Look back at the 1998 Divisional Playoff between the Packers and Buccaneers

Dorsey Levens (Google Images)

Heading into the NFC Championship on Sunday, there is no doubt that the Green Bay Packers have had a richer postseason than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Green Bay has won four Super Bowls since 1966, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have only won one Super Bowl, and that was back in 2003.

In the teams’ playoff histories, the Buccaneers and Packers have only played once against each other. That was back on January 4, 1998, in a 21-7 Packers win at Lambeau Field in the NFC Divisional Round.

In this game, the Packers were led offensively by running back Dorsey Levens of Syracuse, New York. Levens had 25 carries for 112 yards and one touchdown. Brett Favre, who is the ninth best player on our all-time list, was the Packers quarterback at the time, and completed 15 of 28 passes for another touchdown–a three-yard pass to tight end Mark Chmura.

The Packers would go on to beat the San Francisco 49ers 23-10 in the NFC Championship before losing 31-24 to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII. The Super Bowl back in 1998 was known for being the first time since 1983 that a team from the AFC won a Super Bowl. The NFC had a 13 game winning streak from 1984 to 1997, with many games not close whatsoever.

The 2020 NFC Championship game between the Packers and Buccaneers will also be known as “The Bay of Pigs.” This term was originally penned by sportswriter Pete Axthelm, who worked for ESPN’s NFL Primetime before his sudden death of liver failure in 1991. The original Bay of Pigs meanwhile was a failed attempt by Cuban exiles to takeover Fidel Castro’s Communist Cuban Revolution in 1961.

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