Packers Time Capsule: The only time the Packers faced the Tennessee Oilers

The Tennessee Titans are one of the newest brands in the NFL. Other than the Houston Texans , there's no franchise in the NFL with a newer identity than the Titans. Though other teams have relocated since the Tennessee franchise arrived from Houston, they've all kept their nicknames. The Rams, Chargers , and Raiders have all remained the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders, even as their locations have changed.

But before the Titans became the Titans, there was a brief, undignified period where they hadn't quite arrived in Tennessee. The Nashville-based franchise didn't yet have a home stadium, playing their home games at Memphis and Vanderbilt, sporting a name that reflected their "neither here nor there" identity: the Tennessee Oilers.

I've always thought that when a team leaves town, they should leave their name behind. It feels like rubbing it in for fans of the departed franchise to see "their" team using the same name and uniforms in a new city. And in the case of the Oilers, it seemed especially incongruous. Tennessee is not an oil state! It produces less crude oil than New York, Indiana, and Florida, according to the American Petroleum Institute . Keeping the Oilers name was just hanging onto the dregs of a team brand that no longer existed.

That's not to say they weren't working on a new name. They were, and they were set to call themselves the Tennessee Pioneers before someone leaked the name and Bud Adams made a panicked switch to Titans. The team says the Titans moniker ties the franchise to Nashville's self-appointed identity as the "Athens of the South." Personally, I think Athens, Georgia or Athens, Alabama, and Athens, Arkansas all have stronger claims to that title than Nashville, but Nashville does have that replica Parthenon for some reason , so I guess we get what we get.

The Titans name is fine. It's better than Pioneers, and I'd take it over the Tornados or Stars, which were also up for consideration. It's not as good, though, as the Tennessee Copperheads , which goes down as one of the biggest rebrand misses in NFL history. Alas.

But no matter what they ended up calling themselves, for two brief, ignominious years they were the Tennessee Oilers, a team caught between its own past and future.

The Packers crossed paths with the Tennessee Oilers just once, hosting them at Lambeau Field in Week 16 of the 1998 season. Though neither side knew it, they were two franchises headed in different directions.

The Oilers were a year away from becoming the Titans and making a Super Bowl run. The Packers, meanwhile, were about to say goodbye to a prosperous era. The Week 16 contest against Tennessee was the last time Packers fans would see a few franchise legends in their full glory.

That day was Mike Holmgren's final appearance at Lambeau Field as the head coach of the Packers, and it was also Reggie White's last home game in a Packers uniform. The next year, Holmgren would take his new position with the Seattle Seahawks , while White would be retired, though he'd return for a farewell tour in 2000 with the Carolina Panthers .

It also marked the start of a low period for Brett Favre, whose 1998 season ended his run of three-straight MVP seasons and three-straight Pro Bowl appearances. He led the league in competitions and passing yards in 1998, but wouldn't lead the league in a major passing category again until 2003.

It was even a day of farewells in the Packers' broadcast booth, as radio men Jim Irwin and Max McGee both made their final home appearances on the Packers broadcast that day. Both would retire after the 1998 season.

But when the Packers hosted the Oilers, nobody really knew what was ahead, even if Holmgren and White were all but out the door. All anyone knew for sure was that it was a glorious day of football weather, and the Packers delivered in a big way.

Amid persistent flurries, Favre delivered a vintage performance, teaming with Antonio Freeman to shred the Oilers' secondary. Favre and Freeman connected for first-half touchdowns of 57, 68, and 32 yards en route to one of the best games of Freeman's career. His 186 receiving yards that day were the second most of his career as he put some of the finishing touches on an incredible season. Freeman piled up a league-leading 1,424 yards on 84 catches that year, scoring 14 touchdowns and earning a first-team All-Pro nod. It's not exaggeration to call it the finest season of his career, and his 1998 yardage total is still the fifth-best in Packers history.

Favre's day also earned him a place in the NFL record books, making him the first player in NFL history to throw 30 touchdown passes in five consecutive seasons. For good measure, he tossed in a 35-yard run through the snow.

On defense, the unit was in fine form. Though White couldn't muster a sack in his final appearance at Lambeau, he was involved in a hit on Steve McNair that forced a fumble, and the rest of the Packers' defense was more than a match for the Oilers. They held Eddie George to just 30 yards on 15 carries, and generally harassed the Oilers into ineffectiveness throughout the day. Even second-year safety Darren Sharper got in on the action, filling in at cornerback for an injured Craig Newsome.

It all added up to a 30-22 victory over the Oilers, though the game was hardly as close as the final score would suggest. The Packers were up 30-14 with three minutes remaining, and only a desperation drive with the Packers resting many of their regulars cut things as close as they were.