1964 NFL Championship Game
The NFL Championship game in 1964 was the 32nd edition of the endgame of the National Football League. The game took place on December 27, 1964 in front of 79 544 spectators held at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. The master of the Western Conference, the Cleveland Browns defeated the champions of the Eastern Conference, the Baltimore Colts, with 27-0.
Prehistory
The Baltimore Colts Coach Don Shula had won in twelve of their 14 games in the regular season and confidently won their Conference. The heart of the team from Maryland was quarterback Johnny Unitas, who scored 2,824 yards space gain, threw 19 touchdowns with only six interceptions and was voted to the NFL Most Valuable Player. The Colts were not statistically the best team of the year: both on offense (428 points) and on the defensive (225 opponents points) led them to the league. In attack, Unitas was by running back Lenny Moore supports ( 1,056 yards space gain, 19 touchdowns ), and in the defense played Guard Jim Parker, defensive end Gino Marchetti and cornerback Bobby Boyd so well that they were all elected to the All-Pro team.
The Cleveland Browns coach Blanton Collier won ten of their 14 games season, so the team from Ohio in the West Conference victory had more than the second-placed St. Louis Cardinals. The Browns were also a strong offensive team (415 points, the league second place ) with good defense ( opponents 293 points, 5th place). Star of the team was running back Jim Brown, who erlief 1,446 yards space gain (5.2 yards per Laufspielzug ), scored nine touchdowns and was elected to the All-Pro team.
Since there were no playoffs in 1964, entered the west and east champion directly in the NFL Championship Game. As the competition league American Football League was not yet part of the NFL, there was still no 1964 Super Bowl, where the NFL and AFL champions were begun. Had there been a Super Bowl according to the current model, the winner of the NFL Championship Game would be taken to the Buffalo Bills, who defeated the San Diego Chargers 20-7 in AFL championship game with 1964.
Game
Although the Browns played in front of a home crowd, the Colts ahead of the game as clear favorites were. In the first half, dominated by both defenses, so that no team arrived in touchdown near: When the Colts wanted to kick start the second quarter kicker Lou Michaels, a 19 -yard field goal, Bob Boyd failed the snap so that Michaels not to shot came. Therefore, the game went to 0-0 in the half time break. In the third quarter of the 40 -year-old Browns kicker Lou Groza scored per field goal from 43 yards the first three points for the hosts (CLE 3 - BAL 0). Soon afterwards threw Cleveland quarterback Frank Ryan from 18 yards a touchdown pass to wide receiver Gary Collins, so that after a successful point -after- touchdown by Groza Cleveland led 10-0 with. Shortly thereafter, Ryan increased with a 42- yard throw to Collins ( Groza PAT successfully ) to 17-0. In the fourth quarter made it a running back Brown in three "Goal Line" Downs not to carry the football in the end zone, so that Groza "just" a field goal for 20-0 occurred. But then Ryan threw a third touchdown on Collins ( 51 yards), so that Groza following a successful PAT marked the final score of 27-0.
Achievers of the victorious browns were next to Ryan, Collins and Groza also running back Jim Brown, who latched on 114 yards space gain, and linebacker Vince Costello with two interceptions in the third quarter. MVP Johnny Unitas, however, scored just 95 yards gain of space (zero touchdowns, two interceptions ) and was the opposing quarterback Ryan ( 206 yards, three TD, one INT) put in the shade. In other statistics, the Browns had the upper hand: they achieved 339 yards area gain ( Baltimore: 171) and managed twenty first downs (Baltimore: 11).