Now it's tome for the 1960 NFL Championship Game from Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Game time temperature is 35 degrees; wind and precipitation information are unknown.
The Browns scored first. The big play on the drive was Jim Brown's 43-yard scamper on a draw play that carried from the Browns 35 all the way to the Green Bay 22. Two plays later on a first and goal from the six, quarterback Milt Plum connected with Ray Renfro for the touchdown, and Sam Baker added the extra point. With 9:25 left in the opening quarter, the home team led 7-0.
The Packers answered on their very next possession. Running back Jim Taylor knifed off the left side for eleven yards on the very first play, and quarterback Bart Starr followed that up with a ten-yard strike to wide receiver Boyd Dowler. Later in the drive, he converted a third and eight from the Browns 30 by finding a wide open Max McGee, who broke a tackle and raced all the way to the four-yard line before he was pushed out of bounds. On the very next play, Starr flipped the ball to Dowler in the end zone for the touchdown. Paul Hornung added the extra point, and with 4:27 to go in the opening period, we were tied at seven.
It took just two plays for the Packers to score again the next time they had the ball. First, Hornung carried up the middle on a draw for eleven yards and a first down at the Cleveland 48. Then, Starr found tight end Gary Knafelc over the middle at the thirty. With three defenders hanging on to him at one point or another during his journey, Knafelc took the ball the rest of the way for the go-ahead touchdown. Hornung's extra point made the score Green Bay 14, Cleveland 7 after one.
The next time they had the ball, the Pack found themselves pinned back at their own twelve after a good punt by Baker. But Taylor's twelve-yard bolt up the middle got them out of trouble, and Starr completed key passes of thirteen yards to McGee and ten yards to Tom Moore. The rest of the yardage was picked up, a few yards at a time, as the Pack slowly wore down the Cleveland defense. The score came on a five-yard plunge up the middle by Hornung, and he added the extra point to put the visitors up 21-7 with 2:35 remaining in the first half. The particulars of the drive: fifteen plays, 88 yards, 9:53 off the clock.
The Browns got back in the game before halftime thanks to a brilliant punt return by Jim Shofner that set them up at the Green Bay 38. One handoff to Brown later, they were back in the game, as Brown ran the Packer sweep to the left and outsprinted its namesakes all the way to the end zone. Baker added the extra point, and at halftime the Browns were back to within 21-14. The score was still 21-14 after three quarters, but the Pack was driving, as a nineteen-yard jaunt up the middle by Hornung was the key play in a drive that had them at the Cleveland 39.
Starr continued the drive as the fourth quarter dawned, completing key passes to Dowler for seventeen yards and McGee for ten. The Pack now looked at first and goal from the seven, and Hornung took a pitchout from Starr, skirted right end, and waltzed into the end zone for what turned out to be the clinching touchdown. All that remained was the extra point, and the Packers could celebrate their tenth NFL championship to date (as covered by this timeline so far, at least). This is also their third championship in a row (we've already covered '61 and '62) and their fifth in the decade of the sixties. Final score: Packers 28, Browns 14.
Hornung was named MVP by NBC Television; he carried nineteen times for 66 yards and two touchdowns and also converted all four of his extra point attempts.
Next: To be determined.
Thoughts?