1964 Baltimore Colts season

Last updated

1964 Baltimore Colts season
Owner Carroll Rosenbloom
General manager Don "Red" Kellett
Head coach Don Shula
Home field Memorial Stadium
Results
Record12–2
Division place1st NFL Western
Playoff finishLost NFL Championship
(at Browns) 0–27

The 1964 Baltimore Colts season was the 12th season for the team in the National Football League. The Colts finished the regular season with a record of 12 wins and 2 losses and finished first in the Western Conference. [1] [2] It was their first conference title since 1959, clinched on November 22 with three games remaining. [3]

Contents

After an opening loss at Minnesota, [4] the Colts won eleven straight, [5] dropped a home game in December to Detroit, [6] then easily won the finale with Washington. [7]

Baltimore met the Cleveland Browns (10–3–1) of the Eastern Conference in the NFL Championship Game in Cleveland, won by the underdog Browns, 27–0. [8] [9] [10]

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1964 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
Source: [1] [2]

Roster

1964 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

None - vacant


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 13at Minnesota Vikings L 24–340–1 Metropolitan Stadium 35,563
2September 20at Green Bay Packers W 21–201–1 Lambeau Field 42,327
3September 27 Chicago Bears W 52–02–1 Memorial Stadium 56,537
4October 4 Los Angeles Rams W 35–203–1Memorial Stadium56,537
5October 12 St. Louis Cardinals W 47–274–1Memorial Stadium^60,213
6October 18 Green Bay Packers W 24–215–1Memorial Stadium60,213
7October 25at Detroit Lions W 34–06–1 Tiger Stadium 57,814
8November 1 San Francisco 49ers W 37–77–1Memorial Stadium60,213
9November 8at Chicago Bears W 40–248–1 Wrigley Field 47,891
10November 15 Minnesota Vikings W 17–149–1Memorial Stadium60,213
11November 22at Los Angeles Rams W 24–710–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 72,137
12November 29at San Francisco 49ers W 14–311–1 Kezar Stadium 33,642
13December 6 Detroit Lions L 14–3111–2Memorial Stadium60,213
14December 13 Washington Redskins W 45–1712–2Memorial Stadium60,213
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Note: ^ The game with the Cardinals in week 5 was scheduled to be played at St. Louis, but was shifted to Baltimore when the baseball Cardinals reached the World Series, preempting football use of Busch Stadium during the Series.

Season summary

Week 1 at Vikings

Week 2 at Packers

Baltimore Colts (0–1) at Green Bay Packers (1–0)
Period1234Total
Colts7140021
Packers767020

at New City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

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

Standings

NFL Western Conference
WLTPCTCONFPFPASTK
Baltimore Colts 1220.85710–2428225W1
Green Bay Packers [lower-alpha 1] 851.6156–5–1342245T1
Minnesota Vikings 851.6156–5–1355296W3
Detroit Lions 752.5836–4–2280260W2
Los Angeles Rams 572.4173–7–2283339T1
Chicago Bears 590.3575–7260379L2
San Francisco 49ers 4100.2863–9236330L1

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.

Postseason

After Baltimore's 12–2 regular season, they traveled to Cleveland to take on the Browns (10–3–1) for the NFL title on December 27. The host team was alternated between the conferences, Eastern in even-numbered seasons and Western in the odd-numbered. This was the third championship game appearance for the Colts since joining the NFL in 1953, and they entered the game as seven-point favorites. [11] [12] Both teams had two weeks to prepare: the first half was uneventful and scoreless, but the home underdog Browns scored seventeen points in the third quarter in their 27–0 rout of the Colts.

RoundDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
Championship December 27at Cleveland Browns L 0–270–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 79,544

1964 NFL Championship Game: at Cleveland Browns

1964 NFL Championship Game: Cleveland Browns 27, Baltimore Colts 0
Period1234Total
Colts00000
Browns00171027

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game information

Awards and honors

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Shula, Don; Maule, Tex (January 11, 1965). "How the Colts met triumph — and disaster". Sports Illustrated. p. 24.
  2. 1 2 Shula, Don; Maule, Tex (January 18, 1965). "The road to the title in the West". Sports Illustrated. p. 42.
  3. ↑ "Colts jar Rams, 24-7, to clinch Western title". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1964. p. 4, part 2.
  4. ↑ "Vikings, 34-24". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 14, 1964. p. 3B.
  5. ↑ "Colts edge fumbling Frisco". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 30, 1964. p. 3B.
  6. ↑ "Lions smash Baltimore, 31-14". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 7, 1964. p. 3B.
  7. ↑ "Moore, Berry break records". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). December 14, 1964. p. 3B.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Chuck (December 28, 1964). "Browns play best game of year, Colts their worst - result: 27-0". Milwaukee Journal. p. 10, part 2.
  9. ↑ "Cleveland Browns blank Colts for NFL title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 28, 1964. p. 7.
  10. ↑ "Cleveland wallops Baltimore, 27-0". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). December 28, 1964. p. 1D.
  11. ↑ "Moore, Unitas lead Colts". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 27, 1964. p. 4B.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Jim (December 27, 1964). "Colts seven-point favorites". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. F1.
  13. ↑ "Maxwell Football Club - Bert Bell Award Past Recipients". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
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