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,NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 388 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. It was voted one of the ten best Packer games and is featured on the NFL Films collection, "The Green Bay Packers Greatest Games."
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.
Starr was fired the following day by team president Robert Parins, ending a 26-year association with the team as a player and coach. Former player Forrest Gregg, the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, was hired before the end of the week, announced on Christmas Eve. 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.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1983 Undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTom BishopDefensive endAslandJim EttariNose tackleThe CitadelJoe RudzinskiLinebackerNotre Dame
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Cleveland Browns L 20–21 0-1 Lambeau Field Recap 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 21–28 0-2 Kingdome Recap 3 at Philadelphia Eagles L 14–27 0-3 Veterans Stadium Recap 4 St. Louis Cardinals W 39–27 1-3 Lambeau Field Recap
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 4 at Houston Oilers W 41–38 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 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 Washington Redskins W 48–47 4–3 Lambeau Field 55,255 Recap 8 October 23 Minnesota Vikings L 17–20 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 6–6 Milwaukee County Stadium 50,050 Recap 13 November 27 at Atlanta Falcons L 41–47 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 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
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
Standings
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 0Byron Braggs 5.5 0 0 0.0 0 0George Cumby 2.0 0 0 0.0 0 0Mike Douglass 5.5 0 0 0.0 0 0Johnnie Gray 0.0 2 5 2.5 0 5Charles Johnson 3.5 0 0 0.0 0 0Ezra 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 22Mark 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 46Randy 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 NFL record, most overtime games played in one season, (5)
References
External links The Football Database