1983 Green Bay Packers season
NFL team season
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The 1983 Green Bay Packers season was their 65th season overall and their 63rd in the National Football League. The team finished with an 8–8 record under ninth-year head coach Bart Starr to finish second in the NFC Central division. The team set an NFL record for most overtime games played in one season with five,[1] winning two and losing three. On Monday Night Football in October, Green Bay defeated the Washington Redskins, 48–47, in what was at the time the highest-scoring game in MNF history. Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman and his counterpart Lynn Dickey threw for a combined 785 yards. Each team punted just once in the entire game.[2] It was voted one of the ten best Packer games and is featured on the NFL Films collection, "The Green Bay Packers Greatest Games."
| 1983 Green Bay Packers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Bart Starr |
| Home stadium | Lambeau Field Milwaukee County Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–8 |
| Division place | 2nd NFC Central |
| Playoffs | Did not qualify |
Green Bay hovered around the .500 mark all season. Entering their final regular season game on December 18 at Chicago, the Packers (8–7) could secure a playoff berth with a victory. Green Bay scored a touchdown to take a one-point lead with just over three minutes in the game, and Chicago running back Walter Payton was sidelined with a wrist injury. The Bears returned the kickoff to their 38 and drove fifty yards, down to the Packer twelve, with 1:17 remaining. Although Green Bay had all three of its timeouts, they opted not to use any, and the Bears kicked a winning 22-yard field goal with ten seconds on the clock. Green Bay fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, and the Los Angeles Rams (9–7) gained the final playoff slot.[3][4]
Starr was fired the following day by team president Robert Parins, ending a 26-year association with the team as a player and coach.[5][6] Former player Forrest Gregg, the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, was hired before the end of the week, announced on Christmas Eve.[7][8] Gregg had led the Bengals to Super Bowl XVI two years earlier, but had less success in his four seasons in Green Bay, then left for his alma mater SMU in Dallas in January 1988.[9]
Offseason
NFL draft
| 1983 Green Bay Packers draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Tim Lewis | Cornerback | Pittsburgh | |
| 2 | 48 | Dave Drechsler | Guard | North Carolina | |
| 4 | 104 | Mike Miller | Wide receiver | Tennessee | |
| 5 | 132 | Brian Thomas | Running back | Pittsburgh | |
| 6 | 160 | Ron Sams | Guard | Pittsburgh | |
| 7 | 188 | Jessie Clark | Running back | Arkansas | |
| 8 | 216 | Carlton Briscoe | Running back | McNeese State | |
| 9 | 243 | Robin Ham | Center | West Texas State | |
| 10 | 253 | Byron Williams | Wide receiver | Texas–Arlington | |
| 10 | 271 | Jimmy Thomas | Defensive back | Indiana | |
| 11 | 299 | Bucky Scribner | Punter | Kansas | |
| 12 | 327 | John Harvey | Linebacker | USC | |
| Made roster | |||||
Undrafted free agents
| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Bishop | Defensive end | Asland |
| Jim Ettari | Nose tackle | The Citadel |
| Joe Rudzinski | Linebacker | Notre Dame |
Personnel
Staff
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Roster
Preseason
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 6 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–21 | 0-1 | Lambeau Field | Recap Archived October 26, 2019, at the Wayback Machine |
| 2 | August 12 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 21–28 | 0-2 | Kingdome | Recap Archived October 26, 2019, at the Wayback Machine |
| 3 | August 20 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 14–27 | 0-3 | Veterans Stadium | Recap Archived October 26, 2019, at the Wayback Machine |
| 4 | August 27 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 39–27 | 1-3 | Lambeau Field | Recap Archived October 26, 2019, at the Wayback Machine |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 4 | at Houston Oilers | W 41–38 (OT) | 1–0 | Astrodome | 44,073 | Recap |
| 2 | September 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 21–25 | 1–1 | Lambeau Field | 55,154 | Recap |
| 3 | September 18 | Los Angeles Rams | W 27–24 | 2–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,037 | Recap |
| 4 | September 26 | at New York Giants | L 3–27 | 2–2 | Giants Stadium | 75,308 | Recap |
| 5 | October 2 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 55–14 | 3–2 | Lambeau Field | 54,272 | Recap |
| 6 | October 9 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–38 | 3–3 | Pontiac Silverdome | 67,738 | Recap |
| 7 | October 17 | Washington Redskins | W 48–47 | 4–3 | Lambeau Field | 55,255 | Recap |
| 8 | October 23 | Minnesota Vikings | L 17–20 (OT) | 4–4 | Lambeau Field | 55,236 | Recap |
| 9 | October 30 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 14–34 | 4–5 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,349 | Recap |
| 10 | November 6 | Cleveland Browns | W 35–21 | 5–5 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,089 | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 29–21 | 6–5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 60,113 | Recap |
| 12 | November 20 | Detroit Lions | L 20–23 (OT) | 6–6 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 50,050 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 41–47 (OT) | 6–7 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 35,688 | Recap |
| 14 | December 4 | Chicago Bears | W 31–28 | 7–7 | Lambeau Field | 51,147 | Recap |
| 15 | December 12 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 12–9 (OT) | 8–7 | Tampa Stadium | 50,763 | Recap |
| 16 | December 18 | at Chicago Bears | L 21–23 | 8–8 | Soldier Field | 35,807 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1 at Oilers
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 7 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 41 |
| Oilers | 10 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 38 |
at Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas
- Date: September 4
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Indoors (dome)
- Game attendance: 44,073
- Referee: Bob McElwee
- TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil
- Box Score, Box Score
| Game information |
|---|
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Overtime
|
Lynn Dickey completed 27 of 31 passes, including 18 straight at one point during the game, for 333 yards and four touchdowns and Jan Stenerud's 42-yard field goal with 9:05 left in overtime give the Packers a successful opening day victory.
Week 16 at Bears
at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
- Date: December 18
- Game time: 1:00 p.m.
- Game weather: 1 °F (−17 °C)
- Game attendance: 35,807
- Referee: Red Cashion
- Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database
| Game information |
|---|
|
Standings
| NFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| (3) Detroit Lions | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 7–1 | 8–4 | 347 | 286 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 429 | 439 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 7–7 | 311 | 301 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 4–8 | 316 | 348 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 1–7 | 1–11 | 241 | 380 | L3 |
Statistics
Passing
| Player | Attempts | Completion | Percentage | Yards | Avg | Long | TD | Int | Rating |
| Lynn Dickey | 484 | 289 | 59.7% | 4458 | 9.21 | 75 | 32 | 29 | 87.3 |
Receiving
| Player | Receptions | Yards | Average | TD | Long |
| James Lofton | 58 | 1300 | 22.4 | 8 | 74 |
| John Jefferson | 57 | 830 | 14.6 | 7 | 36 |
| Paul Coffman | 54 | 814 | 15.1 | 11 | 74 |
| Gerry Ellis | 52 | 603 | 11.6 | 2 | 56 |
Rushing
| Player | Attempts | Yards | avg | TD | Long |
| Gerry Ellis | 141 | 696 | 4.9 | 4 | 71 |
| Eddie Lee Ivery | 86 | 340 | 4.0 | 2 | 21 |
| Jessie Clark | 71 | 328 | 4.6 | 0 | 42 |
| Harlan Huckleby | 50 | 182 | 3.6 | 4 | 20 |
Defensive
| Player | Sacks | INT'S | Yards | Average | TD | Long |
| John Anderson | 4.5 | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 1 | 27t |
| Greg Boyd | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Byron Braggs | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Cumby | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Douglass | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnnie Gray | 0.0 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Charles Johnson | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ezra Johnson | 14.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Jolly | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Laughlin | 0.0 | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 0 | 22 |
| Mark Lee | 0.0 | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 0 | 15 |
| Cliff Lewis | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Lewis | 0.0 | 5 | 111 | 22.2 | 0 | 46 |
| Randy Scott | 0.0 | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 12 |
Records
- Lynn Dickey, club record, most passing yards in one season, 4,458. First NFC Quarterback to ever throw for over 4,000 yards[citation needed]
- NFL record, most overtime games played in one season, (5)[citation needed]