This TikTok From 1999 Involving The Carolina Panthers And Green Bay Packers In A Pissing Contest Is Very Entertaining
Some things off the top, I have no idea how Tik Tok does it, but they sure do put things in front of you that you are interested in. Why a video from Week 17 in the NFL popped up on my timeline makes no sense but somehow the algorithm knew I would watch the shit out of NFL highlights, Chris Berman announcing NFL Highlights, and an essential "chase" scene of two teams battling back and forth in a highlight package.
NFL PrimeTime was the best and Berman's nicknames were iconic. Also for kids growing up without Red Zone or packages to watch every team, NFL PrimeTime was how you got your highlights, like literally the only way. Appointment television.
So again, I have no idea how this popped up on the feed, but it sure did send me down a rabbit hole and teach me a few things about how wacky a day that must have been in the NFL.
Let's set the stage.
The Packers, Cowboys, Giants and Panthers were all 7-8 entering the final week of the NFL season.
(Hilarious sub plot … The Lions were at one point in the season 8-4, yet lost 4 straight to finish 8-8 yet still make the playoffs, because of course the Lions did. They also lost their Wild Card game making it 5 straight losses in a row. Detroit Don and Superfan must still have nightmares about that)
Dallas was playing the NY Giants, if Dallas won they were in.
It seemed as if the Giants needed essentially a miracle of a win vs Dallas, and losses by Green Bay and Carolina because they were so far back in the point differential.
Wait Rico, what are you talking about with point differential ?
Yes … point differential.
So the way the tiebreaker worked was that the tiebreaker would come down to Net Conference point differential. You can argue this didn't make sense, but it led to one of the greatest witching hours of all time.
Let me explain.
At 1pm both the Packers (vs Cardinals) and Panthers (vs Saints) were both set to kick off.
To obtain the last spot, they not only needed to win, they needed to win by a LOT, as their net point differential entering the game was very close, with the Packers holding an 18 point edge over the Panthers.
So Green Bay and Carolina both went into their games trying to win by as many as possible, while also keeping an eye on what the other was doing. If Carolina managed to win by 24, the Packers knew they needed to win by more than 6. Reminder this was before text messages, and cell phones were the size of 2 by 4's. But the messages got relayed somehow , someway because both the Packers and Panthers were clearly getting news on the games. Neither one took their foot off the gas, and neither one stopped trying to score right down to the very end.
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Here's the full 8 minute PrimeTime segment, trust me it's worth the watch.
Absolute madness. I love weird quirky days or games in sports so this was right up my alley. Imagine being a fan of The Packers or Panthers at the game with a radio in your pocket trying to get updates on the local radio station (if you were lucky), and even if you got updates they were once every half hour or 45 minutes at best. Or think about being a fan at home watching the game begging to get cut in's or score updates (few and far in between back then … reminder no Red Zone). Even when you got those updates it was usually 1-2 plays max and the cut in was 15 seconds. Or if the tv flashed scores in the corner (I can't remember) if that was a thing back then, you had to wait for them to cycle through all the games to get to the only one you cared about … torture.
What a day though as a fan, or even a casual spectator. Can you imagine the drama in the Red Zone Scott Hanson would have had with this ? I feel like he should have done this during COVID.If you didn't know the results at the end wouldn't you be captivated and still watch the drama go on ? 1- It's basically like watching a game on ESPN Classic that you didn't know the result of which people did all the time and 2- It was COVID, what the hell else were we doing back then ? I wish I could have seen Scott Hanson call this.
Now I need to know other Week 17 years when shit got absolutely bonkers involving tie breakers. If you have then send them to me @Return_Of_RB . It's super captivating television.
In closing … the best part of all this. The Panthers got to their locker room and sulked after winning by 32 FREAKING POINTS and it somehow not being enough. The Packers got to their locker room and had to watch the Cowboys Giants game which kicked off at 4pm. Needed a Giants win to seal a playoff berth. .
I guess time is a flat circle because here we sit in 2023 and the ending of this story from 1999 is that the Packers got their heart ripped out as the Cowboys survived and got a win vs The Giants by 1 score. Gut wrenching … which makes this whole story / day even more entertaining. The Packers were that close to a playoff berth only to watch it slip away. Sports … the best reality show in the world.
Here's that Cowboys Giants highlight to close it all out.
Final thoughts … having the Overs in the GB/Ari and Carolina/New Orleans games must have been so much fun!