Packer Central

Best Super Bowl Performances In Packers History

From Bart Starr to Aaron Rodgers, here are 12 of the best individual performances in Green Bay Packers Super Bowl history.

Jacob Westendorf

Reggie White screams while carrying the Lombardi Trophy after his team defeated the New England Patriots during in Super Bowl XXXI.
Reggie White screams while carrying the Lombardi Trophy after his team defeated the New England Patriots during in Super Bowl XXXI. / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-USA TODAY NETWORK
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It’s Super Bowl Sunday.

For the 14th consecutive season, the Green Bay Packers are not playing in the NFL’s championship game, rather taking a familiar role as spectator.

During the Super Bowl era, the Packers have played on the game’s biggest stage five times. They’re 4-1 in those games, with the lone loss coming in upset fashion in Super Bowl XXXII to the Denver Broncos.

The Super Bowl creates legacies for both stars and unsung heroes. Howard Green fits the role of unsung hero, as he hit the arm of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, which led to a pick-six for Nick Collins. Stars like Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers all played well on this stage, too.

Here’s a look back at some of the top performances for the Packers in Super Bowl history.

Aaron Rodgers In Super Bowl XLV

We’ll start with what is the best performance from the Packers’ five appearances in the big game.

The Packers were the last team in the postseason in the NFC and rolled through the conference with wins over the top three seeds, all on the road.

Aaron Rodgers was brilliant during the team’s run to the Super Bowl but saved his best for last against the top defense in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While James Starks gave the ground game some life in the team’s wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles, he only carried the ball 13 times in Super Bowl XLV.

That was by design. Mike McCarthy and Rodgers knew the best way to beat the Steelers was through the air. Rodgers threw the ball 39 times, completing 24 passes with three scoring strikes. His numbers would have been even better had the receivers not dropped six passes.

Perhaps the best throw of Rodgers’ career came in Super Bowl XLV. With the Packers clinging to a 28-25 lead in the fourth quarter, Rodgers and the offense faced a third-and-10. Rodgers threw a strike down the middle of the field to Greg Jennings for 31 yards. Ike Taylor was able to get a fingertip on the pass, but Rodgers’ throw was perfect.

The Packers ended that drive with a field goal before a final stop that made them Super Bowl champions.

Rodgers won MVP honors and had one of the highest-graded games in the history of PFF.

He was brilliant.

Aaron Rodgers celebrates the Super Bowl XLV title with Green Bay Packers fans during a Return to Titletown Celebration.
Aaron Rodgers celebrates the Super Bowl XLV title with Green Bay Packers fans during a Return to Titletown Celebration. / Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Brett Favre In Super Bowl XXXI

Brett Favre’s Super Bowl debut was one to remember.

Favre’s first pass went 54 yards for a touchdown to Andre Rison. Favre took his helmet off and ran around the stadium while holding it above his head.

That image became the lasting impression of that Super Bowl and gave birth to a whole new generation of Packers fans.

Favre did not stop there. He threw one more touchdown, a then-record 81-yard strike to Antonio Freeman, and ran for another score.

Favre did not win MVP honors – more on that later – but he was excellent throughout the game to help Green Bay end its 29-year title drought.

Favre’s performance was the final ascension to the mountaintop that began in 1995 with the team’s 27-17 upset victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs.

Bart Starr In Super Bowl I

Bart Starr’s final stat line is not going to be as gaudy as some of the quarterbacks of the modern era. What Starr was, though, was at his best when the lights were the brightest.

With the ongoing feud between the NFL and the AFL, the message from fellow NFL teams as the Packers entered Super Bowl I was simple: You better not lose.

Starr made sure his team wouldn’t. After a huge game against the Dallas Cowboys to clinch a berth in the inaugural Super Bowl, Starr was brilliant against the Kansas City Chiefs.

He finished with 250 passing yards on 16 completions, including two touchdown passes to Max McGee, as the Packers rolled to a 35-10 victory.

Starr became the first MVP in Super Bowl history to add to his illustrious resume.

For all the talk about Kansas City’s chance at a three-peat, Starr’s team accomplished that feat a year later, when Starr threw for 202 yards and one touchdown in a 33-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II. He was MVP of that game, too.

Starr won five NFL championships in seven seasons. He’s never mentioned as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL, but his accomplishments are up there with anyone who has ever played the position.

Max McGee In Super Bowl I

When you score the first touchdown in Super Bowl history, you become a legend.

When you do so while nursing a hangover, it becomes even more iconic.

Max McGee did not expect to play much in Super Bowl I against the Chiefs, so he famously skipped Vince Lombardi’s curfew for a night out on the town.

McGee, however, was forced into action due to an injury to Boyd Dowler in the first half.

McGee would not win MVP honors, but he played a big role in the game with seven catches for 138 yards. His two touchdown catches included a 37-yarder that he caught with one hand that gave the Packers a 7-0 lead and a 13-yarder that extended the margin to 28-10.

Desmond Howard In Super Bowl XXXI

Desmond Howard was not even supposed to make the 1996 team. He was one of the last players to make the roster out of training camp.

At the end of the season, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the commemorative Super Bowl XXXI issue.

Why?

Because he became the first special teams player to win Super Bowl MVP.

After the New England Patriots pulled within 27-21 late in the third quarter, Howard returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. He also returned six punts for 90 yards, including a 34-yarder on his first chance of the day.

For a non-quarterback to win the MVP of the Super Bowl, he has to do something special. A 99-yard dagger through the heart of the Patriots was just that.

When it was all said and done, Howard finished the day with 244 return yards.

He would leave for the Raiders in the offseason but became one of the ultimate one-hit wonders in NFL history with his big performance at the Louisiana Superdome.

Reggie White In Super Bowl XXXI

One of the biggest storylines going into Super Bowl XXXI was that one of the game’s greatest players had never won a championship at any level of football.

Reggie White is arguably the greatest defensive player to ever play in the NFL. Until the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, however, that had not resulted in championship glory for the Minister of Defense.

White continued to make his way toward Drew Bledsoe for the first three quarters of the game but did not get home. After Desmond Howard’s kickoff return gave the Packers a 35-21 lead, White finally got to Bledsoe.

White’s first sack of the game caused Fox commentator John Madden to say words that would ring prophetic.

“Reggie White is going to take over this game.”

White would do just that. He finished the game with three sacks and seven pressures. After the game, he ran around the Superdome with the Lombardi Trophy raised above his head in celebration.

Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson In Super Bowl XLV

With the Packers planning to throw the ball as much as they did in Super Bowl XLV, someone had to be on the receiving end of those passes.

Jordy Nelson was a focal point of the offense because he was often matched up with opposing team’s nickel cornerbacks. More often than not, that was an advantage for Green Bay. It was on this day, as well.

Nelson shook off some costly drops and caught nine passes for 140 yards to be the team’s leading receiver. That included the first touchdown of the game.

Jennings only caught four passes, but three of them were among the biggest plays of the game. His first touchdown reception gave the team a 21-3 lead on a strike from Aaron Rodgers following a Pittsburgh turnover. His second touchdown extended their lead to 28-17.

The last of his catches was the aforementioned strike on third down.

Combined, Nelson and Jennings caught 13 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-25 victory.

Clay Matthews In Super Bowl XLV

Clay Matthews was a Texas tornado for Green Bay’s defense during the 2010 season. He had six sacks in the first two games of the season and rode that to finishing as runner-up for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu won the award but was victimized by Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson throughout the Super Bowl. Matthews? He did not have three sacks, like Reggie White in Super Bowl XXXI, but he may have made the biggest play of the game.

With the Packers holding a tenuous 21-17 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, Matthews went over to outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene for some advice.

Greene had three simple words for Matthews after imploring him to step up and rally his team.

“It is time.”

It was time. Matthews sniffed out a handoff to Rashard Mendenhall and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Desmond Bishop. Rodgers capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Jennings.

Antonio Freeman In Super Bowl XXXII

It’s hard to have a standout performance in a losing effort, but Antonio Freeman was one of those rare occasions in Super Bowl XXXII against the Denver Broncos.

While the Packers could not stop Terrell Davis, the Broncos could not figure out how to cover Freeman.

Freeman finished with 126 yards on nine catches. That totaled nearly half of Brett Favre’s 257 passing yards. He did, however, have a costly fumble during the game, which is perhaps fitting in a game that is marred by uncharacteristic mistakes.

Two of his nine catches went for touchdowns. His 22-yard touchdown gave the team a 7-0 lead that made it feel like the Packers were going to roll to back-to-back titles. His second touchdown, a 13-yarder on the third play of the fourth quarter, tied the score at 24.

Davis’ 1-yard touchdown with 1:47 to go gave the Broncos a 31-24 lead, and Favre’s last-gasp drive came up short. Had Favre finished the comeback, there could have been a debate between Favre and Freeman for Super Bowl MVP.

Green Bay Packers receiver Antonio Freeman (86) reacts in the end zone against the Denver Broncos during Super Bowl XXXII.
Green Bay Packers receiver Antonio Freeman (86) reacts in the end zone against the Denver Broncos during Super Bowl XXXII. / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Nick Collins In Super Bowl XLV

If you intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown, it usually goes a long way toward your team winning in the Super Bowl. Until Super Bowl LI, when Tom Brady famously led a 28-3 comeback over the Atlanta Falcons, teams that had a pick-six in the Super Bowl, were undefeated.

Nick Collins helped add to that stat in Super Bowl XLV.

Aaron Rodgers’ touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson opened the scoring. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Howard Green hit Ben Roethlisberger’s arm, causing a deep pass to wobble into the middle of the field.

Collins fielded the ball as if it were a punt before showing off his return skills. Collins weaved his way with blocks from Green and Ryan Pickett before finding his way into the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a 14-0 lead.

Herb Adderley Super Bowl II

Following a thrilling victory in the famous Ice Bowl, the Packers were struggling to put away the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II.

Rumors had surfaced this could be Vince Lombardi’s final game as the coach of the team.

The Packers jumped out to a 13-0 lead but led only 16-7 at halftime. In the locker room, the message appeared to be clear.

Win one more game for their Hall of Fame coach.

Herb Adderley put an exclamation point on the game. With Green Bay leading 26-7 in the fourth quarter, he picked off an errant pass and ran 60 yards for a touchdown to give the Packers a 33-7 lead.

It was the first pick-six in Super Bowl history and the final big play of the stars of the Lombardi era.

Willie Davis put an exclamation point on the victory with two of his three sacks on the final drive. Lombardi would be carried off the field after the game, where one of the most iconic images of his career was born as he looked into the eyes of Jerry Kramer.

Adderley’s big play helped make that happen. 

Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is carried off the field by Green Bay players Jerry Kramer (64) and Forest Gregg (75)
Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is carried off the field by Green Bay players Jerry Kramer (64) and Forest Gregg (75). / Tony Tomsic-Imagn Images

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Jacob Westendorf
JACOB WESTENDORF