The 1982 Green Bay Packers season was their 64th season overall and their 62nd season in the National Football League (NFL), and was shortened due to a playersâ strike. The team posted a 5âÂÂ3âÂÂ1 record under coach Bart Starr. Due to the strike, the NFL ignored division standing and placed eight teams from each conference into the playoffs. The Packers finished the season in third place, which earned them a playoff berth. The Packers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 41âÂÂ16 in the first round, but lost to the Dallas Cowboys 37âÂÂ26 in the second. Their playoff berth was the first for the Packers in ten seasons, their first playoff win in the post-Vince Lombardi era, and their only playoff win between 1968 and 1992. Additionally, the game against the Cardinals was their first home playoff game since the Super Bowl season of 1967.
The strike caused two side effects for the Packers' schedule, as both games in the BearsâÂÂPackers rivalry were cancelled, defaulting the LionsâÂÂPackers rivalry to being the longest-running annual series in the league. Only one regular season home game was played at Lambeau Field, with the remaining three regular-season home games in Milwaukee at County Stadium on a field which had already taken much heavier than usual abuse due to the Brewers' World Series run, although the playoff game against the Cardinals was at Lambeau.
In the Packers' first home playoff game in 15 years, quarterback Lynn Dickey threw for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns en route to a 41âÂÂ16 win. The Packers scored four touchdowns on four consecutive possessions. It was their first playoff victory since Super Bowl II.
The Cowboys scored touchdowns on two 80-yard drives while cornerback Dennis Thurman had 3 interceptions, including a 39-yard touchdown and one to clinch the victory. Packers quarterback Lynn Dickey threw for a franchise postseason record 332 yards and a touchdown, but his 3 interceptions were too costly to overcome. Receiver James Lofton caught 5 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, and also had a 71-yard touchdown run on a reverse play, which tied the record for longest running play in a playoff game at the time.
Green Bay finished the game with a franchise playoff record 466 total yards.