Green Bay Packers: 1972 NFC Central title
It’s really hard to find a season where the Green Bay Packers were “unexpectedly” great. This is a huge compliment to the success they’ve had throughout their existence, as the Packers have almost always been a model of consistency.
When trying to identify an unexpected season, the first year that pops into mind is the time they made the NFC playoffs with Brett Favre as starting quarterback. However, the two seasons prior — 1992 and 1993 — were just as successful, as they were 9-7 in each campaign. Maybe we didn’t see Favre’s rise coming, but the team was still good even before that.
There’s also the Super Bowl XLV Championship season in 2010, but that team had high expectations at the start of the season and achieved them, even though they were an NFC Wild Card team that was riddled with injuries in the first half of the campaign.
With that being said, we have to go back to 1972 to find the most “out of nowhere” season for the Packers. That was a campaign that saw them win the NFC Central at 10-6. It was also the first time they won that division since their Super Bowl II win over the Oakland Raiders after the 1967 NFL season.
This campaign came during one of the very few dark stretches for Green Bay, as they only made the postseason twice between 1967 and 1993. It was one of only two 10-win seasons during that span for the Packers.
The 10-4 club was led by quarterback Scott Hunter, who had just six touchdown passes and nine interceptions. The lack of a strong passing game made the record even more surprising, but they did lean on Pro Bowl running back John Brockington for most of the season. The 24-year-old fullback had 1,027 yards on the ground that season while scoring nine total touchdowns.