times. A 34-14 rout left the Packers with a 4-5 record. The two weeks that had passed since the Monday Night magic seemed like an eternity.

The Cleveland Browns were on the playoff bubble in the AFC, and they came to Milwaukee for what had turned into something close to a must-win game for the Pack. Dickey threw four touchdowns, including an 18-yarder to Jefferson who caught seven passes for 102 yards. Ezra Johnson picked up two sacks. Green Bay built a 28-7 lead and closed out a badly needed 35-21 win.

Then the defense answered the bell up in Minnesota. They recorded six sacks, two of them from outside linebacker Byron Braggs. Green Bay jumped out to a 19-0 lead. The Vikes rallied and cut the lead to 22-21. But Dickey threw a 19-yard TD pass to Lofton that sealed the 29-21 win.

A Milwaukee home game against Detroit was next, and for one half, the momentum continued. Dickey threw touchdown passes to Jefferson and Cofman, and the Packers led 20-3. But Dickey was knocked out. Backup quarterback David Whitehurst was ineffective, going just 6/17 for 33 yards. The Packer rush defense reverted to form and got hammered for 200-plus yards. The tide turned. The Lions tied the game 20-all, and then won it with a field goal in overtime.

There were four games left in this roller-coaster ride. Minnesota was leading the old NFC Central (the four current teams of the NFC North, plus Tampa Bay) with a 7-5 record. Green Bay and Detroit were both 6-6, while Chicago was trailing at 5-7. There were two wild-card spots available. The runner-up in the Washington/Dallas heavyweight fight in the NFC East would get one. It was wide open for spot #2, with the Rams at 7-5, the New Orleans Saints at 6-6, and the St. Louis Cardinals (they didn’t move to Arizona until 1988) were 5-6-1.

So, while the Packers needed help, they were only a game back for the division and for the last wild-card spot.

A late afternoon road trip to Atlanta would end up mimicking the Washington game in terms of offensive firepower. Dickey went 25/37 for 366 yards, while Lofton’s seven catches went for 161 yards. The Packers jumped out to a 21-0 lead. But unlike that Monday Night in October, Dickey was making mistakes. He threw two Pick-6s, both of them to defensive back Kenny Johnson. One of them came in overtime and Green Bay lost 47-41.

The good news is that Minnesota also lost, so the division race stayed within one game. Los Angeles though, had won and nudged out to 8-5 in the wild-card push.

Two of the final three games would be against the archrival Chicago Bears, in their second year under head coach Mike Ditka. Both teams were 6-7 and this game in Lambeau was something close to an elimination battle for both. Dickey was erratic, going 16/34. But he also stretched the field, and threw for 345 yards. Lofton caught six balls for 120 yards. Most important, Ellis ran wild, going off for 141 yards. Green Bay took a 28-14 lead, blew that lead in the fourth quarter, but then won 31-28 on a late field goal.

Good news came from around the league. Minnesota lost again, so now the Packers, at 7-7, had only one NFC Central team in front of them, the 8-6 Lions. And the Rams were upset by lowly Philadelphia, dropping L.A. to 8-6. New Orleans was also 7-7. St. Louis had fallen by the wayside.

Another Monday Night game was up, this one at Tampa Bay. On Sunday, Packer fans watched with delight as both the Rams and Lions lost. The Saints won, so a Green Bay victory would put all four teams at 8-7.

In terms of style, this Monday Night game would be the exact opposite of the last Packer appearance on the stage. This time, Green Bay couldn’t get in the end zone, even though Dickey did finish 24/36 for 278 yards. The Packers had to settle for three field goals. This time though, they were playing defense. And they got some important help from Tampa Bay’s kicking woes. A missed extra point kept the score 9-9 late in the game. A missed field goal cost the Bucs a chance to win it. The Packers ultimately prevailed 12-9 in overtime–finally getting an OT win after three prior losses.

Thus, Green Bay was tied with Detroit for the division lead, and tied with both Los Angeles and New Orleans for the last wild-card. The Lions had a superior division record and controlled the NFC Central tiebreaker. For the wild-card, the Packers had the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Rams. But they would lose a tiebreaker with the Saints based on conference record.

Green Bay would be in Chicago to play their finale in the early afternoon slot. At the same time, Los Angeles and New Orleans were going head-to-head down in the Superdome. A Rams win would put Green Bay in. If New Orleans won, the Packers would have to wait for the late afternoon, when the Lions hosted the Buccaneers.

Of course, that’s all presuming Green Bay took care of Chicago, who had played spoiler a week earlier and knocked out Minnesota.

It was a frigid cold day. Dickey threw a 31-yard TD pass to Lofton and the Packers took a 14-7 lead. In difficult passing conditions, Dickey only completed 10/30 throws, but he made those completions count for 262 yards. Coffman caught four balls for 122 yards.

What Green Bay was not doing was taking care of the football. They put the ball on what was then the artificial turf of Soldier Field seven times and were fortunate to only lose three. Dickey was intercepted four times. Chicago took a 20-14 lead—although for the second week in a row, a missed extra point could work in the Packers’ favor.

Dickey led a drive to get a 21-20 lead. But the run defense was struggling again, this time against the great Walter Payton. They allowed 236 yards. The Bears drove down the field.

At the same time, the Rams were trailing by a point and also marching down the field. Both games went down to the wire. Los Angeles got a field goal, won 26-24 and gave Green Bay the opening they needed. But it wasn’t to be. Chicago also booted a late field goal and handed the Packers a crushing 23-21 loss.

It was a devastating way to end the season. For Starr, the heartbreak would continue, when he was dismissed. Green Bay tried their hand with another franchise legend, hiring Gregg away from Cincinnati.

The coaching move didn’t change the results—two more 8-8 finishes in 1984 and 1985 followed, before a hard collapse in ’86. The Packers didn’t have a notable season again until 1989, and they didn’t become a consistent contender until the arrival of Brett Favre in 1992. But as 8-8 teams go, the 1983 Green Bay Packers were a lot more exciting than most.