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The Catch II was a National Football League (NFL) Wild Card Playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers on January 3, 1999.^[1][2][3] The game, which was played at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California, became notable after a completed pass with 8 seconds left in the 4th quarter won the game for the 49ers. The 49ers were facing 3rd-and-3, when San Francisco wide receiver Terrell Owens made a catch in the end zone to complete a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Steve Young, enabling the 49ers to defeat the Packers, 30–27.^[4] It came at the end of a 9-play, 76-yard drive engineered by Young. This game and moment mirrors a similar catch in 49ers lore, when quarterback Joe Montana threw to receiver Dwight Clark in the 1981–82 NFL playoffs, and is similarly regarded as one of the most memorable events in NFL history, and a significant moment in Owens' NFL career.^[5]

Background

The San Francisco 49ers went 12–4 during the 1998 NFL season and entered as the 4th seed in the playoffs after clinching a Wild Card berth. San Francisco won 6 out of their last 8 games, although it was not enough to overcome the Atlanta Falcons, who won the NFC West.^[6] The Green Bay Packers went 11–5 and entered the playoffs as the 5th seed, also clinching a Wild Card berth. Green Bay won their last three games of the season, but the Vikings won the NFC Central after going 15–1.^[7] This was the fourth playoff game between the 49ers and Packers in the 1990s, which helped establish the teams' rivalry. The Packers had won the three previous games, including the 1997 NFC Championship Game.^[8]

Game summary

First half

The Packers scored first, with Ryan Longwell converting a 23-yard field goal on a 10-play, 48-yard drive. The Packers recovered a Terrell Owens at mid-field to kick-off the drive and take an early 3–0 lead. Later in the first quarter, the 49ers returned the favor, recovering a Dorsey Levens' fumble on the Packers 19-yard line. After two rushes gained 18 yards, Steve Young threw a 1-yard pass to Greg Clark for the touchdown putting the 49ers up 7–3. The Packers then drove 62 yards on 9 plays, scoring touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Brett Favre to Antonio Freeman. Levens converted a short 4th down play for 22 yards to put the Packers in scoring position. San Francisco quickly tied the game 10–10 on a 34-yard Wade Richey field goal, after a short 8-play, 37-yard drive. Just before the end of the half, Levens capped off a 7-play, 83 yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Packers up 17–10. The Packers gained 30 yards on 2, 15-yard penalties on the 49ers during the same play.^[9]

Second half

The 49ers' Lee Woodall intercepted a Favre pass, kickstarting a 5-play, 33-yard drive that ended in an 8-yard touchdown catch by Clark to tie the game at 17–17. San Francisco took the lead later in the third quarter on an 11-play, 48-yard drive over at their own 22-yard line. From there, the 49ers' drive ended in a 48-yard field goal by Richey at the Packers' 33 to put the score at 20–17. The Packers scored right after the start the 4th quarter on a Longwell 37-yard field goal. The 11-play, 60-yard drive brought the score even again, 20–20. The 49ers took the lead again, driving 51 yards for convert a 40-yard field goal. The drive included an over-the-shoulder catch by Owens for 34 yards. Favre connected with Freeman for his second touchdown reception of the game, a 15-yard pass that ended a 9-play, 89-yard drive. he 49ers took possession of the ball with just under two minutes left to play in the game, down 27–23.^[9]

The play

Facing 3rd and 3 with eight seconds to go left in the game, the 49ers lined up at the Green Bay 25-yard line. From the snap, Young almost stumbled and fell, but regained his balance. He then fired the ball down the middle to Owens, who was between five Packers defenders, catching the ball in the end zone near the goal line for the touchdown reception with three seconds left to play. Owens, securing the victory after a terrible offensive game, was overcome with emotion as he hugged head coach Steve Mariucci on the sidelines while in tears. After the game, Owens reflected on the catch, saying, "I was just happy I caught the ball. I knew I had to come back and make a big play after all those drops. I let the team down in the beginning, but luckily I got to come back and make a big play in the end." Coach Mariucci added, "[Owens] was beside himself. I couldn't tell if he was hurt or crying. It was just very emotional."^[10]

End of the game

On the ensuing kickoff, Roell Preston was able to return the ball to his team's own 45-yard line, but fumbled out of bounds as time expired, giving the 49ers the victory over the Packers, 30–27.^{[citation needed]}

Young finished the game with 182 yards passing and three touchdowns, although he also had two interceptions. Favre threw for 292 yards and two passing touchdowns, although he also had two interceptions. Including two fumbles lost by Green Bay and one lost by San Francisco, the game had 7 total turnovers. The Packers also missed a field goal.^[11]

Box score

Analysis

Missed fumble

During the 49ers' final drive, on their 5th play from scrimmage, Young passed complete to Jerry Rice for a gain of 6 yards to the Packers' 47. However, on the tackle by Bernardo Harris, a clear fumble was forced and recovered by the Packers, but not seen by the officials. On the Fox television broadcast replay, the ball appeared to be forced out of Rice's hand, punched out by safety Scott McGarrahan, before Rice's knee hit the ground. At the time of this game, instant replay rules were not instated in the NFL, in which the play could be easily challenged and overturned, giving Green Bay the ball.^[13]

Owens' struggles

The biggest story of the game was Terrell Owens and his struggles on offense. On the third play of the game, Owens caught Young's pass for an 11-yard gain, but fumbled the ball into the hands of Pat Terrell at the Green Bay 47-yard line. Continuing into the 2nd quarter, Owens missed two passes by Young, including what would have been an easy catch at the 47-yard line. In the 3rd quarter, Owens missed another two passes, including a wide open pass into the end zone. Though Owens made a reception for 34 yards in the 4th quarter, he dropped another pass later on. Owens, on his performance up to this point, after the game described it thus: "I let the team down. I was horrible."^[10][14]

Aftermath

The game was Holmgren's last as Packers head coach, and the last for Green Bay in the playoffs until 2001.^[15]

In the NFC Divisional round, the 49ers faced the Atlanta Falcons. Near the end of the game, Young ran the ball into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. On the extra point attempt, backup quarterback Ty Detmer fumbled the snap, but recovered and threw it to Greg Clark for a 2-point conversion with 2:57 left to play in the game. The 49ers forced a punt, but Dan Stryzinski pinned them back at their own 4-yard line with 34 seconds and no timeouts left. Young completed a 24-yard pass to Levy on the second play after that, but on the next play, a William White interception at midfield sealed the victory for the Falcons, 20–18.^[16]

Replay rule change

Following the Jerry Rice missed fumble, outcry rippled throughout the NFL and the Packers organization for the league to institute a new instant replay review system. Packers general manager Ron Wolf said about the NFL's missed calls, "It's time we do something about it in the NFL. To turn a game around like this...I'm not alone in this. This is not the regular season and next week you can strap it on and play again. We have to go home now."^[17]

Even though the NFL previously used a review system from 1986 to 1991, during the 1999 off-season, the league implemented a new "challenge" system, which is still in use today. Coaches are allowed two challenges per game before the final two minutes of each half to notify officials of a missed call: a lost challenge costs the team one available timeout, while a correct costs none. After the two-minute warning of both halves, and in overtime, all reviews will be initiated by the replay assistant in the press box replay booth, as many times as necessary.^[18] Though, before the 2006 season, an electronic pager was used instead of the modern-day challenge flag.^[19]

Legacy

The Catch II went down in 49ers–Packers playoff history, as a culmination of San Francisco finally winning their many postseason meetings in the '90s.^[20][21][22] In December 2003, the game was featured as an episode of NFL's Greatest Games.^[23] In June 2020, NBC Sports Bay Area put it at No. 12 in a top 20 list of great 49ers plays.^[24] As for Owens, the moment was one of his first memorable plays with the 49ers that eventually led to a Hall of Fame NFL career. Reflecting on the play in July 2019, Owens said, "I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for that play to be honest. If you take that one catch, that one touchdown away from me, I don’t know where I would be. It was a play that really catapulted my career.”^[5]

Fourteen years later, another version of "The Catch" went down in 49ers lore in the 2011 NFC Divisional Playoffs against the New Orleans Saints. Once again, with San Francisco trailing late in the game, and facing a 3rd down and 3 situation in the opponent's red zone, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith connected with tight end Vernon Davis in the end zone for the game winning touchdown reception with 9 seconds left to go in the game, giving San Francisco the victory over the Saints, 36–32. Because of the commemorative timing of the Montana–Clark and Young–Owens catches and the coincidence that all three catches occurred in the playoffs in Candlestick Park, with the 49ers trailing late, facing a 3rd-and-3 in the opponent's red zone, giving them the eventual victory, the catch from Smith to Davis was thereafter immortalized by 49ers fans and sportswriters as "The Catch III".^{[25][26][27][28]}

See also

• 49ers–Packers rivalry

References

External links

• "The Catch II" Packers vs. 49ers 1998 NFC Wild Card Playoffs | NFL Full Game on YouTube