It ranks as one of the most memorable games ever played at Lambeau Field.
It wasn't the first game ever played at the stadium, like the 1957 opener against Chicago. It wasn't an NFL Championship Game, like the legendary Ice Bowl. It didn't feature any unusual weather, like the infamous Snow Bowl contest against Tampa Bay in 1985.
When the Green Bay Packers met the Chicago Bears on Nov. 5, 1989, the Packers were 4-4 and facing the five-time defending NFC Central Division champions. The game would become a defining point in the season for a young Packers team in its second year under head coach Lindy Infante.
And it would go down as one of the most exciting finishes in the long and storied Green Bay-Chicago rivalry and a rule-changer in the National Football League. The contest acquired the nickname of the "Instant Replay Game," and attained legendary status in the team's 90-year history.
"It's one of the all-time great finishes at Lambeau Field," said Lee Remmel, former Packers' director of public relations and team historian. "It doesn't get much more dramatic than that. It was a unique game in the history of the Packers-Bears rivalry."
It's been nearly 20 years since quarterback Don Majkowski scrambled out of the pocket on the game's final play and hit receiver Sterling Sharpe with a 14-yard pass in the end zone with less than 40 seconds remaining to tie the score at 13.
But the linesman threw a flag, thinking Majkowski was across the line of scrimmage when he released the pass. Touchdown negated. Infante challenged the call, and after a delay of more than four minutes, the replay official reversed it.
Then came the official announcement by referee Tom Dooley and the famous words: "After further review, we have a reversal . . . touchdown!"
Euphoria ensued at Lambeau Field, and the majority of 56,556 fans went home happy with an improbable victory. Chicago head coach Mike Ditka was not one of them, though the passage of two decades has softened the sting of the outcome.
"It was a bad call - period," Ditka said recently. "Remember one thing: Instant replay was put in to get the call right. I don't care how long it takes but get the call right. Of course it was controversial, and we were very disappointed at the time. It was agonizing for both teams to wait while they reviewed it.
"But human beings make mistakes, and the call went Green Bay's way. It is what it is. You win some, you lose some. It was just one game in a long series between the Bears and the Packers. A series based on competition, which got out of hand for a couple of years. I was proud to be a part of those competitions and that rivalry."
Majkowski never tires of discussing that contest.
"It really seems like it was just five years or so ago," Majkowski said in a phone interview. "Time flies. It's one of my most memorable games, and when I get back to Green Bay or Chicago, it's always brought up. Fans still love to talk about that game."
It's understandable why Majkowski enjoys reliving it. He went from goat to hero in a span of 10 minutes in the fourth quarter.
What most fans remember is the game-winning series, not the two previous trips inside the Chicago red zone when he fumbled and threw an interception.
"Lindy grabbed me by the facemask on the sideline and said, 'You'll be the hero of this game. Keep your head up.' And he was right. I was fortunate to get a second chance."
That opportunity came after a Chicago punt and Green Bay took possession at its own 27-yard-line with 4:44 left on the game clock.
Relying primarily on the pass in the second half after an injury to fullback Brent Fullwood, Majkowski drove the Packers methodically down the field.
With first and 10 at the Chicago 7 and 1:26 left, the Bears defense stiffened and sacked Majkowski for a seven-yard loss after two incomplete passes. A fourth-and-goal play loomed for the Green Bay offense from the 14-yard-line with 41 seconds remaining.
The final play call was intended for a man-to-man defense, but the Bears dropped back into zone coverage that required Majkowski to do what he did best: improvise.
"It was supposed to be a 6-yard yard slant to Sterling," Majkowski said. "We were hoping Sterling could break it open. . . . Chicago went zone, so it was a totally broken play."
Majkowski rolled right on the play and bought time as he scanned the end zone for an open receiver. He stepped up toward the line of scrimmage and released a pass across his body to Sharpe, who had run across the end zone before finding a hole in the zone defense.
"We called it the scramble drill and practiced it," Majkowski said. "I was able to evade the rush and get outside. I almost threw the ball earlier but recoiled and pulled it back. I was trying to buy some time and waiting for Sterling to find a hole."
The Lambeau Field crowd exploded in cheers at the apparent touchdown.
But a yellow flag was thrown by line judge Jim Quirk, who determined Majkowski had released the pass past the line of scrimmage. The newly implemented instant replay system was used to review the play.
Majkowski said the review did not test his patience; but the Packers quarterback did have some company while he waited for the verdict.
"Mike Singletary walked up to me and whispered, 'Sorry, kid. Too bad it won't count,' " Majkowski said.
"He was a great player. He stared at me with those intense eyes during games for six years, and I stared right back. When the call was made, I didn't trash talk or anything like that. I just winked at him."
Majkowski also had some brief words for an official.
"I told him it would be a shame to take that touchdown away," Majkowski said. "Because I knew I was a yard behind the line when I let it go."
Infante, who lives in the Jacksonville, Fla., area, said he has been interviewed numerous times about the play.
"That was an exciting finish," Infante said. "I have often said it's not often when you play a game and celebrate a victory twice. We went through the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and then the thrill of victory again."
Majkowski doesn't think it was that close a call.
"You can see I was clearly behind the line," he said. "The television announcer, Dan Fouts, said the line of scrimmage was the 14 and I released it a yard behind. Thankfully, they reviewed it."
The memorable 14-13 victory over the Bears was the catalyst for a 6-2 second half of the season. Green Bay finished with a 10-6 record and tied for first place in the NFC Central with Minnesota. The two teams split in regular-season play, and the Vikings won the tiebreaker and advanced to the NFC playoffs.
For Majkowski, the victory over Chicago was especially satisfying.
"The most significant part was beating the Bears for the first time in eight games," he said. "To beat them in dramatic fashion like that was great. It was my first time beating Chicago."
Majkowski, who lives in Alpharetta, Ga., will not be at Lambeau Field Sunday for the 2009 opener against Chicago.
Infante still remembers priority No. 1 when he arrived in Green Bay as head coach in 1988.
"When I got off the airplane in Green Bay, the first thing I was told was you have to beat the Chicago Bears," he said. "I found out very quickly how much fans valued that rivalry. On thing I'll always remember is that we beat them twice that season."
The Chicago organization was so upset about the game that for 10 years it had an asterisk next to the score in the team's media guide, noting it as the "instant replay game."
Editor's note: After much debate spearheaded by Bears executives, the NFL changed the rule on passes thrown beyond the line of scrimmage. What matters is where the player's body is, not the ball, when the pass is released.