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1989 Green Bay Packers season
General manager	Tom Braatz
President	Bob Harlan
Head coach	Lindy Infante
Home field	Lambeau Field Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	QB Don Majkowski WR Sterling Sharpe FB Brent Fullwood LB Tim Harris[1]
← 1988 Packers seasons 1990 →

The 1989 Green Bay Packers season was their 71st overall and their 69th in the National Football League. The Packers finished with a 10–6 record, their best since 1972, but failed to make the playoffs. The team was often referred to as "The Cardiac Pack" due to several close-game wins. The 1989 Packers hold the NFL record for most one-point victories in a season with four. The team was coached by Lindy Infante and led by quarterback Don Majkowski, who attained his nickname "The Majik Man."

The Green Bay Packers selected Tony Mandarich with their first pick of the 1989 NFL draft, passing on prospects such as Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders. Mandarich was a first-team All-American, an Outland Award finalist and a two-time Big Ten Lineman of the Year. Mandarich would later hold out most of the preseason, playing most of the regular season on special teams. Four years after signing Mandarich, the Packers cut him. ESPN rated Mandarich as the third biggest sports flop in the past 25 years.^[2]

1989 Green Bay Packers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Tony Mandarich	Offensive tackle	Michigan State
3	58	Matt Brock	Defensive end	Oregon
3	74	Anthony Dilweg	Quarterback	Duke
4	87	Jeff Graham	Quarterback	Long Beach State
5	124	Jeff Query	Wide receiver	Millikin
5	127	Vince Workman	Running back	Ohio State
6	142	Chris Jacke *	Kicker	UTEP
7	169	Mark Hall	Defensive end	Southwestern Louisiana
8	198	Thomas King	Defensive back	Southwestern Louisiana
8	206	Brian Shulman	Punter	Auburn
9	225	Scott Kirby	Offensive tackle	Arizona State
10	254	Ben Jessie	Cornerback	Southwest Texas State
11	281	Cedric Stallworth	Cornerback	Georgia Tech
12	310	Stan Shiver	Safety	Florida State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

1989 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Matt Klassa	Tackle	Eastern Michigan
Tony Thompson	Wide receiver	Texas A&M

1989 Green Bay Packers staff

Front office President and chief executive officer – Bob Harlan Executive vice-president of football operations – Tom Braatz Head coaches Head coach – Lindy Infante Offensive coaches Offensive backs – Willie Peete Wide receivers – Wayne "Buddy" Geis Tight ends – Virgil Knight Offensive line – Charlie Davis Offensive assistant – Joe Clark

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Hank Bullough Defensive line – Greg Blache Outside linebackers – Dick Moseley Defensive backs – Dick Jauron Special teams coaches Special teams – Howard Tippett Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Virgil Knight

^[3]

1989 Green Bay Packers roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Anthony Dilweg 10 Blair Kiel  7 Don Majkowski Running backs (RB) 27 Herman Fontenot 21 Brent Fullwood 35 Michael Haddix 33 Keith Woodside 46 Vince Workman Wide receivers (WR) 83 Carl Bland 81 Perry Kemp 88 Aubrey Matthews 85 Jeff Query 84 Sterling Sharpe Tight ends (TE) 80 Clint Didier 89 John Spagnola 86 Ed West

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Billy Ard G 76 Mike Ariey T 51 Blair Bush C 63 James Campen C 65 Ron Hallstrom G 77 Tony Mandarich T 57 Rich Moran G 75 Ken Ruettgers T 73 Alan Veingrad T Defensive linemen (DL) 61 Jerry Boyarsky NT 93 Robert Brown DE 72 Mark Hall DE 79 Bob Nelson NT 68 Blaise Winter DE

Linebackers (LB) 59 John Anderson OLB 56 Burnell Dent ILB 97 Tim Harris OLB 50 Johnny Holland ILB 91 Brian Noble ILB 54 Scott Stephen OLB 52 Mike Weddington OLB Defensive backs (DB) 32 Dave Brown CB 26 Chuck Cecil FS 23 Tiger Greene SS 24 Van Jakes CB 22 Mark Lee CB 37 Mark Murphy SS 28 Ron Pitts CB 29 Ken Stills FS Special teams 17 Don Bracken P 13 Chris Jacke K

Practice squad 43 Rick Aeilts TE 36 George Cooper FB 20 Mike McGruder CB 40 Cedric Gordon WR 39 Stan Shiver S 47 active, 7 inactive, 5 practice squad Reserve 44 Erik Affholter WR (NF-Inj.) 62 Matt Brock DE (IR) 60 Dave Croston T (IR) -- Keith Cupp T (DNR) 99 John Dorsey LB (IR) 96 Shawn Patterson DE (IR) 70 Keith Uecker T/G (IR) Rookies in italics

Although the Packers failed to make the Playoffs, they recorded their best record since 1972. The Packers finished 10–6, placing them second in the NFC Central. The Minnesota Vikings also finished 10–6, but held the tiebreaker due to a better division record. The team finished with a 10–6 record for their first winning season since the strike shortened the 1982 season. It was also the first club to record 4 1-point victories in a season. The club was 6–2 at home and 4–4 on the road.^[4] The Packers offense had success due to a strong passing game, headed by quarterback Don Majkowski. Majkowski finished first in the NFL in passing yards and completions. He earned a bid to the NFL Pro Bowl. Wide receiver Sterling Sharpe finished the season first in receptions, and second in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Sharpe would also earn a bid to the Pro Bowl.^[5]

On October 8, 1989, the Packers hosted the Dallas Cowboys, featuring star running back Herschel Walker. Four days later, the Cowboys traded Walker to the Minnesota Vikings, the next team on the Packers' schedule. Walker's debut with the Vikings occurred three days after the trade, on October 15, 1989, against the Packers. The Packers faced Walker for a third time during the regular season, on November 26, 1989, when the Packers played the Vikings again. These regular season games between the Packers and Walker occurred in three different cities: Green Bay, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee.

On November 5, 1989, the Packers beat the Bears 14–13, but not without controversy. Don Majkowski led the Packers to a comeback and a game-winning touchdown pass to Sterling Sharpe with less than a minute left to play. Initially the play was called a touchdown, but line judge Jim Quirk had called a penalty on Majkowski for being beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass. With a nervous and tense crowd at Lambeau Field, the call went up to the instant replay official, Bill Parkinson. Several minutes later the call came down and the touchdown was awarded as recorded by instant replay. The Lambeau faithful and Packer players erupted with joy because it marked the first time since 1984 that the Packers had beaten their long-time rivals. The Packers would later beat the Bears again in the season.^[6] The game was broadcast on CBS with Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts on the call.

On November 19, 1989, the Packers traveled to Candlestick Park and beat Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. It would be one of only two losses for the 49ers, and the last before the 49ers finished out the season 8–0, including a 55–10 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV. In that game, the Packers matched their win total from the previous season (4–12). Although regarded at the time as a fluke, Green Bay would proceed to win 13 of the next 15 contests with San Francisco over the next 21 seasons.^[7]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 10	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 21–23	0–1	Lambeau Field	55,650
2	September 17	New Orleans Saints	W 35–34	1–1	Lambeau Field	55,809
3	September 24	at Los Angeles Rams	L 38–41	1–2	Anaheim Stadium	57,701
4	October 1	Atlanta Falcons	W 23–21	2–2	Milwaukee County Stadium	54,647
5	October 8	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–13	3–2	Lambeau Field	56,656
6	October 15	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–26	3–3	Metrodome	62,075
7	October 22	at Miami Dolphins	L 20–23	3–4	Joe Robbie Stadium	56,624
8	October 29	Detroit Lions	W 23–20 (OT)	4–4	Milwaukee County Stadium	53,731
9	November 5	Chicago Bears	W 14–13	5–4	Lambeau Field	56,556
10	November 12	at Detroit Lions	L 22–31	5–5	Pontiac Silverdome	44,324
11	November 19	at San Francisco 49ers	W 21–17	6–5	Candlestick Park	62,219
12	November 26	Minnesota Vikings	W 20–19	7–5	Milwaukee County Stadium	55,592
13	December 3	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–16	8–5	Tampa Stadium	58,120
14	December 10	Kansas City Chiefs	L 3–21	8–6	Lambeau Field	56,694
15	December 17	at Chicago Bears	W 40–28	9–6	Soldier Field	44,781
16	December 24	at Dallas Cowboys	W 20–10	10–6	Texas Stadium	41,265

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 3 0 10 0 13 • Packers 7 0 0 7 14 Date: November 5 Location: Lambeau Field Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Fouts

Scoring summary Q1 11:30 GB Didier 24 yard pass from Majkowski (Jacke kick) GB 7–0 Q1 3:32 CHI Butler 25 yard field goal GB 7–3 Q3 9:32 CHI Butler 37 yard field goal GB 7–6 Q3 3:03 CHI Muster 2 yard run (Butler kick) CHI 13–7 Q4 0:32 GB Sharpe 14 yard pass from Majkowski (Jacke kick) GB 14–13

^[8]

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings(3)	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–4	362	356	W1
Green Bay Packers	10	6	0	.625	5–3	10–4	362	275	W2
Detroit Lions	7	9	0	.438	4–4	6–6	312	364	W5
Chicago Bears	6	10	0	.375	2–6	4–8	358	377	L6
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	3–5	5–7	320	419	L4

• Passing yards: Don Majkowski 4,318 yards
• Passing touchdowns: Don Majkowski 27 TDs
• Rushing yards: Brent Fullwood, 821 yards
• Rushing touchdowns: Brent Fullwood, 5 TDs
• Receiving yards: Sterling Sharpe, 1,423 yards
• Receiving touchdowns: Sterling Sharpe, 12 TDs
• Points: Chris Jacke, 108 points
• Kickoff return yards: Vince Workman, 547 yards
• Punt return yards: Jeff Query, 247 yards
• Sacks: Tim Harris, 19.5 sacks
• Interceptions: Dave Brown, 6 interceptions^[9]

• Sterling Sharpe, NFL leader in receptions (90)
• Sterling Sharpe, second in NFL in receiving yards (1,423)

• Don Majkowski, first 4,000 yard passing season
• Sterling Sharpe, first 1,000 yard receiving season

• In 1989 Packer great Willie Wood was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Zeke Bratkowski and Ron Kostelnik were inducted to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame

• 1989 Green Bay Packers statistics Archived 2007-04-25 at the Wayback Machine – Pro-Football-Reference
• 1989 Green Bay Packers – Database Football