Acme Packing Company
The Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos have played each other 16 times in the two franchises’ history heading into this Sunday’s game, which will be number 17. The most significant game in this cross-conference matchup came in Super Bowl XXXII, when the Broncos famously upset the Packers, but that is hardly the most interesting historical tidbit about the games played between these two teams.
Instead, what is fascinating is the home/road split in the 15 regular season games. On Sunday, the Packers will look to win on the road, something that has happened just once in those prior 15 games. The two teams have played 8 previous times in Denver and 7 contests at Lambeau Field in Green Bay but in all of that time, just once has the visiting team prevailed — and even that game took overtime to decide it.
Let’s take a quick look back at all of the regular season games between these two teams to see how this strange trend has borne itself out.
The first game between these two franchises after the NFL-AFL merger came early in the 1971 season. The Packers, who had narrowly lost 42-20 to the New York Giants a week earlier, dominated a Broncos squad that had tied the Miami Dolphins — the eventual AFC champions — in week 1.
It was a matchup of elite running backs; Green Bay’s John Brockington would be the first-team All-Pro fullback that year while the Broncos’ Floyd Little led the NFL in rushing yards and made the Pro Bowl. Green Bay won big on the strength of its running game in a sloppy, turnover-filled contest. Packers quarterbacks Scott Hunter, Zeke Bratkowski, and Frank Patrick combined to go just 5-for-19 passing for 101 yards and three interceptions, but the Broncos’ Don Horn was worse, throwing a whopping six interceptions.
Only twice did these teams meet at Lambeau Field prior to the Packers’ 1990s-era resurgence due to the NFL’s inconsistent scheduling policies, and this one got in just before the NFL players went on strike during the 1987 season. Green Bay jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, but the Broncos fought back and tied the game with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Overtime was bizarre, as Brian Noble intercepted John Elway at the Packers’ 24-yard line with under two minutes left in the extra period, only to have Packers running back Kenneth Davis fumble on the next play. The Broncos tried to set up for a 40-yard field goal, but Rich Karlis missed the attempt, and the game finished in a tie.
The first opportunity for Brett Favre to play the Broncos came six years later, in his second year with the Packers. Green Bay jumped out to a 30-7 halftime lead, then hung on for dear life as the Broncos...
