1964 Baltimore Colts season

1964 Baltimore Colts season
Head coach	Don Shula
Owner	Carroll Rosenbloom
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	12–2
Division place	1st NFL Western
Playoff finish	Lost NFL Championship (Cleveland Browns, 27–0)

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. They clinched with three games remaining for the first title since 1959.^[1]

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.^[2][3][4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
1	September 13, 1964	at Minnesota Vikings	L 24–34	0–1	Metropolitan Stadium	35,563
2	September 20, 1964	at Green Bay Packers	W 21–20	1–1	Lambeau Field	42,327
3	September 27, 1964	Chicago Bears	W 52–0	2–1	Memorial Stadium	56,537
4	October 4, 1964	Los Angeles Rams	W 35–20	3–1	Memorial Stadium	56,537
5	October 12, 1964	St. Louis Cardinals	W 47–27	4–1	Memorial Stadium ^	60,213
6	October 18, 1964	Green Bay Packers	W 24–21	5–1	Memorial Stadium	60,213
7	October 25, 1964	at Detroit Lions	W 34–0	6–1	Tiger Stadium	57,814
8	November 1, 1964	San Francisco 49ers	W 37–7	7–1	Memorial Stadium	60,213
9	November 8, 1964	at Chicago Bears	W 40–24	8–1	Wrigley Field	47,891
10	November 15, 1964	Minnesota Vikings	W 17–14	9–1	Memorial Stadium	60,213
11	November 22, 1964	at Los Angeles Rams	W 24–7	10–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	72,137
12	November 29, 1964	at San Francisco 49ers	W 14–3	11–1	Kezar Stadium	33,642
13	December 6, 1964	Detroit Lions	L 14–31	11–2	Memorial Stadium	60,213
14	December 13, 1964	Washington Redskins	W 45–17	12–2	Memorial Stadium	60,213

^ 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.

Standings

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	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.

Postseason

After Baltimore's 12–2 regular season, they traveled to Cleveland to take on the Browns for the NFL title. 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.^[5][6] The first half was uneventful and scoreless, but the Browns scored 17 third quarter points in their 27–0 rout of the Colts.

Playoff Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance
Championship	December 27, 1964	at Cleveland Browns	L 0–27	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	79,544

1964 NFL Championship Game: at Cleveland Browns

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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	0	0	0	0
Browns	0	0	17	10	27

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Date: December 27
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C), relative humidity 75%, wind 15 mph (24 km/h), wind chill 23 °F (−5 °C)
• Game attendance: 79,554
• Referee: Norm Schachter
• TV announcers (CBS): Chuck Thompson (BAL) (second half) and Ken Coleman (CLE) (first half) (play-by-play), Frank Gifford (color commentator)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Third Quarter CLE - Lou Groza 43 yard field goal - Browns 3-0 CLE - Gary Collins 18 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 10-0 CLE - Gary Collins 42 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 17-0 Fourth Quarter CLE - Lou Groza 10 yard field goal - Browns 20-0 CLE - Gary Collins 51 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 27-0 Colts Browns

Awards and honors

• Johnny Unitas, Bert Bell Award^[7]

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts-Patriots rivalry

References

1. "Colts jar Rams, 24-7, to clinch Western title". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1964. p. 4, part 2.
2. Johnson, Chuck (December 28, 1964). "Browns play best game of year, Colts their worst - result: 27-0". Milwaukee Journal. p. 10, part 2.
3. "Cleveland Browns blank Colts for NFL title". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 28, 1964. p. 7.
4. "Cleveland wallops Baltimore, 27-0". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). December 28, 1964. p. 1D.
5. "Moore, Unitas lead Colts". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). Associated Press. December 27, 1964. p. 4B.
6. Taylor, Jim (December 27, 1964). "Colts seven-point favorites". Toledo Blade (Ohio). p. F1.
7. http://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/content/awards/bell/past_bell.htm