1964 Green Bay Packers season

1964 Green Bay Packers season
General managerVince Lombardi
Head coachVince Lombardi
Home fieldCity Stadium
Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record8–5–1
Division place2nd NFL Western
Playoff finishLost NFL Playoff Bowl
(vs. Cardinals) 17–24

The 1964 Green Bay Packers season was their 46th season overall and their 44th season in the National Football League. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Vince Lombardi, and tied for second place in the Western Conference at 8–5–1.

The Packers opened the season in Green Bay with a promising win over the rival Chicago Bears, the defending NFL champions.[1][2] They then lost four of six, including three home games, and were 3–4 midway through the season, falling twice to the Baltimore Colts. The first three losses were by a total of five points, but the fourth on October 25, to the Los Angeles Rams in Milwaukee, was by ten and came after building a 17–0 lead.[3]

In the season's latter half, Green Bay won five of six and tied the Rams in the finale to end 3½ games behind the Colts (12–2) in the West, tied for second with Minnesota. Baltimore clinched the Western title on November 22, with three games remaining.[4][5] Based on point differential in the season split with the Vikings, the Packers were awarded the runner-up slot in the Playoff Bowl,[6] the consolation third place game in Miami played three weeks after the regular season, on January 3.

Green Bay had played in the previous season's Playoff Bowl and won decisively,[7][8] which followed consecutive league titles in 1961 and 1962, and three straight appearances in the championship game. In the 1964 season's third-place game, the St. Louis Cardinals prevailed over the unmotivated Packers, 24–17.[9][10][11][12]

The 1964 season was arguably the most disappointing for Lombardi as a head coach. Consecutive appearances in the consolation Playoff Bowl, and the loss, keyed Lombardi and the Packers to win three consecutive NFL titles; the latter two followed by victories in the first two Super Bowls. Since the playoff era began 91 years ago in 1933, no other team was won three straight NFL titles.

For the first time since 1950, the Packers did not play on Thanksgiving Day. In the previous thirteen seasons they had played the Detroit Lions at Tiger Stadium, and went 3–9–1 (.269); with Lombardi as head coach, the record was 2–2–1 (.500), which included the sole loss in 1962. Green Bay next played on Thanksgiving in 1970 at the Cotton Bowl, which was the franchise's first-ever loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Hall of Fame right guard Jerry Kramer missed most of the season due to an intestinal condition. After multiple surgeries, it was rectified in May 1965 after sizable wood fragments from a teenage accident a dozen years earlier were removed.[13][14][15][16]

  1. ^ Lea, Bud (September 14, 1964). "Packers hammer Bears, 23-12!". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 4, part 2.
  2. ^ "Packer smash Bears by 23-12". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. September 14, 1964. p. 34.
  3. ^ Lea, Bud (October 26, 1964). "Rams' rally rips Packers, 27-17". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 3, part 2.
  4. ^ "Colts jar Rams, 24-7, to clinch Western title". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. November 23, 1965. p. 4, part 2.
  5. ^ "Colts clinch title; Bears beat 49ers". Chicago Tribune. UPI. November 23, 1964. p. 1, section 3.
  6. ^ "Packers win spot in Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. December 14, 1964. p. 4B.
  7. ^ Lea, Bud (January 6, 1964). "Starr-led Packers bomb Browns". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
  8. ^ "Packers cuff Browns, 40-23". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. January 6, 1964. p. 12.
  9. ^ Lea, Bud (January 4, 1965). "Cards blunt Packers' rally, 24-17". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
  10. ^ Johnson, Chuck (January 4, 1965). "Packers season ends as it began; Cardinals win in an exhibition". Milwaukee Journal. p. 8, part 2.
  11. ^ "'Peanuts' leads Cards to victory". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. January 4, 1965. p. 3B.
  12. ^ Segreti, James (January 4, 1965). "Cards outlast Packers in runner-up bowl, 24-17". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 3.
  13. ^ "Splinters from old injury caused Kramer's illness". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. May 12, 1965. p. 15.
  14. ^ "Kramer surveys". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. May 13, 1965. p. 24.
  15. ^ "(Photo)". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. May 13, 1965. p. 12, part 2.[permanent dead link]