| 1964 National Football League season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | |||
| Duration | |||
| East Champions | Cleveland Browns | ||
| West Champions | Baltimore Colts | ||
| Championship Game | |||
| Champions | Cleveland Browns | ||
National Football League seasons
| |||
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 one game in which the Lions forgot to bring their blue jerseys) [1] did so; while the rest reverted to home colors the following year, 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, have continuously worn white at home to this day.
The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship Game - the last major sports championship for any Cleveland team to date.
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 | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 415 | 293 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 9 | 3 | 2 | .750 | 357 | 331 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 312 | 313 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 307 | 305 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 250 | 289 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 253 | 315 |
| New York Giants | 2 | 10 | 2 | .167 | 241 | 399 |
| Western Conference | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Colts | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 428 | 225 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 342 | 245 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 355 | 296 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 280 | 260 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 283 | 339 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 260 | 379 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 236 | 330 |
NFL Championship Game[]
Cleveland 27, Baltimore 0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio, December 27, 1964
Awards[]
| Most Valuable Player | Johnny Unitas, Quarterback, Baltimore Colts |
| Coach of the Year | Don Shula, Baltimore Colts |
See also[]
References[]
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1961-1970 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- 1964 season in details
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
1964 NFL Season
| |
|---|---|
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
| Cleveland | Baltimore |
| Dallas | Chicago |
| NY Giants | Detroit |
| Philadelphia | Green Bay |
| Pittsburgh | Los Angeles |
| St. Louis | Minnesota |
| Washington | San Francisco |
| 1964 NFL Draft • NFL Championship • Pro Bowl Related: 1964 AFL Season | |