TimesFour

…1970: Bart Starr treated Green Bay fans to one last great moment as quarterback of the Packers.

By week 9 of the 1970 season, neither the Packers nor the Bears had realistic playoff aspirations, but that didn’t stop their 103rd meeting from being memorable. The Packers seemed to be in control well into the third quarter, but then Bears WR Dick Gordon — who would go on to lead the NFC in receptions in 1970 — got behind Willie Wood and snagged a long touchdown pass to tie the game.

The Bears dominated play in the fourth quarter, but had to settle for field goals each time they got close to the Packer goal. (Amazingly, the Packers defense prevented the Bears from converting any of their 13 third-down chances on the day.) Mac Percival’s fourth three-pointer of the day gave Chicago a 19-13 lead with 1:37 left.

The Packers got the ball back with the goal line 80 dim yards away. But to the delight of fans who’d gotten used to watching his decline, Starr’s chronically sore arm suddenly came to life. In trademark fashion, he methodically picked the Bears apart, completing key first-down passes of 18, 29, and 11 yards to keep the drive alive. Overall, Starr was an efficient 23-of-35 passing for 220 yards.

When an 11-yard pass to Larry Krause brought the ball to the Chicago 3-yard line, the Packers used their final time-out with 3 seconds to play. Expecting a run up the middle, the Bears stacked the line, but the crafty Starr crossed them up by calling a bootleg around right end. The only Bear to sniff out the play was LB Dick Butkus, but the gimpy quarterback easily outran the gimpier linebacker to the flag with no time remaining.

Starr would play in a just handful more games before retiring in 1972, and would win only once more as a starting quarterback. But for one last time, the old master gave the Packer home faithful a sweet come-from-behind victory over the hated Bears.

November 15, 1970
Lambeau Field
Attendance: 56,263

		1	2	3	4	F
Bears		0	0	10	9	19
Packers	10	0	3	7	20

GB: Dale Livingston 17 FG
GB: Donny Anderson 14 run (Livingston)
CH: Mac Percival 23 FG
CH: Dick Gordon 69 pass from Jack Concannon (Percival)
GB: Livingston 49 FG
CH: Percival 38 FG
CH: Percival 13 FG
CH: Percival 31 FG
GB: Bart Starr 3 run (Livingston)

Trivia: In 1970, what did the Packers do for the first time since 1958? The answer will appear in the Comments section tomorrow.