NFL Championship Game 1964

The 1964 NFL Championship Game was the 32nd edition of the National Football League final . The game took place on December 27, 1964 in front of 79,544 spectators at the Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland . The Western Conference champions Cleveland Browns beat the Eastern Conference champions Baltimore Colts 27-0.

prehistory

Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (1964)

Coach Don Shula's Baltimore Colts had won twelve of their 14 games in the regular season and won their conference confidently. The heart of the Maryland team was quarterback Johnny Unitas , who gained 2,824 yards , threw 19 touchdowns in just six interceptions and was named NFL Most Valuable Player . The Colts were statistically the best team of the year: both on the offensive (428 points) and on the defensive (225 opponent points) they led the league. In attack Unitas was supported by running back Lenny Moore (1,056 yards of space gained, 19 touchdowns), and in defense, guard Jim Parker , defensive end Gino Marchetti and cornerback Bobby Boyd played so well that they were all elected to the All-Pro team.

Browns running back Jim Brown (2007)

Coach Blanton Collier's Cleveland Browns won ten of their 14 season games, making the Ohio team one more win in the Western Conference than the runner-up St. Louis Cardinals . The Browns were also a strong offensive team (415 points, second place in the league) with a good defense (293 opponent points, fifth place). The star of the team was running back Jim Brown , who gained 1,446 yards of space (5.2 yards per run), scored nine touchdowns and was elected to the all-pro team.

Since there were no playoffs in 1964, the West and East Masters played directly in the NFL Championship Game. Since the competitive American Football League was not part of the NFL at the time, there was no Super Bowl in 1964 in which NFL and AFL champions competed. If there had been a Super Bowl based on today's model, the winner of the NFL Championship Game would have faced the Buffalo Bills , which the San Diego Chargers defeated 20-7 in the AFL Championship Game in 1964 .

game

Although the Browns played in front of their home crowd, the Colts were considered the clear favorites before the game. In the first half, dominated both defenses so that no team in touchdown came close: When the Colts early in the second quarter kicker Lou Michaels , a 19-Yards Field Goal wanted to come, Bob Boyd failed the snap , allowing Michaels not to Shot came. Therefore the game went into the half-time break with 0-0. In the third quarter, the 40-year-old Browns kicker Lou Groza scored the first three points for the home side (CLE 3 - BAL 0) with a field goal from 43 yards . Soon after, Cleveland quarterback Frank Ryan threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Gary Collins from 18 yards , so that after a successful point-after-touchdown from Groza Cleveland led 10-0 . Shortly thereafter, Ryan increased to 17-0 with a 42-yard throw at Collins (Groza PAT successful) . In the fourth quarter, running back Brown failed in three “goalline” downs to carry the football into the end zone, so Groza “only” stepped one field goal to make it 20-0 . But then Ryan threw a third touchdown on Collins (51 yards), so that Groza marked the final score of 27-0 after a successful PAT .

The top performers of the victorious Browns were Ryan, Collins and Groza as well as running back Jim Brown, who gained 114 yards, and linebacker Vince Costello with two interceptions in the third quarter. MVP Johnny Unitas, on the other hand, only gained 95 yards of space (zero touchdowns, two interceptions) and was dwarfed by opposing quarterback Ryan (206 yards, three TDs, one INT). The Browns also had the upper hand in other statistics: they gained 339 yards of space (Baltimore: 171) and made twenty first downs (Baltimore: 11).

swell

1. ↑ 1964 Baltimore Colts , pro-football-reference.com
2. ↑ 1964 Cleveland Browns , pro-football-reference.com
3. ↑ Browns Capture Crown, 27-0 ( Memento of the original from September 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , cleveland.com 

Web links

• Statistics of the 1964 NFL Championship Game on pro-football-reference.com