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1964 Green Bay Packers season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1964 Green Bay Packers season
General managerVince Lombardi
Head coachVince Lombardi
Home fieldCity Stadium
Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record8–5–1
Division place2nd NFL Western
Playoff finishLost NFL Playoff Bowl
(vs. Cardinals) 17–24

The 1964 Green Bay Packers season was their 46th season overall and their 44th season in the National Football League. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Vince Lombardi, and tied for second place in the Western Conference at 8–5–1.

The Packers opened the season in Green Bay with a promising win over the rival Chicago Bears, the defending NFL champions.[1][2] They then lost four of six, including three home games, and were 3–4 midway through the season, falling twice to the Baltimore Colts. The first three losses were by a total of five points, but the fourth on October 25, to the Los Angeles Rams in Milwaukee, was by ten and came after building a 17–0 lead.[3]

In the season's latter half, Green Bay won five of six and tied the Rams in the finale to end 3½ games behind the Colts (12–2) in the West, tied for second with Minnesota. Baltimore clinched the Western title on November 22, with three games remaining.[4][5] Based on point differential in the season split with the Vikings, the Packers were awarded the runner-up slot in the Playoff Bowl,[6] the consolation third place game in Miami played three weeks after the regular season, on January 3.

Green Bay had played in the previous season's Playoff Bowl and won decisively,[7][8] which followed consecutive league titles in 1961 and 1962, and three straight appearances in the championship game. In the 1964 season's third-place game, the St. Louis Cardinals prevailed over the unmotivated Packers, 24–17.[9][10][11][12]

The 1964 season was arguably the most disappointing for Lombardi as a head coach. Consecutive appearances in the consolation Playoff Bowl, and the loss, keyed Lombardi and the Packers to win three consecutive NFL titles; the latter two followed by victories in the first two Super Bowls. Since the playoff era began 91 years ago in 1933, no other team was won three straight NFL titles.

For the first time since 1950, the Packers did not play on Thanksgiving Day. In the previous thirteen seasons they had played the Detroit Lions at Tiger Stadium, and went 3–9–1 (.269); with Lombardi as head coach, the record was 2–2–1 (.500), which included the sole loss in 1962. Green Bay next played on Thanksgiving in 1970 at the Cotton Bowl, which was the franchise's first-ever loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Hall of Fame right guard Jerry Kramer missed most of the season due to an intestinal condition. After multiple surgeries, it was rectified in May 1965 after sizable wood fragments from a teenage accident a dozen years earlier were removed.[13][14][15][16]

Offseason

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NFL draft

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Round Pick Player Position School
1 13 Lloyd Voss Defensive end Nebraska
2 27 Jon Morris Center Holy Cross
3 36 Ode Burrell Back Mississippi State
3 40 Joe O'Donnell Guard Michigan
3 41 Tommy Crutcher Linebacker TCU
4 44 Bob Long Wide receiver Wichita State
4 55 Paul Costa Tackle Notre Dame
5 60 Duke Carlisle Quarterback Texas
5 69 Steve Wright Offensive tackle Alabama
7 97 Dick Herzing Tackle Drake
8 111 Ken Bowman Center Wisconsin
9 125 John McDowell Offensive Tackle St. John's (MN)
10 139 Allen Jacobs Back Utah
11 153 Jack Petersen Tackle Nebraska-Omaha
12 167 Dwain Bean Back North Texas State
13 181 Jack Mauro Tackle Northern Michigan
14 195 Tom O'Grady End Northwestern
15 209 Alex Zerko Tackle Kent State
16 223 Andrew Ireland Back Utah
17 237 Len St. Jean End Northern Michigan
18 251 Mike Hicks Guard Marshall
19 265 John Baker End Norfolk State
20 279 Bill Curry Center Georgia Tech
  • Yellow indicates a future Pro Bowl selection

Roster

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1964 Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams


Reserve

Rookies in italics

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 13 Chicago Bears W 23–12 1–0 City Stadium 42,327
2 September 20 Baltimore Colts L 20–21 1–1 City Stadium 42,327
3 September 28 at Detroit Lions W 14–10 2–1 Tiger Stadium 59,203
4 October 4 Minnesota Vikings L 23–24 2–2 City Stadium 42,327
5 October 11 San Francisco 49ers W 24–14 3–2 Milwaukee County Stadium 47,380
6 October 18 at Baltimore Colts L 21–24 3–3 Memorial Stadium 60,213
7 October 25 Los Angeles Rams L 17–27 3–4 Milwaukee County Stadium 47,617
8 November 1 at Minnesota Vikings W 42–13 4–4 Metropolitan Stadium 44,278
9 November 6 Detroit Lions W 30–7 5–4 City Stadium 42,327
10 November 15 at San Francisco 49ers L 14–24 5–5 Kezar Stadium 38,483
11 November 22 Cleveland Browns W 28–21 6–5 Milwaukee County Stadium 48,065
12 November 29 at Dallas Cowboys W 45–21 7–5 Cotton Bowl 44,975
13 December 5 at Chicago Bears W 17–3 8–5 Wrigley Field 43,636
14 December 13 at Los Angeles Rams T 24–24 8–5–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 40,735
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.
Source:[17]

Season summary

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Week 1 vs Bears

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Week One: Chicago Bears (0–0) at Green Bay Packers (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 0 3 9012
Packers 7 10 3323

at City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Game information

Week 2 vs Colts

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Baltimore Colts (0–1) at Green Bay Packers (1–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Colts 7 14 0021
Packers 7 6 7020

at New City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

  • Date: September 20
  • Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C)
  • Game attendance: 42,327
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 11: vs. Cleveland Browns

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Green Bay Packers 28, Cleveland Browns 21
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Browns 14 0 0721
Packers 7 0 14728

at Milwaukee County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Game information
First quarter
Second quarter
  • no scoring
Third quarter
  • GB   – Jim Taylor 1-yard rush – (Hornung kick), tied 14–14
  • GB   – Bart Starr 4-yard rush (Hornung kick), GB 21–14
Fourth quarter
  • GB   – Taylor 5-yard rush (Hornung kick), GB 28–14
  • CLE – Warfield 19-yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick), GB 28–21

Standings

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NFL Western Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts 12 2 0 .857 10–2 428 225 W1
Green Bay Packers[a] 8 5 1 .615 6–5–1 342 245 T1
Minnesota Vikings 8 5 1 .615 6–5–1 355 296 W3
Detroit Lions 7 5 2 .583 6–4–2 280 260 W2
Los Angeles Rams 5 7 2 .417 3–7–2 283 339 T1
Chicago Bears 5 9 0 .357 5–7 260 379 L2
San Francisco 49ers 4 10 0 .286 3–9 236 330 L1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
  1. ^ Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference
    by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

Playoff Bowl

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Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Playoff Bowl January 3, 1965 St. Louis Cardinals L 17–24 Orange Bowl 56,218

Source:[9][10][11][12][18]

Awards and records

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  • Bart Starr, NFL leader, passing yards, (2,144 yards)

References

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  1. ^ Lea, Bud (September 14, 1964). "Packers hammer Bears, 23-12!". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 4, part 2.
  2. ^ "Packer smash Bears by 23-12". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. September 14, 1964. p. 34.
  3. ^ Lea, Bud (October 26, 1964). "Rams' rally rips Packers, 27-17". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 3, part 2.
  4. ^ "Colts jar Rams, 24-7, to clinch Western title". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1965. p. 4, part 2.
  5. ^ "Colts clinch title; Bears beat 49ers". Chicago Tribune. UPI. November 23, 1964. p. 1, section 3.
  6. ^ "Packers win spot in Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. December 14, 1964. p. 4B.
  7. ^ Lea, Bud (January 6, 1964). "Starr-led Packers bomb Browns". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
  8. ^ "Packers cuff Browns, 40-23". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. January 6, 1964. p. 12.
  9. ^ a b Lea, Bud (January 4, 1965). "Cards blunt Packers' rally, 24-17". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Chuck (January 4, 1965). "Packers season ends as it began; Cardinals win in an exhibition". Milwaukee Journal. p. 8, part 2.
  11. ^ a b "'Peanuts' leads Cards to victory". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. January 4, 1965. p. 3B.
  12. ^ a b Segreti, James (January 4, 1965). "Cards outlast Packers in runner-up bowl, 24-17". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 3.
  13. ^ "Splinters from old injury caused Kramer's illness". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. May 12, 1965. p. 15.
  14. ^ "Kramer surveys". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. May 13, 1965. p. 24.
  15. ^ "(Photo)". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. May 13, 1965. p. 12, part 2.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "'Defense did a super job'". Milwaukee Sentinel. September 29, 1964. p. 2, part 2.[dead link]
  17. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 369
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