The 2007 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 89th overall and 87th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Packers finished the regular season with a 13–3 record and clinched their first winning season, playoff appearance and division title since 2004. They received for the first time since 1997 a bye for the first round of the playoffs, and won their divisional round playoff game to advance to the franchise's first NFC Championship Game in 10 years. The Packers ultimately lost the NFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It was the first time the Packers had lost a home NFC Championship game, and only their third home playoff loss ever. This was the last season for quarterback Brett Favre as a Green Bay Packer, as he initially retired following the season but came out of retirement and was subsequently traded to the New York Jets during the offseason.
This season also marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Packers' home stadium of Lambeau Field. The Packers' tenure at Lambeau, now at 64 seasons, is the longest in NFL history at a single stadium, breaking the Chicago Bears' previous record of 50 seasons at Wrigley Field (1921–1970).
Offseason On February 2, 2007, Brett Favre announced that he would return for the 2007 season. "I am so excited about coming back," the 37-year-old quarterback said on the website of The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi. He also commented, "We have a good nucleus of young players. We were 8–8 last year, and that's encouraging."
Ted Thompson, Green Bay's general manager, confirmed the news, saying, "The Packers are excited by his decision and look forward to a successful 2007 campaign." This would be, however, Brett Favre's last season with the Packers, after 16 years on the team.
2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft occurred on April 28–29. The Packers picked 16th overall, selecting defensive tackle Justin Harrell in the first round.
+ 2007 Packers draft selections Round/Pick Player Position College1/16 Justin Harrell Defensive tackle Tennessee2/47 Traded to NY Jets along with No. 235 for Nos. 63, 89, and 1912/63 (From NY Jets) Brandon Jackson Running back Nebraska3/78 James Jones Wide receiver San Jose State3/89 (From NY Jets) Aaron Rouse Safety Virginia Tech4/112 Traded to Pittsburgh for Nos. 119 & 1924/119 (From Pittsburgh) Allen Barbre Offensive tackle Missouri Southern St.5/157 David Clowney Wide Receiver Virginia Tech6/191 (from NY Jets) Korey Hall Inside linebacker Boise State6/192 (From Pittsburgh) Desmond Bishop Inside linebacker Cal6/193 Mason Crosby Kicker Colorado7/228 DeShawn Wynn Running Back Florida7/235 Traded to NY Jets along with No. 47 for Nos. 63, 89, and 1917/243 (compensatory) Clark Harris Tight end Rutgers
Reportedly, the Packers were in talks with Oakland Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss at the behest of Brett Favre. If the Packers had made the move to acquire the 30-year-old wide receiver, the trade would no doubt have been a controversial one, as Moss had a long and storied history with the Green Bay franchise. While Moss's salary was high, Green Bay, at the time, reportedly had $24 million of cap space, and could have absorbed his contract easily. These rumors were put to an end on April 29, 2007, when Oakland dealt Moss to New England for a 4th round draft pick. In the days following the NFL draft, Favre was upset concerning Green Bay's inability to acquire Moss. Favre was reportedly so upset that his agent requested that the Packers trade him. Coach Mike McCarthy was able to calm Favre down over the phone, and Favre eventually admitted that while he wanted to win, he did not want to be traded in order to do so.
Departures On March 5, the Texans signed running back Ahman Green to a contract.
On March 5, the Dolphins signed tight end David Martin to a contract.
On March 7, the Packers cut fullback William Henderson.
Free agents heading into the 2007 season
Position Player Free agencytag Date signed 2007 team DT Kenderick Allen UFA May 11 Cincinnati Bengals QB Todd Bouman UFA October 25 Jacksonville Jaguars RB Ahman Green UFA March 5 Houston Texans TE Donald Lee UFA February 20 Green Bay Packers TE David Martin UFA March 5 Miami Dolphins LB Ben Taylor UFA OG Tyson Walter UFA March 5 Green Bay Packers LB Tracy White UFA March 7 Green Bay PackersRFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent
Roster
Preseason
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 13–9 1–0 Heinz FieldRecap 2 Seattle Seahawks W 48–13 2–0 Lambeau FieldRecap 3 Jacksonville Jaguars L 13–21 2–1Lambeau FieldRecap 4 at Tennessee Titans L 14–30 2–2 LP FieldRecap
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1September 9Philadelphia EaglesW 16–131–0Lambeau FieldRecap 2September 16at New York GiantsW 35–132–0Giants StadiumRecap 3September 23San Diego ChargersW 31–243–0Lambeau FieldRecap 4September 30at Minnesota VikingsW 23–164–0Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeRecap 5October 7Chicago BearsL 20–274–1Lambeau FieldRecap 6October 14Washington RedskinsW 17–145–1Lambeau FieldRecap 7 Bye 8at Denver BroncosW 19–13 6–1Invesco Field at Mile HighRecap 9 November 4 at Kansas City Chiefs W 33–22 7–1 Arrowhead StadiumRecap 10 November 11 Minnesota Vikings W 34–0 8–1 Lambeau FieldRecap 11 November 18 Carolina Panthers W 31–17 9–1 Lambeau FieldRecap 12 November 22 at Detroit Lions W 37–26 10–1 Ford FieldRecap 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 27–37 10–2 Texas StadiumRecap 14 December 9 Oakland Raiders W 38–7 11–2 Lambeau FieldRecap 15 December 16 at St. Louis Rams W 33–14 12–2 Edward Jones DomeRecap 16 December 23 at Chicago Bears L 7–35 12–3 Soldier FieldRecap 17 December 30 Detroit Lions W 34–13 13–3 Lambeau FieldRecap
Standings
Regular season results
Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The Packers began their season at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. In the first quarter, Green Bay's Jarrett Bush recovered the Eagles' Greg Lewis's muffed punt in the end zone for a touchdown. The contest was tied in the closing minutes but the Eagles again muffed a punt return, setting up a 42-yard kick from Packers rookie kicker Mason Crosby. This was the only game the Packers did not score an offensive touchdown. Crosby was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Crosby is the only player in league history to boot a 50-plus-yard field goal and game winning field goal in the final minute in his first NFL game.
Week 2: at New York Giants
Playing a close game until the fourth quarter, the Packers took a commanding lead late in the game (racking up 21 points in the final fifteen minutes) and winning the game 35–13. Early in the 4th quarter, Favre capped off a drive with a pass to the outside of the endzone to Donald Lee, and then followed it up with a 10-yard pass to Donald Driver by the goalpost for a score after the Giants fumbled the ensuing kickoff deep in their own territory. In the victory, Brett Favre threw for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns and gave him his 149th career win as a starter, the most by any quarterback in NFL history, surpassing John Elway. Favre was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for games played September 16–17. Mike McCarthy was voted the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week.
Week 3: vs. San Diego Chargers
Quarterback Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes against the Chargers in the victory, bringing his career total to 420 and tying Dan Marino's career touchdown record. With just over two minutes remaining in the game and San Diego leading 21–17, Favre found wide receiver Greg Jennings for a 57-yard catch and run across the middle of the field for the go-ahead score. On the Chargers ensuing drive, linebacker Nick Barnett intercepted a Philip Rivers pass and returned it to the San Diego 1-yard line setting up the Packers final score and a 10-point lead. Barnett was voted the GMC Defensive Player of the Week for games played on September 23 – 24. This win made the Packers the only team to have missed the playoffs the previous season to return to open 3–0 against teams that made the playoffs the year before.
Week 4: at Minnesota Vikings
Coming off their home win over the Chargers, the Packers flew to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for an NFC North division game against Minnesota. In the first quarter, quarterback Brett Favre threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Jennings surpassing Dan Marino as the league's all-time leader in touchdown passes. He also became the league leader in pass attempts (8,393 at game's end). Favre was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season, having thrown for 344 yards and two touchdowns.
With the win, the Packers stayed undefeated and improved to their first 4–0 start since 1998.
Week 5: vs. Chicago Bears
Coming off a record-setting divisional road game against the Vikings, the Packers went home for a Sunday night divisional clash with their nemesis, the Chicago Bears. This would be the 174th meeting between the two teams.
In the first quarter, Green Bay got off to a fast start by capping off the game's opening drive with rookie running back DeShawn Wynn getting a 2-yard touchdown run for the only score of the period. In the second quarter, the Bears tied the game with running back Cedric Benson's 10-yard touchdown run. The Packers would end the first half with quarterback Brett Favre completing a 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Jennings, along with rookie kicker Mason Crosby converting a 37-yard field goal.
In the third quarter, Chicago crept closer with kicker Robbie Gould converting a 44-yard field goal. Green Bay responded with Crosby kicking a 37-yard field goal, yet the Bears pulled to within three as quarterback Brian Griese completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Olsen. In the fourth quarter, Chicago erased their deficit completely with Gould's 36-yard field goal and Griese's 34-yard touchdown pass to tight end Desmond Clark.
With a turnover-plagued loss (5 turnovers on the night), the Packers fell to 4–1. Also, with two interceptions, Favre tied QB George Blanda at 277 for the most career interceptions. Also of note, Brady Poppinga intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, extending the streak of at least one Packer interception per game for the 11th consecutive game. This matched the longest streak in team history, which occurred during an 11-game stretch in 1984–1985.
Week 6: vs. Washington Redskins
On October 14, 2007 Charles Woodson picked up a Santana Moss fumble and returned it 57 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in a 17–14 victory over the Washington Redskins.NFL, Woodson returns fumble for touchdown as Packers beat Redskins, 17–14, October 14, 2007 He also recorded an interception in the game, his first of the season. This was the 12 straight game that Green Bay has recorded an interception, making it a new team record surpassing an 11-game stretch in 1984–1985. In the third quarter, Redskins safety Sean Taylor intercepted a Brett Favre pass making Favre the career interception leader in NFL history, eclipsing George Blanda's record of 277 interceptions. Favre threw two interceptions for the game. Woodson was named the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week for his performance versus the Redskins. It was the first time he has received this award.
With the win, the Packers entered its bye week at 5–1.
Week 8: at Denver Broncos
Following their bye week, the Packers flew to Denver to take on the Broncos on Monday Night Football. In the first quarter, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler opened the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Scheffler. On the first play of the ensuing series Brett Favre completed a 79-yard touchdown to rookie wide receiver James Jones. In the second quarter, rookie kicker Mason Crosby converted a 19-yard field goal, followed by a 26-yard field goal, and the Packers took a 13–7 lead into halftime.