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| Date | November 5, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Bears by 3 pts | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Tom Dooley | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 56,556 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
The Instant Replay Game, also known as the Asterisk Game, was a National Football League (NFL) game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on November 5, 1989. The Packers defeated the visiting Bears 14–13 on a controversial fourth-down touchdown pass from Don Majkowski to Sterling Sharpe with less than a minute to play in the game. Line judge Jim Quirk initially called a penalty on the play for an illegal forward pass, thus nullifying the potentially game-winning score. Quirk's penalty was based on the belief that Majkowski had thrown the pass after the ball had passed the line of scrimmage.
The use of instant replay in the NFL had been adopted three years prior in 1986; this allowed referees to review certain calls on the field to either confirm or overturn the initial ruling. After a long replay review, the instant replay official overturned the call on the field and awarded the touchdown to the Packers. It was determined that the ball was behind the line of scrimmage when it was released, which based on the rules of the NFL at the time made the pass legal. The successful extra point put the Packers up 14–13, which would eventually be the winning score. The game was notable for its dramatic finish, the controversial use of instant replay, and it being the first Packers victory over the Bears since 1984.
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