The 10 Biggest Moments of the Packers’ 2010 Super Bowl Season

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Nothing could ever tarnish the Green Bay Packers’ 2010 Super Bowl win, but does anyone else get the feeling that the NFL lockout has taken a little of the shine off?

In an offseason where most of the talk should be about the Packers chances of repeating as football champions, the news is littered with talk about a labor dispute that could take away Green Bay’s chance of even attempting it.

So, instead of looking forward in this post, we’re going to take a trip down memory lane to make sure none of the labor talk has hurt your memory of the special season Packers fans had a privilege to share. Here are the 10 biggest moments of 2010, with a few honorable mentions thrown in.

 

Honorable mentions

Rodgers to Jennings Part I: Their first touchdown connection in the Super Bowl was a thing of beauty and gave the Packers a commanding 21-3 lead.

B.J. Raji’s pick-six: His interception return for a touchdown was ultimately the game-winning points in the NFC Championship game.

Stopping a new Mike Vick: The Packers 2010 season got off to a dramatic start as the Packers defense stopped Vick on fourth down to preserve the win.

Rashard Mendenhall’s mistake: This play could almost make the top 10, but the Packers strip and recover of Mendenhall in the Super Bowl turned the tides.

Game-tying strike in Atlanta: Rodgers’ laser beam to Jordy Nelson tied the game at 17 with under two minutes to go.

Old man still has it: Donald Driver’s inspiring run-and-catch vs. the 49ers was one of the individual plays of the year for the Packers.

The 10 Biggest Moments

Collins’ seals the playoff berth

Nick Collins interception of Jay Cutler in Week 17 against the Bears ensured that the Packers would get their chance in the playoffs. Three weeks later, the Bears would regret not eliminating the Packers when they had their first opportunity to do so.

Desean Jackson’s return

Don’t forget—Jackson’s punt return for a touchdown that capped off the Eagles stunning come-from-behind win in New York allowed the Packers to get into the playoffs with two wins in the final two weeks. Without it, the Giants are playing in the postseason and not the Packers.

Sam Shields’ runs to Dallas

Shields second interception in the NFC Championship sealed the deal on the Packers’ 21-14 win over Chicago. After he picked it off, Shields unwisely took off on a dead sprint down the far sidelines. His destination? Dallas for Super Bowl XLV.

Favre can’t complete comeback

When Favre’s pass sailed high for Randy Moss in Week 7, it was important for so many reasons. The Packers had exorcised the demon of Favre, but they also snapped a two-game losing streak and got their season back on track. Who knows how the season would have ended up if Moss catches the final pass or Percy Harvin gets two feet in bounds.

Tramon and Desmond save the wild card day

Desmond Bishop’s shoe-string tackle of Desean Jackson allowed Tramon Williams to make his game-sealing interception in the end zone against the Eagles in the NFC Wild Card. The Packers defense once again held the Eagles in the fourth quarter in Philadelphia.

Rodgers’ 80-yard strike proves he’s fine

There isn’t a Packers fan out there who didn’t have a little doubt in their mind about how Rodgers would play following his second concussion in three months. But Rodgers answered all those questions, hitting Jordy Nelson for an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter on his way to 404 total yards in the Packers’ rout.

The final pass hits the Dallas turf

It certainly wasn’t the dramatic ending that the Super Bowl deserved, but the Packers were unofficially Super Bowl champions the second Ben Roethlisberger’s fourth down pass fell incomplete. Like they had so many times during the season, the Packers defense put the final dagger into the Super Bowl.

Collins’ to the house

Collins’ interception return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl ranks high on my list of most exciting plays of the season. He played the underthrown ball perfectly in the air, then juked his way into the end zone to give the Packers an early 14-0 lead.

Rodgers to Jennings, part II and III

Rodgers’ third down throw to Jennings for 31 yards in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl was one of the throws of the NFL season. Earlier on in the fourth, his connection with Jennings for an 8-yard touchdown capped off an amazing postseason run for Rodgers.

Tramon Williams’ first half dagger

OK, so maybe Wayne Larrivee didn’t officially call this the Divisional Round dagger, but he could have. Williams stepped in front of Matt Ryan’s pass with under 10 seconds to go in the first half and returned it for a touchdown. That gave the Packers a 28-14 first half lead and they never looked back from that point.

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Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.

You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.

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18 thoughts on “The 10 Biggest Moments of the Packers’ 2010 Super Bowl Season

  1. Such a plethora of excellent choices! Makes you wonder how many times the Packers would show up on other teams’10 WORST plays of their season. BTW, I would’ve put Old Man Driver’s run in the top 5 of my list because not only was it fun to watch him shake all those 49’ers, it showed me he still had “it” (I think it also eliminated any doubts he and his team mates may have had in the backs of their minds as well.) Fun story!

  2. Respectuflly disagree, Zack. IMHO a play that the Packers didn’t make should not be on this list. Because you could say the same thing about the Lions’ FG on OT in TB. If they don’t make it, we don’t go to the playoffs…

    Take the Jackson’s kick return out of the list and put one of the honorable mentions… would probably put the Matthews/Pickett forced fumble (saying Mendenhall’s mistake is to take away their credit. Matthews read the play perfectly and hit it right where the ball popped out).

    1. I understand your point, but that Giants-Eagles game was almost a foregone conclusion. That’s a game the Giants should have absolutely won. At the time, it opened the door for the Packers

      1. I agree Zach, it put the Pack back in control of their own destiny. “Win & In” is something to rally around, hoping for someone to “help” you sucks…been down that road too many times with bad results.

  3. You present us with many great memories of 11′. Altough this is not one play, I feel srongly that Tim Masthey’s improved punting (distance, hang time & placement) was worth a mention here. With out that, the questionalbe cover-teams would likely have boken down at a critical time.

    Great stuff Zach, keep it coming.

  4. One of my personal favorites of the 2010 season was the Bishop Pick 6 against Favre.

    Symbolic of the where the Packers were heading while finally leaving the past behind them, it was not the biggest play of the season, but it was important. No longer haunted by the spectre of Favre, they were on their way to the Super Bowl, while Favre and the Vikings were on their way to disaster.

      1. agree john. it was great because it was the type of throw that packer fans had seen favre make for the last 5 years of his career with some consitency. it felt SOOOO good to be on the other end of it. kind of a coming out for bishop as well. if anyone but bert throws that pass it doesn’t sniff the list, but since he did it could be in my top ten.

  5. May I also submit for your consideration the Packers’ loss to the NE Patriots?

    At a pivotal moment in the season, coming out of a loss at the hands of Detroit and with Rodgers benched on the sidelines, many of us Packers fans felt deep down in our bellies that looming doom and gloom feeling.. Things were not looking good for the Packers to beat out the Bears for the division or make a wildcard..

    It started with the week leading up to the game; a defiant Mike McCarthy telling the world the Packers are “Nobody’s underdog”. For a coach who has suffered scathing criticism at times from Packers fans as not being emotional enough, and through osmosis, leading a team that did not play with enough emotion when the chips were down, McCarthy certainly set the tone and his team responded in kind. This team would not suffer the perception that their season was as good as done.

    They believed in their Coach and his game plan, they believed in Matt Flynn, and most importantly, they believed in themselves.. And they came out swinging at Goliath in his own backyard.

    The Packers walked out of that game dissatisfied with the result, but with no shame or regrets on their shoulders, and they knew at that point they were the most dangerous team in the NFL, without question. After that game, there was never a lingering doubt in the mind of anyone in the Packers organization, players or front office, of what they could achieve in 2010.

    Then the whooped the living ish outta the Giants. 🙂

    1. I was at the NE game and heard a lot of comments that nobody was going to want to play GB in the playoffs. Turned out to be so true. GB should have won that game too as if it wasn’t for an offensive lineman returning a kick and a pick 6, they would’ve limited NE to only 17 points.

  6. I’m glad you included Desmond Bishop’s tackle of Desean Jackson. I still wonder what would have happened if Desmond had not come out of nowhere to keep one of the most explosive players in the NFL from running loose. It’s amazing how one or two plays can change a season.

  7. i will probably remember the rodgers to jennings throw for 31 yards with more clarity than any catch jennings will ever make. absolutely incredible play on both ends. the fact that clark tipped the pass slightly and jennings made a clean catch at that speed makes it even better. that catch is extremely difficult. another quarter of an inch and clark alters the ball too much.

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