The 1964 St Louis Cardinals finished behind the first place Cleveland Browns by 1/2 game, the Browns were 10-3-1 and the Cards were 9-3-2. The first game was a 33 all tie at Cleveland in Week 3 and the Cardinals won at home in week 13, 28 to 19. This latter game was one of the biggest wins in Red Bird history. The biggest reason for the second place finish was their inability to defeat the last place Giants. Here were the Cardinals with a tie and a win against the first place Browns and a tie and a loss with the last place Giants. The team played matching the caliber of their opponent. The happy and grim details. St Louis also had a six week slump at midseason. I will talk about the slump later.
Week 3 at Cleveland a 33 to 33 tie
For St Louis. Charley Johnson went 14 of 27 for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Sonny Randle caught four passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Good defensive statistic; the Cardinals held Jimmy Brown to 79 yards rushing.
For Cleveland. Frank Ryan went 12 of 26 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Gary Collins caught six passes 105 yards and one touchdown.
At 3-0-1 the Cardinals had a nasty slump going 2-3-1. They lost all of their three games in this period.
lost at Baltimore (12-2) 47 to 27
won at home Washington (6-8) 38 to 24.
lost at home Dallas (5-8-1) 31 to 13
lost at home New York (2-10-2) 34 to 17
won at home Pittsburgh (5-9) 34 to 30
tie at home New York (2-10-2) 10 to 10.
Now St Louis was 5-3-2 and their status was uncertain. However, they won their last four games to finish 9-3-2.
Biggest win Week 13 at home to Cleveland Browns-St Louis won 28 to 19
Cardinals-Charley Johnson completed 15 of 22 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Jackie Smith caught five passes for 50 yards. John David Crow rushed for 72 yards
Browns-Frank Ryan completed 15 of 33 passes for 242 yards. Paul Warfield caught six passes for 91 yards. Four field goals from Lou Groza kept the Browns competitive. The Cardinals prevented Cleveland from scoring a touchdown until the last 30 seconds of play. Frank Ryan passed for 30 yards to Ernie Green for the score.
1964 St Louis Cardinals-Better than the Browns
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Re: 1964 St Louis Cardinals-Better than the Browns
I bet Cardinal WR Billy Gambrell will never forget the 1964 season's NFL Playoff Bowl (matching the 2 Division runners-up). From Wikipedia:
Gambrell won the Most Valuable Player award in the Playoff Bowl on January 3,1965 after he caught 6 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the Cardinals 24-17 win over the Green Bay Packers.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... mbBi00.htm
According to Jerry Kramer in either "Instant Replay" or "Farewell to Football" this was the only game that he (Kramer) felt that Vince Lombardi didn't much care that the Packers had lost. What Lombardi said about the Playoff Bowl is legendary: (This is taken from the Packer's official website): "Although I've (<-- Author Cliff Christi, Packer historian) read different versions of what Lombardi said, I believe this might be the most accurate: "A Hinky-Dink football game, held in a Hinky-Dink town, played by Hinky-Dink players." (Miami a "Hinky-Dink town"? - CE)
In Earl Morrall's biography, he indicated that the NY Giants of 1965 were very motivated to win their battle with the Dallas Cowboys for 2nd Place in the Eastern Division and win the right to go to the Playoff Bowl, to get the all-expenses paid trip to Miami & at the Fontainebleau Hotel no less. Unfortunately for the Giants, both teams finished 7-7 and the Cowboys got the nod via the tiebreaker system.
Gambrell won the Most Valuable Player award in the Playoff Bowl on January 3,1965 after he caught 6 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the Cardinals 24-17 win over the Green Bay Packers.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... mbBi00.htm
According to Jerry Kramer in either "Instant Replay" or "Farewell to Football" this was the only game that he (Kramer) felt that Vince Lombardi didn't much care that the Packers had lost. What Lombardi said about the Playoff Bowl is legendary: (This is taken from the Packer's official website): "Although I've (<-- Author Cliff Christi, Packer historian) read different versions of what Lombardi said, I believe this might be the most accurate: "A Hinky-Dink football game, held in a Hinky-Dink town, played by Hinky-Dink players." (Miami a "Hinky-Dink town"? - CE)
In Earl Morrall's biography, he indicated that the NY Giants of 1965 were very motivated to win their battle with the Dallas Cowboys for 2nd Place in the Eastern Division and win the right to go to the Playoff Bowl, to get the all-expenses paid trip to Miami & at the Fontainebleau Hotel no less. Unfortunately for the Giants, both teams finished 7-7 and the Cowboys got the nod via the tiebreaker system.