1964 NFL season

1964 National Football League season
Regular season
East Champions Cleveland Browns
West Champions Baltimore Colts
Championship Game
Champions Cleveland Browns

The 1964 NFL season was the 45th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season started, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, who had been suspended for the 1963 season due to gambling.

This season is noteworthy for a change in uniform rules – while the league had dictated since 1957 that the home team must wear a colored jersey and the visitors a white one, teams were now given the option of wearing their white jerseys at home. As a result, the Browns, Cardinals, Colts, Cowboys, Rams, Redskins, Steelers (for one game) and Vikings (except for most of one game in which the Lions forgot to bring their blue jerseys) did so; while the rest reverted to home colors the following year, the Cardinals would not wear red at home until 1966, the Rams would not do so again until 1972, the Browns only once until 1975, and the Cowboys, aside from an unwilling use of their blue tops as the "home" team in Super Bowl V, have since continuously worn white at home.

The season ended when the Cleveland Browns shut out the Baltimore Colts 27–0 in the NFL Championship Game.

1964 Regular season games not broadcast on National TV

Date Time Teams Local TV Announcers
September 12, 1964 9:00 PM EDT St. Louis @ Dallas KMOX-TV (St. Louis area) Jack Drees and Bill Fischer
September 19, 1964 11:00 PM EDT Detroit @ Los Angeles WJBK-TV (Detroit area) Van Patrick and Jim Morse
September 25, 1964 8:30 PM EDT Washington @ New York WTOP-TV (Washington D.C. area)
WPIX-TV (New York area)
Jim Gibbons and Eddie Gallaher
Chris Schenkel and Pat Summerall
September 28, 1964 8:00 PM EDT Green Bay @ Detroit WBAY-TV (Green Bay area) and WISN-TV (Milwaukee area) Earl Gillespie and Tony Canadeo
October 10, 1964 8:00 PM EDT Pittsburgh @ Cleveland Sports Network Incorporated (SNI) Ken Coleman and Warren Lahr
October 12, 1964 8:00 PM EDT St. Louis @ Baltimore KMOX-TV (St. Louis area) Jack Drees and Bill Fischer

Conference races

The Western Conference race started with Baltimore losing its opener at Minnesota, 34–24. After that, the Colts went on an 11-game winning streak, taking the lead on October 4 with their 35–20 win over the Rams, and clinching a spot in the title game on November 22.

In the Eastern Conference, the Browns and the Cardinals played to a 33–33 tie on September 20, and were both 4–1–1 after six games. In Week Seven, Cleveland beat New York 42–20, while St. Louis fell to Dallas, 31–13. When the Cardinals beat the Browns 28–19 in Week Thirteen, they were only a game behind and needed a win and a Cleveland loss to have a chance for a playoff. St. Louis won, 36–34 in Philadelphia, but Cleveland also won, 52–20 over the Giants.

Week Western Eastern
1 4 teams (Det,GB,LA,Min) 1–0–0 3 teams (Cle, Phi, StL) 1–0–0
2 Tie (Det, LA) 1–0–1 Tie (Cle, StL) 1–0–1
3 Los Angeles Rams 2–0–1 Tie (Cle, StL) 2–0–1
4 Baltimore Colts 3–1–0 Tie (Cle, StL) 3–0–1
5 Baltimore Colts 4–1–0 Tie (Cle, StL) 3–1–1
6 Baltimore Colts 5–1–0 Tie (Cle, StL) 4–1–1
7 Baltimore Colts 6–1–0 Cleveland Browns 5–1–1
8 Baltimore Colts 7–1–0 Cleveland Browns 6–1–1
9 Baltimore Colts 8–1–0 Cleveland Browns 7–1–1
10 Baltimore Colts 9–1–0 Cleveland Browns 8–1–1
11 Baltimore Colts 10–1–0 Cleveland Browns 8–2–1
12 Baltimore Colts 11–1–0 Cleveland Browns 9–2–1
13 Baltimore Colts 11–2–0 Cleveland Browns 9–3–1
14 Baltimore Colts 12–2–0 Cleveland Browns 10–3–1

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings

Eastern Conference
TeamWLTPCTPFPA
Cleveland Browns 1031.769415293
St. Louis Cardinals 932.750357331
Philadelphia Eagles 680.429312313
Washington Redskins 680.429307305
Dallas Cowboys 581.385250289
Pittsburgh Steelers 590.357253315
New York Giants 2102.167241399
Western Conference
TeamWLTPCTPFPA
Baltimore Colts 1220.857428225
Green Bay Packers 851.615342245
Minnesota Vikings 851.615355296
Detroit Lions 752.583280260
Los Angeles Rams 572.417283339
Chicago Bears 590.357260379
San Francisco 49ers 4100.286236330

NFL Championship Game

Cleveland 27, Baltimore 0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, in Cleveland, Ohio on December 27.

Playoff Bowl

The Playoff Bowl was between the conference runners-up, for third place in the league. This was its fifth year and it was played a week after the title game.

Awards

Most Valuable PlayerJohnny Unitas, Quarterback, Baltimore Colts
Coach of the YearDon Shula, Baltimore Colts

See also

References

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