On This Date in Sports January 3, 1999: Young's Last Drive
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 30-27 in a thrilling Wild Card Playoff Game at 3Com Park. The game featured five lead changes and three ties, before Steve Young connected with Terrell Owens on a 25-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left to win the game. It would be the final game that Mike Holmgren coached for Green Bay, as he left to coach the Seattle Seahawks.
Mike Holmgren came to Green Bay in 1992. At the time, the Packers were team long removed from their glory days. Since winning Super Bowl II, the Packers had just two playoff appearances a decade apart, in and had not made the playoffs since the 1982 strike season. Holmgren had been a part of Bill Walsh and George Seifert’s coaching staff with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as their offensive coordinator for back to back Super Bowl championships in 1988 and 1989. Upon his arrival, Holmgren acquired Reggie White and Brett Favre and began to turn around the Packers fortunes as they won playoff games in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, the Packers played in the NFC Championship Game for the first time in nearly 30 years after upsetting the defending champion 49ers. A year later, they beat the Niners again on the way to win Super Bowl XXXI.
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After losing to the Packers in the Divisional Playoffs two straight seasons, the 49ers made a change forcing George Seifert to resign after the 1996 season. To replace him, they tabbed Steve Mariucci, who had served under Holmgren in Green Bay for four years, before one season as the coach of the University of California. In his first season as coach of the 49ers, Mariucci led the Niners to the NFC Championship Game, despite losing Jerry Rice to a knee injury at the start of the season. However, once again the 49ers would lose to the Packers, who in their quest for a second straight Lombardi Trophy were upset by the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII.
The Packers and 49ers each had a solid season in 1998, but lost their grip on the division titles, as the Packers finished 11-5 behind the 15-1 Minnesota Vikings, while the 49ers despite a 12-4 record lost the NFC West to the 14-2 Atlanta Falcons. This set the teams up as the fourth and fifth Wild Card teams playing on the first week of the NFL’s postseason.
After a fumble by Terrell Owens on the first drive of the game, the Packers drove down to the San Francisco five but had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell. The Packers defense continued to stymie the Niners, who punted again on their second drive. However, a fumble by Dorsey Levens gave the 49ers new life at the Packers 20, which led to a Steve Young one-yard touchdown pass to Greg Clark to take the lead. After the sudden change, the Packers got the ball back and drove straight up the field, with Brett Favre connecting with Antonio Freeman on a seven-yard touchdown pass to open the second quarter. Later in the Niners had their first sustained drive, which led to a 34-yard field goal by Wade Richey to tie the game at 10. However, just before halftime, the Packers regained the lead on a two-yard touchdown by Levens, atoning for the earlier fumble.
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Down 17-10 at the half, the 49ers got a big turnover to start the third quarter, as Lee Woodall picked off Favre and returned the ball to the Green Bay 33. From there Young went down the field and hit Clark again for an eight-yard score to tie the game 17-17. After the Packers went three and out, San Francisco was able to take the lead with an 11-play, 48-yard drive that ended with a 48-yard field goal by Wade Richey. The Packers would answer with a 37-yard boot by Ryan Longwell and the game was tied again 20-20. The game continued to wing back and forth, as Richey hit a 40-yard field goal to again put San Francisco up 23-20. After the 49ers were unable to capitalize on Darnell Walker’s interception of Favre, the Packers faced desperation with the ball at their own 11 with 4:19 left. Facing fourth and one at their own 20, the Packers began moving the ball after a clutch two-yard run by Dorsey Levens as Favre connected with Corey Bradford on a 47-yard pass. Just after the two-minute warning, the Packers were back in front again 27-23, after Favre connected with Freeman on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Starting at their own 24, the 49ers had all three timeouts left with 1:50 left on the clock. Steve Young worked the ball down the field efficiently. After crossing the field, he completed a six-yard pass to Jerry Rice, who had been shut out the entire game. Rice appeared he had fumbled at the end of the play but was ruled down by contact. The 49ers had gotten the ball down to the Green Bay 25 with eight seconds left, facing third and three; Young scrambled and tossed the ball toward the end zone. There, Terrell Owens surrounded by four defenders hauled in the catch and scored the game-winning touchdown with three seconds on the clock. Prior to the game-winning catch, it had been a frustrating day for T.O. as he had four drops and a fumble.
In the 49ers 30-27 win, the Niners got a big game by Garrison Hearst who rushed for 128 yards on 22 carries, as Steve Young completed 18 of 32 passes for 182 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Brett Favre meanwhile had 292 yards, while completing 20 of 35 passes with two touchdowns and two picks.
Following the game, Mike Holmgren left the Packers to take over as coach and General Manager for the Seattle Seahawks, successfully turning them, around and taking them to their first Super Bowl appearance in 2005. The game would mark the end of the Niners golden days as they lost to the Atlanta Falcons 20-18 a week later. In 1999, Steve Young’s career came to an end after a concussion as they suffered their first losing season in nearly two decades and began rebuilding.