GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers were on the field for 2,982 plays combined on offense, defense and special teams in 18 games, including the playoffs, during the 2015 season. Most of those will be forgotten, but some will be remembered for years to come.
As we review the season that ended with an overtime playoff loss for the second year in a row, we look back on 10 plays (in reverse order) that most shaped the season.
Here’s No. 5:
Game: Packers vs. Cardinals, NFC divisional playoff game
Date: Jan. 16, 2016
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, Arizona
The play: Sam Shields' dropped a potential interception at the Cardinals' 3-yard line in the fourth quarter of the Packers' 26-20 overtime loss
Why it mattered: The Packers led 13-10 when the Cardinals drove deep into Packers' territory. With less than five minutes remaining Carson Palmer threw a lazy pass toward Michael Floyd, and Shields undercut the out route. He had an easy interception but flat-out dropped it. Had Shields come up with that interception, it would have given the Packers the ball with about four-and-a-half minutes left in regulation. Instead, three plays later Palmer threw a fluky 9-yard touchdown pass to Floyd that was actually intended for Larry Fitzgerald, but Packers cornerback Damarious Randall tipped the ball and deflected it toward Floyd.
Quotable: "For Sam Shields, he may have just dropped the game," NBC’s Cris Collinsworth said on the TV broadcast.
Previous plays
- No. 10: Randall's pass breakup against the Chargers.
- No. 9: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers misses receiver Randall Cobb against the Panthers.
- No. 8: Kicker Mason Crosby's missed field goal as time expired against the Lions.
No. 7: The Bears’ red-zone stop on Thanksgiving night.
No. 6: Rodgers’ 12-yard touchdown pass to Cobb in the wild-card playoff win at Washington.