Five greatest Packer teams not to win an NFL title

[Joemailman]

When I saw the thread title, my first thought was 63. Boy that was a frustrating year, especially since it seemed like there was such an opportunity to win three in a row. It was almost like a second opportunity since they narrowly lost the 1960 championship, before winning in 61 and 62. Little did we realize that they would put together three in a row just four years later.

1963 was the only time under Lombardi when things just didn't seem to go right. The team just never played quite as well as hoped.

Of course, Hornung being suspended didn't help. And of course, there were no wild cards then so the Packers failed to make the playoffs with an 11-2-1 record. Both of their losses were to the Bears who won the western conference. Bears has a great defense that year. Packers lost first game of the year to the Bears, and that was the only game they would lose with Starr at QB.

[Patler]

Of course, Hornung being suspended didn't help. And of course, there were no wild cards then so the Packers failed to make the playoffs with an 11-2-1 record. Both of their losses were to the Bears who won the western conference. Bears has a great defense that year. Packers lost first game of the year to the Bears, and that was the only game they would lose with Starr at QB.

While I was bummed out when Hornung was suspended, I didn't think they really missed him very much on offense. Tom Moore had already shown a lot filling in for Hornung in the past, and Elijah Pitts was reliable. Moore ended up having a really good that year. He did everything that Hornung had done, including option passes, and probably did it as well as Hornung had. I think Hornung was already breaking down physically at that point, and had missed quite a bit of time in 1962.

Where they missed Hornung the most was kicking fieldgoals. Kramer really struggled with it that year.

Then, there are the intangibles. They always said Hornung was unstoppable in goal to go situations, and was a key locker room guy.