49ers Look to Tilt Balance of Power

They’re gone now: the players and coaches--some famous, some obscure--whose gaffes or heroics determined the outcome of the last three Green Bay-San Francisco games.

And it was those games, three straight wins by the Packers, that changed the balance of power in the NFC. The 49ers now try to reverse the momentum when the teams meet today in San Francisco for the NFC title.

The names of the heroes or goats?: Adam Walker, Steve Israel, Chris Jacke, Desmond Howard. And George Seifert.

The shift began Jan. 6, 1996, when the Packers came to San Francisco and won, 27-17.

Green Bay lost the next week to Dallas in the conference title game, but defeated San Francisco again in the 1996 regular season and again in a second-round playoff game. Then the Packers won the Super Bowl.

“Because it was the 49ers, who carry all those titles with them, that game was huge for our organization,” Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren says of the first victory.

Adds quarterback Brett Favre: “We were an emerging team but we had to get by the big team in the NFL. We didn’t realize we were a good team and that game made us realize it.”

For that, they can credit Walker, an obscure special teams player and running back, who was filling in for the injured William Floyd at fullback for San Francisco.

On the 49ers’ first play from scrimmage, Steve Young found Walker in the flat. Walker, playing with a cast on his hand, fumbled and Craig Newsome scooped up the ball and ran 31 yards for a touchdown. It was 7-0 Green Bay and the 49ers seemed in shock.

They remained in shock while Green Bay jumped to a 21-0 lead. At halftime, it was 21-3 and the Favre was 15 of 17 for 222 yards. It was over. Young threw an NFL-record 65 passes trying to bring the 49ers back.

The next game was close.

It was Monday night, Oct. 14, 1996 at Lambeau Field, with Young out and Elvis Grbac at quarterback for San Francisco.

The Packers lost Robert Brooks, their best receiver, with a knee injury on their first offensive play and the 49ers jumped to 17-6 halftime lead. Green Bay came back to tie it at 17-17, then the 49ers’ Marquez Pope intercepted and returned the ball to the Green Bay 12 with just more than two minutes left in regulation.

Seifert, then San Francisco’s coach, played cautiously, settling for a field goal that gave the 49ers a 20-17 lead. But it left Favre with 1:50 left and he took advantage of it with help from Israel--San Francisco’s dime back, who got called for 20 yards in penalties on one play.

Jacke tied it with a 31-yard field goal, then won in overtime with a 53-yarder.

“As it turned out, it was too much of a defensive philosophy,” said Seifert, who rejected suggestions from assistants to throw at least once into the end zone after Pope’s interception.

“It was the wrong decision. Do I have to eat it now? You bet I do. I know a lot of people are probably upset about it, the players included, and I have to face them just like they have to face me when they make a mistake.”

There were no mistakes in the third game, a divisional playoff game in Green Bay on Jan. 4, 1997, just a quick blowout like the game in San Francisco.

That was Howard’s doing. He returned San Francisco’s first punt 71 yards for a touchdown, then went 46 yards with a second one to set up another TD. It was 21-0 early in the second period, 21-7 at halftime and 35-14 at the end, an exclamation point on the momentum switch.

Walker is out of football now and so is Seifert, who retired after last season. He may re-emerge soon in Seattle or Dallas.

Jacke was cut by the Packers, signed with Pittsburgh, got hurt and ended the season with Washington.

Israel is in New England. Howard was the MVP in the Super Bowl for the Packers, signed with Oakland and did little this season.

In today’s NFL, people don’t stay put very long, and neither does the balance of power.

San Francisco is hoping it shifts back this weekend.