Green Bay Packers (8-5-1) 24, Los Angeles Rams (5-7-2) 24 (T)
Sunday December 13th 1964 (at Los Angeles)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(LOS ANGELES) - The Packers got to Miami. The hard way. With a heart-clutching fourth quarter comeback that produced a sweet 24 to 24 tie with the Rams in the Coliseum Sunday. Behind 24-10 with 12 minutes and 55 seconds left in the game, the Packers scored touchdowns on stirring 62 and 57-yard drives before 40,735 stunned fans in balmy 75-degree weather. When Paul Hornung stepped back to kick the 24th point, you had to think back to the Packers' two one-point losses - and keep your fingers crossed. But his final kick was true and the defense did the rest, ramming the Rams back 14 yards in the final two minutes. This must go down in the books as one of the biggest comebacks in Packer history. Actually, it took just a bit over 10 minutes to zoom 62 yards in 12 plays for the first TD - a five-yard fourth down pass from Bart Starr to Boyd Dowler; force the Rams to punt in three plays; and move 57 yards in nine plays for the "winning" touchdown on Jim Taylor's one-yard smash. This was like winning because it put the Packers into the Playoff Bowl Jan. 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals. In a rather roundabout way. The Packers finished in a second-place tie with the Vikings, each posting 8-5-1 records. In this situation, the Miami representative becomes the club which scores the most points against the team it tied. The Packers lost to the Vikings 24-23, and then beat them 42-13. Thus, Green Bay outscored Minnesota 65 to 37 - a clear-cut decision. The Packers raced between the 30s like they owned the Rams, but close-in it was strictly stonewall. And when Starr's third down pass hit the goal post on the first drive in the final quarter, it seemed that the Rams had the Pack under a spell. But Starr tried again and Dowler took this one for the Bay's first TD since Tom Moore's 10-yard scorer, climaxing a 77-yard drive, in the second quarter. The Rams got off to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. They scored first, on a 95-yard aerial by Bill Munson and Bucky Pope, and then got two touchdowns after fumbles by Starr deep in Packer territory. Ben Wilson made it 14-0 on a one-yard plunge and Les Josephson set the county at 21-7 on a four-yard run in the second quarter. Hornung started working his field goal toe late in the first half having one blocked from the 28 and missing from 43. Early in the second half, Hornung was wide from, of all places, the 13. But he got one more shot and he made it from the 40 to cut the Ram lead to 21-10 in the third quarter. Bruce Gossett got that back for LA with
2:05 gone in the fourth period. But the Pack started to roar. The Packers ran off an astounding 80 plays - certainly one of their highest ever. They ripped off 364 yards, including 213 rushing. Starr completed 15 out of 26 passes for 151 yards and established a new NFL record of 225 straight passes without an interception, breaking the mark of 208 set by Milt Plum, then with the Browns, over the 1959-1960 seasons. Starr hasn't had a pass stolen since the third game and finished with a miserly four interceptions for the season. Taylor closed out brilliantly with 165 yards in 17 attempts, including a 65-yard romp that set up Hornung's 13-yard field goal miss. Jim finished the season with 1,169 yards in 13 games (he missed the first Viking test) and became the first NFL player to exceed 1,000 five straight years. Jarrin' Jim was breaking tackles all afternoon and it wasn't unusual for him to snap away from or knock over three on one play. The big bolter also caught four passes for 56 yards, giving him a total of 221 yards for the day. While Starr was thrown six times attempting to pass - plus two fumbles, the Packer offense was murder in that fourth quarter clutch, dominating the scene with 22 plays against eight for the Rams. Injured Max McGee started but soon gave way to Bob Jeter, who then exchanged places with Boyd Dowler, and Ron Kramer was in and out with a bad knee. Marv Fleming later took over for Kramer and caught two passes in the key drive. The Packer defensers, bless 'em all, were strong, and if it hadn't been for the 95-yard TD play the Ram total would have been practically zero. The Rams finished with 113 yards passing and 115 rushing - a total of 228. In the end, the Bays never allowed a concerted scoring drive all day and two of the TDs came on the fumbles on the Packer 24 and 19-yard lines. The Rams finished with only 53 plays and 42 came in the first three quarter. The defensive play of the day was performed by Dan Currie just after the Packers cut the Ram lead to 24-17. Pope was sent on a reverse on first down and had a 30-yard field ahead of him but Currie shot across the line and caught Pope by the ankle for a six-yard loss. The Rams might easily have reached midfield and got in position for a field goal with nine minutes left. Defensive Capt. Hank Gremminger stayed out of action with an injured leg and the rookie Tom Brown went the route for the first time. He made one of the Pack's two interceptions, setting up Hornung's field goal. Jess Whittenton got the other. Ron Kotselnik recovered the only Ram fumbles. Herer's what happened in the last 12 minutes: The Packer started on their own 38 and the first big move was a 22-yard Starr pass to Taylor to the Ram 40. The attack stalled as Starr was high on a third and two quickies to Bob Jeter on the Ram 32. With the Rams expecting a blast from Taylor, Starr slipped the ball to Elijah Pitts and he ripped the middle for 12 to the 20. Starr passed to Dowler for nine and Taylor made it a first down on the 10. After Pitts lost two, Starr passed to Taylor on the seven. Starr's pass aimed at Jeter hit the goal posts and it looked black until Starr hurled to Dowler in the left corner of the end zone for a TD. The tying TD drive was shorter and more methodical - 57 yards in nine plays. Starr led off with a pass to Dowler for 12. After Taylor got four on a draw play, Starr passed to Fleming on a shortie over the line for eight yards to the Ram 33 with five minutes left. Taylor hit the left end for one and then Jeter came in with a real clutch catch, taking Starr's 23-yard throw wide on the right to the nine. After Pitts slipped and still got three yards, the Rams jumped offside, giving the Bays a second down on the three. Pitts hit to the one and Taylor was stopped at the line on third down, but his fine second effort produced the TD. The first three quarters were crazy and hair raising. Henry recovered a Starr fumble on the second play of the game on the Packer nine, but on the next play Whittenton intercepted Munson's pass. The Packers then labored for 13 plays and 75 yards before Frank Budka intercepted Hornung's option pass. Josephson lost two but then Munson and Pope worked their 95-yard scoring drive. Pope broke away from Whittenton and then got away from Brown and Herb Adderley who caught up with him on the nine. Thus, the Rams had a 7-0 lead and the Packers a 17-3 advantage in plays. Two plays later, Starr fumbled again and the Rams took over on the Packer 24. Pope got 17 on an end-around play, Josephson hit for six and Wilson banged for the TD. Presto, it was 14-0. The Packers then moved 77 yards in nine plays to get one TD back. The big starter was a 35-yard pass from Starr to Kramer to midfield. After Moore ran 11 yards in two trips, Starr hit Taylor on 14 and 13-yard passes to the 10 from where Moore ran it across for a 14-7 score. The punters took over at this point. and later in the second period Jones recovered Starrs' fumble on the Packer 19. Josephson made the touchdown on four straight crashes, going through a big hole from the four for the 21-7 edge. The Packers' best offense then became Hornung's toe and he missed three straight before a fourth set up on Brown's interception and 30-yard return to the Ram 44. Taylor and Moore gained 12 but then three straight passes misfired before Hornung hit from the 40. The Rams put on a three first-down drive early in the fourth period to set up Gossett's 27-yard field goal shot. That's where the Packers started their comeback. To Florida.
GREEN BAY - 0 7 3 14 - 24
LOS ANGELES - 14 7 0 3 - 24
GREEN BAY LOS ANGELES
First Downs 22 12
Rushing-Yards-TD 38-213-2 25-115-2
Att-Comp-Yd-TD-Int 30-15-194-1-1 16-8-150-1-2
Sack Yards Lost 6-43 5-37
Net Passing Yards 151 113
Total Yards 364 228
Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-1
Turnovers 4 3
Yards penalized 2-20 8-78
SCORING
1st - LA - Bucky Pope, 95-yard pass from Bill Munson (Bruce Gossett kick) LOS ANGELES 7-0
1st - LA - Ben Wilson, 1-yard run (Gossett kick) LOS ANGELES 14-0
2nd - GB - Tom Moore, 10-yard run (Paul Hornung kick) LOS ANGELES 14-7
2nd - LA - Les Josephson, 4-yard run (Gossett kick) LOS ANGELES 21-7
3rd - GB - Paul Hornung, 40-yard field goal LOS ANGELES 21-10
4th - LA - Gossett, 27-yard field goal LOS ANGELES 24-10
4th - GB - Boyd Dowler, 5-yard pass from Starr (Hornung kick) LOS ANGELES 24-17
4th - GB - Jim Taylor, 1-yard run (Hornung kick) TIED 24-24
RUSHING
GREEN BAY - Jim Taylor 17-165 1 TD, Tom Moore 12-36 1 TD, Elijah Pitts 4-14, Paul Hornung 4-7, Bart Starr 1-(-9)
LOS ANGELES - Les Josephson 17-72 1 TD, Ben Wilson 5-24 1 TD, Bucky Pope 2-11, Bill Munson 1-8
PASSING
GREEN BAY - Bart Starr 26-15-194 1 TD, Zeke Bratkowski 3-0-0, Paul Hornung 1-0-0 1 INT
LOS ANGELES - Bill Munson 16-8-150 1 TD 2 INT
RECEIVING
GREEN BAY - Jim Taylor 4-56, Boyd Dowler 4-31 1 TD, Ron Kramer 3-56, Marv Fleming 2-17, Bob Jeter 1-23, Max McGee 1-11
LOS ANGELES - Marlin McKeever 3-32, Buck Pope 2-99 1 TD, Ben Wilson 2-5, Les Josephson 1-14
Dave Hanner wearing a visor that isn't exactly standard Packer issue. For more on the reason why - click here
PACKERS SHOUT 'COMEBACK OF YEAR'
DEC 14 (Los Angeles-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Fullback Jim Taylor said it was as good a game as he's ever played and shouts of "Comeback of the Year" rang through the shower room of the Packers Sunday as they closed their 1964 season with a 24-24 tie against the Rams. But it was, for the most part, unusually quiet in the catacombs of the huge Coliseum where the Packers have so often in recent years celebrating championship-clinching victories. "We played a pretty good statistical game," said coach Vince Lombardi. "We tried to give them (the Rams) the game in the first half. That's a tough way to play." Lombardi said he was fully aware that all the Packers needed to qualify for the Playoff Bowl at Miami Jan. 3 against St. Louis, the runner up in the Eastern Division, was a tie. "If I hadn't known that I wouldn't have been running out the clock on that last touchdown drive. Worried is about the mildest word I can think of," Lombardi said in explaining his thoughts as time appeared to be running out on the Packers in their fourth quarter comeback bid...'JUST A CROSS PLAY': Lombardi, too, called the play of Taylor "awfully good, considering the size of that Ram line." Lombardi said Taylor has had many other days that produced huge chunks of important yardage "but not against that kind of size." He called the Rams "the biggest team that the NFL has ever seen." Taylor, who rolled up 165 yards in 17 carries and tallied the tying touchdown on a one-yard plunge with just two minutes remaining in the game, said the scoring play was one that the Packers had been using on goal-line situations all season. "It was just a cross play," he explained. "There was nothing unusual about it. The blocking was there. I just followed the guard. He did most of the work for me." Paul Hornung, who missed two field goals and had another blocked, said the conversion kick that followed (and meant nearly $1,000 per man for finishing in a second-place tie with Minnesota as well as a trip to the Playoff Bowl) was "just like any other conversion. The only thing I was thinking about was hitting the ball square. It felt good. I knew it was good as soon as I kicked it." The tie, however, cost the Packers a few dollars. Second place in the division is worth $50,000 and third $37,500. Green Bay and Minnesota split the two shares - $43,750 each. Bart Starr shouldered the blame for the early-game fumbles that pit the Packers in the hole. Twice he fumbled snapbacks from center in the first half. "When you give them two easy touchdowns like that you can't help but have a rough day of it," he said. Starr, too, commented on the Ram's defensive line strong rush, but after intermission he solved it by getting his passes off more quickly and was thrown for only a total of nine yards in losses. "They were coming at me like maniacs," he said. Starr said he "had too much to worry about" to think about the NFL record he broke Sunday. Lombardi, asked if he had told his players of Minnesota's victory
Green Bay Packers defensive backs Elijah Pitts (22) and Herb Adderley (26) on the bench against the Los Angeles Rams
over Chicago as a halftime pep talk, said he hadn't and he didn't think the player knew about it. "We don't put as much emphasis on second place as some teams do," he said stern-faced...ONE OF BETTER GAMES: Rams coach Harland Svare, who watched his team lose its previous four games after a fast start this season, said he was "disappointed to lose the victory, but I couldn't be more pleased with the way we played today. It was one of our better games this year." "Penalties like we got today are too costly against a team like the Packers. It seemed like we were always punting from our end zone. They kept getting the ball around the 50 and when you've got field position like that you can play your own kind of game." Svare said he thought his team did as good a job as any team had done in stopping Taylor. "Nobody stops him," said the young Ram coach.
