Tag: When was it

When was it? Packers’ last 200-yard rushing game

It’s been nearly two decades since Ahman Green became the Packers first and only 200-yard rusher.

The next member of the Green Bay Packers to rush for 200 yards in a single game will become just the second player in team history to ever accomplish the feat.

The Packers have only one 200-yard rusher in the franchise’s long history.

In 2003, Ahman Green – the team’s all-time leading rusher – ran 20 times for a team-record 218 yards and two touchdowns during the Packers’ 31-3 win over the Denver Broncos in the season finale. One of Green’s touchdowns was a 98-yarder, another team record.

The game is more widely remembered as the day when the Arizona Cardinals used a wild ending to come back and beat the Minnesota Vikings, sending the Packers to the playoffs.

Green’s 218 rushing yards broke the record set by Dorsey Levens in 1997. He rushed for 190 yards in a 45-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Prior to Levens, Jim Taylor held the record at 186 rushing yards for almost 40 years.

Green holds four of the team’s eight most productive rushing games in team history. He also rushed for 192 yards during a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2003, a season in which Green finished with a team-record 1,883 rushing yards.

Only seven times since Green ran for 218 yards in 2003 have the Packers had a player rush for 150 or more yards in a game, including Aaron Jones’ career-high 154-yard game against the Minnesota Vikings last December. Najeh Davenport’s 178 rushing yards in 2004 are the most by a Packers player since Green’s record-setting performance.

Since 2004, there have been 56 different games with a 200-yard rusher in the NFL.

When was it series

Last punt return for touchdown
Last interception return for touchdown
Last kickoff return for touchdown
Last 90-yard touchdown pass
Last fumble return for touchdown
Last 90-yard touchdown run
Last blocked punt for touchdown
Last 200-yard receiving game

When was it? Packers’ last blocked punt for touchdown

Back in 2018, the Packers recorded the team’s second blocked punt resulting in a touchdown of the last decade.

Over the last 10 years, the Green Bay Packers blocked two punts recovered for touchdowns.

A rookie playing in his second career game scored on the team’s last blocked punt.

It was cornerback Josh Jackson who recovered a punt blocked by receiver Geronimo Allison during the Packers’ Week 2 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 16, 2018. Allison got a hand on Matt Wile’s punt, and Jackson’s resulting touchdown gave the Packers a 7-0 lead in a game they went on to win at Lambeau Field.

On a fourth down in the first quarter, Allison burst through the line, mostly unblocked, and managed to get his right hand on the ball, which deflected into the air and eventually into the arms of Jackson, who was waiting in the end zone.

Here’s the play:

Jackson, a second-round pick in 2018, immediately leaped into the end zone stands after his first professional touchdown.

Before Allison’s blocked punt and Jackson’s recovery for a score, the Packers’ last punt block returned for a touchdown came in 2012, when cornerback Davon House blocked a punt that was recovered by linebacker Dezman Moses for a touchdown during a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Packers did not have a blocked punt or a special teams touchdown during the 2019 season.

Allison now plays for the Detroit Lions, while Jackson will be on the roster bubble entering his third NFL season.

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

When was it series

Last punt return for touchdown
Last interception return for touchdown
Last kickoff return for touchdown
Last 90-yard touchdown pass
Last fumble return for touchdown
Last 90-yard touchdown run

When was it? Packers’ last fumble return touchdown

Dean Lowry’s 62-yard rumble in 2017 provided the Packers’ last fumble return for a touchdown.

A 296-pound defensive lineman produced the Green Bay Packers’ last fumble return for a touchdown.

Surprising? Maybe not. All four of the fumble return touchdowns over 60 yards in team history have come from a defensive lineman.

The Packers’ last fumble return for a touchdown? Dean Lowry’s 62-yard return for a score during the Packers’ Week 13 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017.

Lowry’s return was the third-longest fumble return for a touchdown in team history, trailing the 88-yard return by Keith McKenzie in 1998 and the 70-yard return by Mike Butler in 1970. Henry Jordan, another defensive lineman, produced a 60-yard return for a touchdown in 1964.

Lowry’s only career score gave the Packers a 17-7 lead over the Buccaneers at Lambeau Field on Dec. 3, 2017.

Here’s video of the play:

Lowry caught Jameis Winston’s fumble, turned toward the north end zone and galloped his way in for the score without a Buccaneer in close proximity. Kenny Clark’s pressure created the fumble. Once in the end zone, Lowry wasted no time picking out his spot and leaping into the Lambeau Field crowd.

The Packers’ last fumble return for a touchdown by a defensive player before Lowry’s score was Casey Hayward’s 49-yard return in 2014.

The Packers produced at least one fumble return for a touchdown every season between 2006 and 2015, a span of 10 seasons. Over the last four seasons, the Packers have just two, including none in the last two seasons.

When was it series

Last punt return for touchdown
Last interception return for touchdown
Last kickoff return for touchdown
Last 90-yard touchdown pass

When was it? Packers’ last interception return for touchdown

Bashaud Breeland played only one year in Green Bay, but he provided the Packers’ last interception return for a touchdown in 2018.

The Green Bay Packers intercepted 20 passes during the 2019 season but failed to return a single one for a touchdown.

The Packers haven’t produced an interception return for a touchdown since late in the 2018 season, and it came from an unlikely player who only made a brief appearance in Green bay.

The last Packers’ interception return for a touchdown: Bashaud Breeland’s 22-yard return for a touchdown off a pass from Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan during Week 14 of the 2018 season.

Breeland interception, his second with the Packers, gave Green Bay a 17-7 lead and helped propel the Packers to a 34-20 victory at Lambeau Field on Dec. 9, 2018.

Here’s video of the play:

Breeland jumped the out-breaking route, caught Ryan’s poorly thrown pass in stride near the sideline and ran into the end zone untouched for the score, prompting an obligatory Lambeau Leap.

Breeland landed in Green Bay after an unfortunate injury situation and played only seven games with the Packers during the 2018 season. In 2019, he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and eventually started in the Super Bowl.

After intercepting three passes for touchdowns during the 2014 season, the Packers have produced just four pick-sixes over the last five years. Quinten Rollins and Damarious Randall both had one in 2015, and Randall added another in 2017.

The Packers had an incredible streak of 17 straight seasons (1996-2012) with at least one interception return for a touchdown. They’ve produced a pick-six during just four of the last seven seasons.

Ascending young cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Kevin King and speedy safety Darnell Savage figure to be the Packers’ top candidates to find the end zone off of an interception during the 2020 season.

Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis

When was it series

Punt return for touchdown

When was it? Packers’ last punt return touchdown

The last time the Packers returned a punt for a touchdown? 2014. Micah Hyde delivered the score against the Lions.

The Green Bay Packers have returned 42 punts for touchdowns during the franchise’s history, but the team hasn’t returned a punt for a score in over five years.

The last Packers’ punt return touchdown: Micah Hyde’s 55-yard return for a score during the Packers’ Week 17 win over the Detroit Lions in 2014.

Hyde’s return, his third and final punt return for a touchdown with the Packers and his second of the 2014 season, gave the Packers a 7-0 lead over the Lions at Lambeau Field.

Packers.com has video of the play.

Hyde caught the short punt just short of midfield, split a crowd of defenders and raced to the pylon for the touchdown, jump-starting the Packers’ 12th and final win of the regular season. He had previously returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown during a win over the Philadelphia Eagles six weeks earlier.

During a four-year stretch (2011-14), the Packers returned five punts for scores, including the three from Hyde and two from Randall Cobb. Previously, the Packers received three punt return touchdowns from Will Blackmon during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Since Hyde departed, the Packers haven’t found the end zone on a punt return, save for a preseason return for a touchdown from Trevor Davis in 2017.

Davis came close to punt return touchdowns during both the 2016 and 2017 regular seasons. He returned a punt 55 yards against the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 and 65 yards against the Cleveland Browns in 2017.

Tyler Ervin, who was claimed off waiver last December, is expected to be the Packers’ primary punt returner in 2020.

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports