What are Jordy Nelson’s top 10 moments with the Green Bay Packers?
Jordy Nelson will go down as one of the great receivers in Green Bay Packers history, and will most assuredly be named to the team’s Hall of Fame in the future.
Here are 10 of his greatest moments in the green and gold.
10. 80-yard streak starter against Giants (Week 16, 2010)
The Packers had just gotten the ball against the visiting New York Giants when Jordy Nelson started a playoff run to remember. In a must-win game at home, the Packers were facing elimination from the playoffs with a loss. Off play-action, Aaron Rodgers hit Nelson streaking across the field for an 80-yard touchdown.
Nelson managed to outrun three different Giant defenders on the play over the final 60 yards of the route and put the Packers up for good en route to a blowout win. The pass started a 19-game winning streak which went through Week 14 of the following season. Nelson followed up his performance against the Giants with a touchdown in the divisional playoffs against the Falcons, and another in Super Bowl XLV.
9. 84-yard dagger against Panthers (Week 2, 2011)
The Packers had just fended off a furious rally from the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 opener at home before facing the Panthers on the road in Week 2. The Packers needed heroics from Aaron Rodgers in order to defeat the Panthers, and got a special run after the catch from Jordy Nelson. Leading by seven with under three minutes to play, the Packers surprisingly threw the ball, and Nelson took it the distance.
On just a simple in-breaking route, Nelson caught the ball in stride and curled towards the sideline before showing off his blazing open field speed all the way home for a game-sealing touchdown. The win did not come cheaply, as Nick Collins suffered a career-ending neck injury, something the Packers still haven’t entirely recovered from.
8. Game-tying score against Falcons (Week 12, 2010)
The Packers had just won their fourth straight game against the Minnesota Vikings before heading to Atlanta to face their eventual playoff foe. In a rough, back and forth game with countless penalties and mistakes by both teams, the Packers managed to drive down the field to the Atlanta 10-yard line where they faced a fourth-and-goal.
Having just been set back by a false start on rookie Bryan Bulaga, the Packers had to find the end zone to tie the game inside the final minute. Aaron Rodgers managed to find plenty of room to escape to his left, and eventually found Nelson racing across the back of the end zone with his hand raised. Rodgers fired a dart into the corner of the end zone, where Nelson snared the ball and somehow got both feet inbounds for the tying score.
The Packers lost the game to a game-winning field goal on the ensuing possession, but it was one of Nelson’s most clutch plays as a Packer.
7. Pirouette score against Chargers (Week 9, 2011)
During their undefeated campaign in 2011, the Packers had to overcome an awful showing by their defense on the road and put up 45 points to escape with a win. Seven of them came on a ridiculous grab by Nelson in the right corner of the end zone. Covered perfectly on the play, Aaron Rodgers somehow found a place to put the ball on Nelson’s back shoulder.
Nelson, running a straight go-route to the end zone, managed to locate the ball behind his opposite shoulder and spin entirely around in order to get his hands on it. As if making the 360-degree move to snag the ball wasn’t good enough, Nelson spun back in the opposite direction in one motion and extended the ball over the goal line for a key touchdown.
6. 64-yard bomb against defending champs (Week 6, 2013)
The Packers faced about as much adversity in this game as they had in all of Mike McCarthy’s tenure. In the first half against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Packers lost both James Jones and Randall Cobb to leg injuries. Nelson was one of the only healthy wideouts left, and put the game out of reach with another textbook bomb from Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers often executed the play-action bomb to Nelson with ease. Against a stifling Ravens defense, Nelson got loose in the secondary and hauled in a deep shot from Rodgers to give the Packers a crucial win in the early portion of the season. Nelson became one of the NFL’s most feared deep threats in 2013, partly from this particular play.
5. Impossible catch in Jerry World (Week 15, 2013)
The Packers’ season was in a complete tailspin. Having lost Aaron Rodgers for a huge chunk of the season to a broken collarbone, and Randall Cobb for an even longer stretch with a broken leg, the Packers found themselves completely outmatched in Dallas. After tying the game at 3-3, the Packers surrendered 23 straight points to trail a whopping 26-3 at halftime.
Coming out of the locker room in the second half, backup Matt Flynn and the Packers faced a third-and-three from the Cowboy 12-yard line. A field goal might have been a nail in the coffin at that stage in the game. Flynn threw a floppy duck into the left corner of the end zone, which should have been easily intercepted by Orlando Scandrick, who had boxed out Nelson for position in the end zone.
Nelson inexplicably jumped right over the top of Scandrick and snatched it right away from Scandrick’s hands. The touchdown started a historic comeback and resulted in a remarkable 37-36 win over the Cowboys.
4. Bomb from Rodgers in Chicago (Week 15, 2016)
The Packers had been a disappointing 7-6 before traveling to Chicago and continuing their famous “run the table” win streak. The Packers had blown a double-digit lead and were in danger of a season-ending loss to the Bears when they had one last possession before overtime.
Facing third-and-11 deep in their own territory, Aaron Rodgers found Nelson streaking down the middle of the field and hit him in stride. The 58-yard completion set the Packers up for a game-winning field goal. It would be among Nelson’s last game-winners as a member of the Packers.
3. Slant and score against Revis and the Patriots (Week 13, 2014)
The Packers were playing one of the biggest games of the Aaron Rodgers era when the New England Patriots entered Lambeau Field. The Packers raced out to a 13-0 lead only to see the Patriots tighten the score to 16-14, just before the half. Near midfield with time running out for what appeared to be only an opportunity for a field goal, Nelson worked his magic again.
The former Kansas State star ran a textbook route against Darrelle Revis and gave Rodgers a perfect window for him to fit in the football. Nelson took it the distance from there, outrunning both Revis and Devin McCourty towards a crucial touchdown that ultimately set up a Packers win and home-field advantage in the divisional round of the playoffs.
2. Third-down conversion in Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLV, 2011)
Jordy Nelson had just dropped his third pass of the Super Bowl on a second-and-10 at a critical juncture of the game. Now on a third-and-10 at the Steelers 40-yard line up 21-17 in the fourth quarter, Aaron Rodgers went right back to Nelson on the same exact play, who took the reception 35 yards down to the Steeler five-yard line.
What is perhaps most memorable about this particular play, is that Nelson recognized the blitz scheme that the Steelers were sending at Aaron Rodgers. Nelson saw both the cornerback and nearest safety leaking towards the line of scrimmage, and pointed in their direction to alert Rodgers and the offensive line that they were coming.
Nelson came out of his break slowly, anticipating a hot throw from Rodgers, who instead settled in in the face of the pressure and drilled Nelson in the chest once he had broken to the middle of the field.
1. Tone-setting touchdown in Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLV, 2011)
The first half of Super Bowl XLV went about as well as the Packers could have possibly hoped for. Having just barely missed a similar type throw from Aaron Rodgers early in the half, Nelson broke free from William Gay on a third-and-one down the sideline. Rodgers executed another perfect five-step drop and hit Nelson careening down the boundary for a touchdown that sent Packer Nation around the world into a frenzy.
Nelson had enjoyed a tremendous playoff run leading up to the big game and was maturing into Rodgers’ favorite receiver by that point in his career. The Packers eventually were content to let both James Jones and Greg Jennings leave in free agency because of Nelson’s incredible development. Nelson is unquestionably one of the great receivers of his day and won’t be easily replaced in Green Bay.