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| Date | September 12, 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 53,694 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jack Buck andHank Stram | ||||||||||||||||||
TheLos Angeles Rams played anAmerican football game against theGreen Bay Packers in Week 1 of the1982 National Football League (NFL) season on September 12, 1982, atMilwaukee County Stadium inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The recent history of each team differed greatly: the Rams had missed the playoffs in 1981 for the first time in eight seasons, while the Packers had not been to the playoffs since 1972 and had not won a playoff game since 1967. The Rams began the game strong, scoring 23 points in the first half, while shutting the Packers out. The Rams took advantage of five Packers' first half turnovers.
The game swung wildly towards the Packers in the second half though. QuarterbackLynn Dickey led the Packers to 35 unanswered points off of five touchdown drives. The Packers defense held the Rams to just four first downs in the second half, while intercepting the Rams twice and forcing a fumble. The 23-point comeback was the largest by the Packers up to that point, but was later matched in 2013 ina game against the Dallas Cowboys. The game has been mentioned multiple times as one of the best in the history of the Rams versus the Packers.
TheLos Angeles Rams andGreen Bay Packers entered the1982 National Football League season under vastly different circumstances. Although the Rams missed the playoffs in 1981 for the first time in eight seasons, they had been perennial contenders for most of the 1970s.[1][2] The Packers, on the other hand, had not made the playoffs since 1972 and had not won a playoff game since 1967, underVince Lombardi.[3]Bart Starr, who had quarterbacked the Packers during the Lombardi era, was brought in as head coach to try to revive the Packers' success of the 1960s.[4] However, Starr accumulated a record of 39–65–2 in his first seven seasons, the worst record of any head coach in league history through their first seven seasons.[5][6] In 1981, the Packers went 8–8, however they missed out on the playoffs by losing the last game of the season to theNew York Jets, 28–3.[7] Starr signed a contract extension in the offseason based on the team's strong finish, having gone 6–2 in their last eight games.[5][6] Going into 1982, the Packers offense was led byLynn Dickey,James Lofton, andJohn Jefferson.[8] After missing the playoffs in 1981, the Rams brought in veteran players, signing quarterbackBert Jones and tight endMike Barber.[9] The Rams travelled toMilwaukee County Stadium inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, for their Week 1 match-up against the Packers on September 12, 1982.[1] The game was played in Milwaukee instead of Green Bay due to scheduling conflicts later in the year with theMilwaukee Brewers.[10]
The Rams dominated the first half of the game, taking advantage of three Packers' turnovers to take a commanding lead into halftime. In the first quarter,Gerry Ellis fumbled the ball on a short run, which was returned by the Rams to mid-field. After a 22-yard pass from Jones toWendell Tyler moved the Rams close, Tyler took a short rush into theend zone to put the Rams up 7–0. Another Packers fumble, this time by Dickey while he was avoiding the Rams' pass rush, set-up another score. The Rams thought they scored a touchdown on the drive, but an offensive penalty forced them to accept a short field goal attempt, which was converted byMike Lansford to increase the lead to 10–0. With the Packers still unable to do much on offense, the Rams scored again. After a 43-yard pass from Jones toWillie Miller put the Rams in scoring position, Jones completed an eight-yard pass to Barber for a touchdown, bringing the score to 17–0. The Rams had two more scoring drives, each ending in a Lansford field goal. The first was set-up by a long punt return, while the second came after Dickey threw an interception toCarl Ekern. The Rams took a 23–0 into halftime.[11]
The Packers returned the favor, dominating the Rams in the second half by scoring 35 unanswered points. The Packers had their first score on a short touchdown pass from Dickey toPaul Coffman. The Packers moved into scoring position after a defensive pass interference penalty gave the Packers 28 yards. The Packers struck again, this time on a short run fromEddie Lee Ivery for a touchdown. The key play of the drive was a 42-yard pass completion from Dickey to Coffman. By the end of the third quarter, the Packers had cut the Rams lead to 23–14. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Rams were stopped by the Packers defense and attempted a long field goal, which Lansford missed. On the ensuing drive, Dickey completed a 50-yard pass to Jefferson. A few plays later, Dickey threw his second touchdown pass, a 15-yard completion to Lofton. With the score now 23–21, the Packers kicked off to the Rams. However, on the kick-off return,Robert Alexander fumbled the ball, which the Packers recovered at the 10-yard line. On the next play, Dickey threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Coffman to give the Packers their first lead, 28–23. The Packers sealed their comeback victory with a 27-yard rushing touchdown by Ivery with about three minutes left in the game. The Packers won 35–23.[11]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 35 |
atMilwaukee County Stadium,Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Post-game analysis focused on the comeback by the Packers and the drastic change from the first half to the second half for both teams.[16][17][18][19] The Packers had six total turnovers, including five in the first half, while the Rams had three.[18][19][14] Starr noted that with Dickey's poor performance in the first half, it would have been understandable to replace him in the second half; Starr stuck with his quarterback though.[20] A fumble on a kick-off return during the fourth quarter allowed the Packers to score 14 points in under a minute of game clock.[11] Even though the Packers lost the turnover battle, they otherwise played clean football and avoided penalties (two penalties for 15 yards); the Rams, however, had 11 penalties for 88 yards.[14] The Packers' defense was also able to stop the Rams' running game, especially in the second half.[21] The Packers offense exploded in the second half, leading to solid performances across the board for their offensive skill players. Dickey threw three touchdowns, two to Coffman and one to Lofton, with Jefferson leading all receivers with six catches and 116 receiving yards.[22][14] Ivery rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns after Ellis left the game due to an injury.[23][24] Even though they gave up 23 points in the first half, the Packers defense was able to force three field goals during this period, helping to keep the game within reach.[14] The defense tightened down in the second half, only giving up four first downs to the Rams, forcing three turnovers, and shutting them out.[21][14] In total, the Packers outgained the Rams in yardage and first downs, while scoring 35 unanswered points.[14]
The Packers continued their success, beating theNew York Giants 27–19 the next week to start the season 2–0.[25] The Rams, however, lost 19–14 to theDetroit Lions in Week 2 to start the season winless.[26] On September 21, 1982, theNFL Players Association went on strike. The strike originated from the players demanding a greater share of revenue, although in the end the players settled for modest increases in salary and benefits.[27][28] As a result, the season was shortened to nine games and the playoffs were expanded to the top eight teams from each conference, regardless of division.[28] The Packers ended the season 5–3–1, making the playoffs for the first time since 1972.[25][3] The Rams went 2–7 and missed out on a playoff berth.[26] ThePackers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 41–16 in the first round of the playoffs, their first postseason victory since 1967.[29] The Packers lost in the second round of the playoffs to theDallas Cowboys by a score of 37–26.[30] The Rams fired head coachRay Malavasi at the end of the season.[31]
The game marked the largest comeback in Packers' history at the time, besting the 18-point comeback during a 1965 regular season game against the Lions.[32][33][34] This mark was matched 31 years later, with the Packers beating theDallas Cowboys during a2013 regular season game after falling behind by 23 points; multiple post-game articles referenced the Packers matching their comeback record from the Rams game.[35][36] In a 2004 article, former Packers' team historianLee Remmel identified the comeback as a key moment in the Packers history against the Rams.[37] Two years later, in preparation for a Packers game against the Rams, Remmel provided an in-depth overview of the comeback as part of his historical coverage. In describing the game, Remmel noted the drastic change at halftime, with the Packers defense shutting the Rams out, while Dickey and the Packers offense exploded for five touchdowns.[38] In his book chronicling the first 100 years of Packers history,Cliff Christl described the comeback against the Rams as "an inspiring and record-setting comeback" while highlighting the contributions of Dickey, Coffman, Jefferson, and Lofton.[39] In his bookGreen Bay Packers: Trials, Triumphs, and Tradition, author William Povletich noted that the Packers "displayed their firepower with a spirited second-half comeback" because "their offense had found its stride, becoming as explosive as any in football". Povletich also discussed the atmosphere the game was played in revolving around the possibility of a player strike.[40] Multiple football bloggers have also written extensively about the game.[41][42]