Ranking top-five moments in 49ers-Packers rivalry: Several epic individual efforts headline list

Over the last four decades, the 49ers-Packers rivalry has emerged as one of the NFL’s best. The rivalry will add a new chapter this Sunday when the 7-3 Packers welcome the 5-5 49ers to Lambeau Field in a matchup that will surely have playoff implications. 

This rivalry has been an extremely competitive one though the years, as the Packers hold a slim 38-34-1 all-time series lead. The 49ers, though, have often has Green Bay’s number in the playoffs, especially as of late. Both teams have received stellar individual performances that helped determine the outcome in several epic games. 

Before the two teams face off on Sunday, here’s a look at the top-five moments in the 49ers-Packers rivalry. 

Honorable mention: Packers best 49ers in ’96 playoffs despite massive error 

Green Bay was the consensus Super Bowl favorite entering the 1996 playoffs, and Desmond Howard was a big reason why. But the prolific special teams returner committed a costly blunder during Green Bay’s divisional round playoff game against the 49ers that could have been extremely costly to the Packers’ title hopes. 

Howard, whose 71-yard punt return for a score helped the Packers take a 21-0 halftime lead, was not on the field when the 49ers kicked off to begin the second half. With Howard absent, the Packers only had 10 players on the field, and the 49ers presumed to pounce on the ball after it was kicked off in the area where Howard was supposed to be. 

The 49ers scored a touchdown off the turnover and eventually made it a seven-point game. But Green Bay responded with two touchdowns of its own to record a 35-14 win, much to Howard’s relief. 

Years later, then-Packers coach Mike Holmgren revealed what Howard said to him upon returning to the sideline after his tardiness. 

“He goes, ‘Coach, my jersey, I was all dirty, I had to change my clothes,’” Holmgren recalled. “I said, ‘Well good, I’m really happy that I’m feeling better about how you look.’ That’s not exactly what I said.”

Howard didn’t make the same mistake three weeks later in Super Bowl XXXI, when he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score while earning MVP honors in Green Bay’s 35-21 win over the Patriots.

5. Kaepernick leads 49ers to back-to-back playoff wins over Packers 

The 49ers-Packers rivalry was reignited in the 2010s after being mostly dormant in the 2000s. The two teams faced each other in the playoffs in consecutive years in 2012-13, with the 49ers coming out on the winning side both times. 

Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaeprnick played a big role in both wins. He ran for an NFL quarterback playoff record 181 yards and two touchdowns in San Francisco’s 45-31 win over Green Bay in the 2012 wild-card round. In the following year’s wild-card rematch, Kaepernick and running back Frank Gore combined to amass each of the 49ers’ 65 yards on the game-winning scoring drive that was punctuated by Phil Dawson’s game-winning field goal in the closing seconds. 

4. Mostert’s historic night powers 49ers past Packers 

San Francisco’s 37-20 win over Green Bay in the 2019 NFC title game wasn’t a surprise given how easily the 49ers had beaten the Packers during their regular-season matchup. What was surprising was the breakout performance of Raheem Mostert, a former undrafted rookie who had been cut by six other teams before landing with the 49ers. 

That night, Mostert offered a foreshadowing of what he career was about to look like in the coming seasons. He became the first player in NFL history to run for over 200 yards and four touchdowns in a playoff game. Mostert’s 220 yards is the second-highest total in NFL history, behind only Eric Dickerson’s 248 yards back in 1985. His four rushing touchdowns is tied for the second-highest single-game total in NFL postseason history. 

3. 49ers upset Packers in Rodgers’ final playoff game 

After an 8-6 start, the 49ers went on a four-game winning streak that culminated with an unexpected 13-10 win over favored Green Bay in what was ultimately Aaron Rodgers‘ final playoff game as a member of the Packers. 

The game shifted on Talanoa Hufanga’s 6-yard blocked punt return for a game-tying score with just under five minutes left. The 49ers defense then forced a quick punt that allowed Jimmy Garoppolo enough time to move San Francisco into field goal range. His completions of 12 and 14 yards to George Kittle and Deebo Samuel (along with Samuel’s 9-yard run) helped set up Robbie Gould’s 45-yard, game-winning kick as time expired. 

Rodgers went 20 of 29 for 225 yards and was sacked five times in his final playoff game in Green Bay. The Packers lost despite their defense holding the 49ers to 12 first downs and 212 total yards. 

2. Packers dethrone 49ers in ’95 playoffs 

The NFC’s pecking order was pretty concrete heading into the 1995 season: Dallas, San Francisco and everyone else. That changed, however, after the Packers upset the defending champion 49ers in that year’s divisional playoff round.

Green Bay jumped out to a 21-0 lead on a defensive score and two touchdown passes from Brett Favre, who was at the start of his streak of three straight league MVP seasons. Favre completed 75% of his throws that day and did not turn the ball over. Conversely, his counterpart, reigning league and Super Bowl MVP Steve Young, turned the ball over three times that included an interception deep in Packers territory in the fourth quarter. 

This was the first of three consecutive playoff losses the 49ers suffered at the hands of the Packers, who would fall to the Cowboys in the following week’s NFC Championship game. Ironically, the Cowboys had defeated the 49ers in consecutive NFC title games before the 49ers returned the favor in the 1994 NFC Championship game. 

1. T.O. shocks Packers in ’98 wild-card game 

Terrell Owens’ game-winning touchdown catch in San Francisco’s 1998 wild-card win over the Packers is one of the most iconic moments in NFL history. One of the things that made the play so great was the fact that Owens had had a miserable day prior to that play. 

Owens dropped several passes throughout the game that contributed to the 49ers trailing the Packers at the two-minute warning. Green Bay took the lead when Favre lofted a 15-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman, his No. 1 receiver at that time. 

But Owens somewhat maintained control of the ball despite getting hammered by two Packers defenders. Adding to the play’s greatness was the fact that Young nearly fell down before making the throw.  

The improbable play occurred moments after the officials improperly ruled that Jerry Rice was down prior to losing the ball after making a catch. The mistake contributed to the 49ers’ win that emphatically ended the Packers’ two-year reign as NFC champions.