Record 11–5 Head coach Mike Holmgren Home field Lambeau Field | Division place 2nd NFC Central Start date 1998 | |
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Playoff finish Lost Wild Card Playoffs (49ers) 30–27 People also search for 1999 Green Bay Packers season | ||
The 1998 Green Bay Packers season ended with a 27–30 loss in the NFC Wild Card playoff game to the San Francisco 49ers, with Steve Young throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens with three seconds left. The season marked the end of an era in many ways for Green Bay; this was the last season for which both head coach Mike Holmgren and Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White would find themselves on the Packers' sideline. This was the first time the Packers had not won the division in four years. In addition, the Minnesota Vikings brought an end to the Packers 25 game home winning streak in Week 5.
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1998 NFL draft
Notably, the Packers drafted future all-pro quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in the 6th round (187th overall).
Preseason
In the 1998 NFL Preseason, the Packers traveled to Japan to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Tokyo Dome. It was the ninth American Bowl game to be staged at the 48,000 capacity stadium.
Regular season
The Packers finished the 1998 regular with an 11–5 record in 2nd place in the NFC Central (qualifying for an NFC Wild Card playoff game), behind the Randall Cunningham-led 15–1 Vikings.
NFC Wild Card Playoff
The 49ers defeated the Packers, who had eliminated them from the playoffs in each of the past 3 seasons, in one of the wildest back-and-forth games in league playoff history. After a Brett Favre touchdown to Antonio Freeman with 1:55 to go the Niners behind Steve Young began driving down field; Jerry Rice had just one catch for six yards all game; it came in this drive and when he was downed he appeared to fumble the ball but was ruled down by contact; on the next play Young's pass fell incomplete and was initially ruled intercepted. With eight seconds to go Young from the Packers 25 dropped back, momentarily stumbled, then launched the ball where it was caught in the endzone by Terrell Owens, who had dropped several catches during the game.