Best Packers Plays of All Time Bracket, Day 4: The Ice Bowl faces off against an unlikely hero

Round 2 is here! A few favorite plays have gone down so far, so we’ll take a moment of silence to remember a few all-time moments like Favre to Freeman in Super Bowl XXXI or Rodgers to Jordy in Super Bowl XLV. With that out of the way, it’s time to move on in our bracket and get started.

The rules are the same. We’ll be voting today and tomorrow to decide who moves on to the quarterfinal round. This is where things start to heat up. And in honor of the first cut day of the preseason this week, we know tough decisions must be made. So let’s get to it by checking out how the bracket sits at this moment and examining the matchups.

Our first matchup of round 2 is between Bart Starr’s QB sneak against the Cowboys in the Ice Bowl and Aaron Rodgers’ hail mary to Jeff Janis against the Cardinals. Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Aaron Rodgers, and Jeff Janis. Four Packers legends prepared to battle.

#1: Bart Starr’s QB Sneak vs. the Cowboys in the Ice Bowl

13 degrees below zero. The game-time temperature at Lambeau Field on December 31st, 1967 should’ve repelled even the most loyal Packers fans. And yet, 50,000 showed up to watch the NFL Championship between the Packers and Cowboys. As they attempted to win their 3rd consecutive NFL Championship, with 5:00 left in the game, the Packers found themselves trailing 17-14. With 16 seconds left, the Packers lined up on the goal line with no timeouts. A pass play was really the only option here to win the game. But Bart Starr and the Packers gambled with a sneak play up the middle. Ken Bowman and Jerry Kramer destroyed Cowboys lineman Jethro Pugh, giving Starr the space he needed to sky over the line for the game-winning TD.

#16: Aaron Rodgers’ Hail Mary to Jeff Janis in the 2015 NFC Divisional Round

“We’ll always have Arizona.” Jeff Janis’ brief fling with greatness may not have lasted long, but for one night in the 2015 NFC Divisional Round, Janis was a hero. On the first miracle of the drive, Aaron Rodgers uncorked a ball to Janis on 4th and 20 from his own end zone. After a night where the Packers had seemingly lost every WR on the team to injury, Janis stepped up big. After the Packers ran two fruitless plays, 5 seconds remained. They needed 41 yards for a touchdown just to tie the game. Surely it couldn’t happen twice, right?? Rodgers rolled to his left and fading away, launched it downfield to Janis in the end zone. Somehow, someway, over two defenders, Janis secured the prayer. The Packers went on to another overtime heartbreak, but the memory of Janis’ unlikely heroics will live on for years to come.

Our second matchup pits Aaron Rodgers’ sideline dart to Jared Cook against the Cowboys vs. Max McGee’s one-handed snag against the Chiefs in Super Bowl I. Two of the greatest catches in Packers history coming from unlikely heroes.

#9: Aaron Rodgers to Jared Cook in the 2017 NFC Divisional Round vs. the Cowboys

You know the drill by now. There are only so many ways to describe absurd heroics. As if ripped off the pages of a fantasy epic, Aaron Rodgers did it again against Dallas in the 2016 Divisional Round. After trading 50-yard field goals in the last 2 minutes, the Cowboys and Packers were tied at 31 with just 35 seconds left in the game. On 3rd and 20 at his own 32, Rodgers threw a rope to Cook down the left sideline, something they had practiced many times leading up to the game. Initially thought to be out of bounds on the broadcast, the play was ruled complete and upheld upon review. Rodgers ripped the Cowboys’ hearts out once more. After Jason Garrett attempted to freeze Mason Crosby for the game-winner, he drilled the 51 yarder, sending the Packers to Atlanta for the NFC title game.

#8: Max McGee’s One-Handed Touchdown Catch vs. the Chiefs in Super Bowl I

Hangover remedies. We all have them. A giant plate of cheese fries, a Bloody Mary, or maybe just a nice, hot shower. After a long night of drinking, somehow I don’t think any of us consider catching 6 passes for 138 yards and a TD in football’s biggest game, but I suppose Max McGee was just built differently. By the time Super Bowl I vs the Chiefs rolled around, McGee was in the twilight of his career, content with backing up starting wideout Boyd Dowler and not expecting to play in the game after a night of debauchery. Of course that all changed when Dowler re-injured his shoulder early in the game and was unable to return. McGee entered, caught the first TD in Super Bowl history, and the rest was, well… history.

The third matchup today is a face-off between Antonio Freeman’s Monday Night miracle catch and Nick Collins’ pick-six in Super Bowl XLV. One of the craziest plays in Monday Night history goes up against an iconic moment in the Packers’ most recent Super Bowl win.

#5: Antonio Freeman’s Monday Night Miracle

“He did WHAT?!” Al Michaels spoke for all of us at that moment. To this day, the catch makes no sense. And like so many of these moments, it’s made so much sweeter by being in overtime and against a hated rival. Not to mention the Packers shouldn’t have even been in overtime. The Vikings botched the snap on a game-winning field goal, followed by their punter, Mitch Berger, throwing an interception to send the game into OT. It still stands as one of the greatest plays in Monday Night Football history and one that will leave us flabbergasted for ages.

#12: Nick Collins’ Pick Six vs. the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV

If you asked someone for 10 of the most iconic images in Packers history, it’s likely they’ll include the shot of Collins in the end zone of AT&T Stadium, arms outstretched after taking a Ben Roethlisberger throw to the house to put the Packers up 14-0. Collins, a Packers Hall of Fame inductee, would only play in 2 more NFL games after the Super Bowl due to a career-ending neck injury. But he certainly left his stamp on the game in a short time and will stand forever as a Super Bowl hero.

Our final matchup today has Tramon Williams’ pick-six against the Falcons squaring off against Aaron Rodgers’ bomb to Randall Cobb on 4th and 8 to win the NFC North. Can a pivotal playoff moment upset the clutch destruction of the Bears’ NFC North hopes?

#13: Tramon Williams’ Pick Six vs. the Falcons in the 2011 NFC Divisional Round

In one of Aaron Rodgers’ finest games ever, the lasting image may actually be Tramon Williams gliding into the end zone off of a Matt Ryan interception near the end of the first half. After going up by 7 with 42 seconds left in the half, the Packers delivered what felt like an early dagger in the form of the pick 6. With the Falcons driving into Green Bay territory to get a quick score before halftime, Williams stepped in front of a pass intended for Roddy White and ran 70 yards for the score. “They tried to bite off more yardage, and they just. Got. Burned!”

#4: “4th and 8” to win the NFC North

Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb have crushed the souls of Bears fans as a hobby for nearly a decade now, but no moment stands above the NFC North winning bomb to Cobb in 2013. The 2013 season was a tumultuous one for the Packers. After starting 5-2, Rodgers was lost to a broken collarbone in the 1st quarter against the Bears in week 9. A Thanksgiving blowout to the Lions left them at 5-6-1 with little hope for the playoffs. But with a little luck and a lot of Matt Flynn magic, the Packers went 2-1 over the next 3 weeks, setting up Rodgers to return for a week 17, winner takes all showdown with the Bears to decide the NFC North. Cobb himself was returning from an injury as well. With less than a minute left in the game, down 1 with one last gasp left, Rodgers scrambled left to evade the rush and thanks to a timely John Kuhn block on Julius Peppers, was able to heave it downfield to Cobb for a 48-yard touchdown. Chris Conte expected Cobb to stop at the sticks, but he and Rodgers had a different idea, leaving Cobb wide open for the score.

Round 2 voting is underway! Make sure to vote here to see your favorite plays move on to the next round this weekend. We’ll be back tomorrow to break down the rest of round 2 and find out who is moving on to the quarterfinals.