Tournament of Past Champions ~ Elite 4 Matchup – Battle of the ‘90s

The Legendary Bracket champion 1996 Green Bay Packers are no strangers to big games. The last surviving team from Titletown, USA, the Super Bowl XXXI champion ’96 Packers, led by young Brett Favre, rolled through their bracket matchups, despite entering the tournament seeded 12^th, based on their regular season win percentage.

Their journey started with a solid, if underwhelming, 17-13 victory over the 2000 New York Giants, followed by a second-round win against the 2003 New England Patriots. Another modern era team matched up with them in the third round, but the ’93 Cowboys were no match for the ’96 Packers and fell, 21-17.

When Favre led them onto the field for their Fortunate 16 matchup against the tournament’s top seeded 2007 New England Patriots, it looked like the Pack’s run was at an end, but an MVP performance shocked the world as the Packers not only defeated the Patriots, but completely outclassed them by winning a surprising 16 of 20 simulations en route to a 24-16 victory.

Momentum carried them to victory in a gritty, defensive battle against the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, all that stands between the 1996 Packers and another title game appearance is the upstart, Fabled bracket champions, the 1999 St. Louis Rams.

The Rams opened their tournament with a dominating 21-13 victory over the 1958 Baltimore Colts and really hit their stride in the second round when they absolutely crushed the 2001 New England Patriots, 29-12, in a matchup where they won every possible simulated game and avenged a real-world loss by the 2001 St. Louis Rams in the process.

St. Louis struggled mightily against the ’95 Cowboys in round three and managed to advance despite winning less than half of the simulations, but managed to find their high gear again when they defeated the 1962 Packers in their Fortunate 16 matchup, 21-14.

The Greatest Show on Turf punched their ticket to the Elite 4 with a gutty, one-point victory over the #1 seeded, 1985 Chicago Bears.

Now, on a simulated neutral field, the first of the Elite 4 Tournament of Past Champions matchups gets underway featuring the 12-seeded 1996 Green Bay Packers vs the 11-seeded 1999 St. Louis Rams.

First Quarter:

St. Louis struck first when they took the opening kick-off and steadily drove down the field. Their balanced attack kept the Packers guessing and they came away with an early field goal to go up 3-0. Green Bay countered with a long drive of their own that faltered in the red zone, though they tied it up with a field goal of their own.  

The Rams offense kicked into a higher gear and moved the ball freely down the field. A quick slant TD strike from Kurt Warner to Torry Holt gave the Rams a 7-point lead. The quarter ended when both quarterbacks traded interceptions at midfield.

End of First Quarter: St. Louis 10, Green Bay 3

Second Quarter:

Green Bay took over and Favre marched the Packers down the field only to stall once again outside of field goal range. Warner missed on his next few passes, but Marshall Faulk picked up the slack and helped get the Rams out of the shadow of their end zone. The two teams traded punts at midfield. With little time remaining in the first half, Warner played perfect pass-and-catch with his receivers during the two-minute drill. The Rams tacked on another field goal as the half expired and headed into the locker room with a comfortable, 10-point lead.

           

Halftime: St. Louis 13, Green Bay 3

Third Quarter:

The Packers went three-and-out on their first drive and punted the ball away to open the second half. On the Rams' second play from scrimmage, Warner hit Isaac Bruce streaking down the far sideline for a devastating, quick-strike touchdown. The Packers defense walked off the field shaking their head at the scoreboard. Favre took the offense back onto the field following the ensuing kick-off, grim determination on his face, his team now down by 17 with little over a quarter-and-a-half to play.

The Green Bay offense did not strike quickly, but moved the ball efficiently down the field. After long runs by Dorsey Levens and Edgar Bennett, Favre connected with Antonio Freeman in the back corner of the end zone to give the Packers some life. Both offenses stalled following the Packers touchdown and the quarter ended with St. Louis in control of both the ball and the scoreboard.

End of the Third Quarter: St. Louis 20, Green Bay 10

Fourth Quarter:

St. Louis, content to keep the clock moving, handed the ball off to Marshall Faulk and kept the chains moving with their short, precision passing game. The Green Bay defense could do little to stop them, but finally caught a break when a well-timed blitz sacked Warner on third down in Green Bay territory, forcing the Rams to try a long field goal. The field goal missed wide and Favre rushed the Packers offense back out onto the field. Playing like a gunslinger, Favre quickly led the Pack down the field and pulled them within one score when Dorsey Levens pounded the ball in from the one-yard line.

The Packers, down by three with just over five minutes left to play, kicked away. An untimely three-and-out by St. Louis made the stadium start rocking as Green-and-Gold fans cheered for another great Favre comeback. Green Bay’s offense picked up where it left off and marched right back down the field. With just over a minute remaining, Favre was flushed from the pocket and was hit just as he launched a dangerous pass across the middle toward Antonio Freeman. The pass was intercepted just short of the goal line as Favre was driven into the turf by two Ram linebackers.

The stadium fell silent as Warner made two successive kneel downs inside his own five-yard line to end the game and knock the 1996 Green Bay Packers out of the tournament.

Final Score: St. Louis 20, Green Bay 17

Congratulations to the 1999 St. Louis Rams.

They now wait for their championship opponent – either the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers or the 1977 Dallas Cowboys.

Check back tomorrow to see which of the great ‘70s franchises will take their place alongside the 1999 St. Louis Rams in the Tournament of Past Champions Title Game…