Baltimore vs. Dallas

The 1966 Playoff Bowl, January 9, 1966

The Baltimore Colts played the Dallas Cowboys on January 9, 1966 in a game that was known as the Playoff Bowl. This matched the second place teams in each division against each other in a game played in Miami a week after the NFL title game was played. Tom Matte Baltimore’s halfback turned quarterback stole the show that day in one of the most improbable performances in NFL history.

Background

After the 1958 NFL championship game, the nation’s sports fans became enamored with pro football. So much so that a new league the American Football League was formed and prospered because of the television contract they signed in 1960 with ABC. The NFL which had been around since 1920 finally signed a deal of their own with the CBS television network on January 10, 1962, this made the league not only stable but for the first time every team was profitable. The 16 NFL teams divided the $4.65 million. The deal was choreographed by Browns owner Art Modell.  The NFL could now sit back and reap the benefits of their game.

Before 1962 the NFL had signed small, various deals with some of the major networks to cover their championship game or various other single games. The AFL deal signed with ABC in 1960 made the NFL owners a bit worried that with all AFL games being televised on ABC, that the NFL now was not getting enough national publicity.

They wanted more exposure.

During this time, the NFL had just one post season game, their championship game. The league had just two 7 team divisions, the winner of each division played for the title. The NFL was getting just one national game televised a year. So to combat the AFL, they decided to begin what was called the Playoff Bowl, matching the second place teams against each other. The official name was the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl. The proceeds from this game would go directly to NFL Player Benefit Fund. Bert Bell was a former commissioner and owner in the NFL and was respected by all, he passed away in 1959.

The game had no real meaning.  It had no bearing on the standings and was purely a mechanism for publicity. And although in some ways the game was merely an exhibition, some of the second place teams took the game seriously while others were annoyed – forced to play a meaningless game after a hard fought season.

The first Playoff Bowl was played January 7, 1961 between the second place finishers of the 1960 season, the Lions from the Western Conference against the Cleveland Browns from the Eastern Conference. The Lions won 17-16. The Lions also won the next 2 Playoff Bowls, as they finished second in the Western Conference from 1960-1962. Attendance averaged 32,000 for these games at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

When Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers had to play in the game after the 1963 and 1964 seasons, he privately complained about having to play an additional game with no meaning. The Packers beat the Browns after the 1963 season but lost in the next Playoff Bowl to the young St. Louis Cardinals 24-17. After that game he went public. He called it a “Rinky dink game, held in a rinky dink city, played by rinky dink players.”

He later added to his colorful but hardly flattering description of the game by labeling the contest a “losers bowl for losers – it should be called the SHI _ bowl.”

He vowed he would never finish in second place again, and he did not, winning the championship his last three years as Green Bay’s head coach. Ironically the last game he would coach for the Packers was Super Bowl II in January 1968. They beat the Raiders 33-14, in….that rinky dink city Miami.

CBS promoted it as the playoff game for third place in the NFL and ratings were high for the game. As rating grew with the game so did attendance. While the players and coaches may not have liked it, the league, the network, and fans alike did…so the game continued.

1965

The Baltimore Colts were 9-1-1 after 11 games and led the Western Conference. The Packers were 8-3 and in second in the conference. They had three games left to play. In Baltimore in week twelve the Colts lost to the Bears 13-0. The loss hurt, but John Unitas was lost for the season with an injured knee. Capable back up Gary Cuozzo would fill in for Unitas. Cuozzo’s ability to lead the Colts was respected and while losing Unitas was devasting, title hopes were still high with Cuozzo as the signal caller.

The Packers would win in week twelve setting the stage for the biggest game of the year, week thirteen in Baltimore. The 9-3 Packers were coming in to face the 9-2-1 Colts. Fog had settled into Baltimore’s Memorial stadium that day and the Colts play was no better than the visbility that day. Green Bay’s Paul Hornung scored 5 touchdowns as the Packers won 47-27. To make matters even worse, Cuozzo was lost for the year with an injured shoulder. The Colts had no quarterback and were forced to turn to 5th year running back Tom Matte.

Matte had quarterbacked for Woody Hayes at Ohio State, which means he handed off almost every play.  The Colts had to face the rugged defense of the Los Angeles Rams the last week of the season with Matte at quarterback. With Matte completing just one pass, the Colts pulled the upset of the year, beating the Rams 20-17. The inspired Colt ground game gained 214 yards that day. The Packers shockingly tied with the lowly 49ers that weekend, so both the Colts and Packers were 10-3-1.

The Colts and Packers would have to meet in a playoff game to decide the Western Conference title. The Packers won in overtime 13-10 after tying the game on a disputed field goal- another story for another day. The Packers won the West and then beat the Browns for the 1965 NFL championship.

Matte’s play was inspiring to say the least.  He had the plays written on a wristband he wore. That wristband now resides in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As Matte would say many years later, “I wish I would have patented that thing” – an obvious reference to the quarterbacks who now wear plays on their arms in well designed bands similar to the one worn by Matte.

The 1965 Dallas Cowboys

The Colts headed for Miami to represent the Western Conference in the Playoff Bowl. They would play the Dallas Cowboys, who had won 5 of their last seven games to finish in second behind the Browns in the Eastern Conference. This would be Tom Landry’s first post season game as head coach of the Cowboys.

The Cowboys were a winless expansion team in 1960 but 5 years later they were playing for third place on national television. Their quarterback was the colorful Don Meredith and they had the “fastest human in the world” in wide receiver Bob Hayes on offense.

Defensively Dallas fielded players who would become household names: linebackers Chuck Howley and Lee Roy Jordan; defensive lineman Jethro Pugh; and defensive back Cornell Green. Their leaders though were future Hall of Famers defensive tackle Bob Lilly and the versatile cornerback and safety Mel Renfro. This was a team on the rise and this was their first taste of post season football.

Between this game and 1985 the Cowboys would miss the post season just once in 1974, winning 2 world championships in between. This was the start of the Cowboys dynasty.

The 1965 Baltimore Colts

In 1965 the Colts still had twelve members from their 1958-59 championship teams on the roster. Unitas was injured but this team consisted of post season experienced veterans. They had won the Western Conference in 1964, but lost the title game to the Browns and lost in the controversial playoff game in Green Bay 2 weeks earlier.

Preparation

The Colts’ and Cowboys’ methods of preparation for the game were like night and day. Head Coach Don Shula brought the disappointed Colts to Miami and had players bring their wives. There was no curfew, he allowed the team to blow off steam so to speak after a tough season ending in a controversial way. The NFL Players Association had their meetings that week in Miami, so there were many extracurricular activities to take advantage of that week.

The Colts spent the week relaxing and playing golf. The Cowboys who were staying at the hotel next to the Colts were practicing as if they were having “ two a day practices” according to Matte. Landry had the Cowboys preparing as if this was the championship game, while the Colts were taking advantage of the south Florida amenities. There was however something at stake.  The winners would get $1,200 a man while the losers $800.00 apiece – paltry numbers by today’s NFL standards but they weren’t in 1966.

The Game, January 9, 1966

65,659 fans packed the Orange Bowl, a good amount of them Colts Corral members, along with a national television audience to watch a halfback play quarterback against the three point favorite Cowboys. If Unitas had been playing the Colts would have been at least a touchdown favorite.  Matte was viewed by the experts as a liability. But as they say that’s why they play the game.

The tone of the game was set early. Matte did not have many plays to call. Most were runs, and quarterback draws. He ran a few trap plays and his passing game relied on screen passes to running backs Lenny Moore and Jerry Hill. Wide receiver Jimmy Orr and eventual Hall of Famers Raymond Berry and John Mackey were thought not to be part of the game plan.

Early in the game after a short run, Matte was hit late by Howley.  Respected referee Tommy Bell did not see the late hit, but he did see Matte take a swing at Howley in retaliation. Bell did not throw the flag although he did warn Matte. In those days referees weren’t as quick to judge so called extracurricular activity on the field.  There was no penalty called but that set the tone for the Colts and Matte.

The first period was scoreless.  Dallas did reach the Colt 29 yard line but the drive ended when safety Jerry Logan intercepted a Meredith pass. Afterwards, Matte made a decision. The Cowboys were playing run all the way, so he called for a play action pass, he faked to Moore and hit Mackey for 37 yards. Unitas could not have done it any better. Moore scored a couple of plays later on a six yard run.

The Cowboys answered with their best drive of the day. Meredith completed several passes to Hayes but were stopped at the Colt 4 yard line. Danny Villanueva kicked a short field goal, the Colts led 7-3. Later in the period, throwing screens and running draw plays, Matte led the Colts to the Cowboys goal line just before half time. Jerry Hill scored on a three yard run with less than a minute in the half and the teams retreated to the locker room with the Colts ahead 14-3.

The Colts controlled the third quarter. Matte hit Hill with a 52 yard pass to set up Hill’s one yard run and making the score 21-3. After that the Cowboys drove to the Colt 31 yard line but the drive ended with a fumble recovery by Colts defensive end Roy Hilton.  Matte then drove the Colts to the Cowboy fifteen yard line. From there he rolled right and connected with wide receiver Jimmy Orr for the score. The third quarter ended Colts 28 Cowboys 3.

Landry and the Cowboys, Colts coach Shula, and the entire viewing audience were all in disbelief. Playing with a halfback at quarterback, Baltimore was dismantling the NFL’s up and coming team. 

Matte again led the Colts on another scoring drive in 4^th quarter. He found Orr again for a twenty yard touchdown. The final score was Colts 35 Cowboys 3. Matte was voted the game’s outstanding player as he passed for 165 yards. Hill set a Playoff Bowl record by rushing for 89 yards. Shula said afterwards, “ I guess I have to keep the Matte offense in our playbook”.

Tom Matte’s performances in the win over the Rams, the playoff loss to the Packers and his success against the Cowboys in the Playoff Bowl are among the most memorable in Baltimore football history. It did not lead to a NFL championship but it made Tom Matte  not only a legend here in Baltimore, it helped to stake his claim in NFL history.

As Matte said years later, “We came to Miami a very disappointed team for that Playoff Bowl game, Shula wanted us to relax and have fun and we did, but when the whistle blew it was all about pride.”

He followed that Playoff Bowl performance with another memorable one a year later. With Unitas back at quarterback the Colts won the 1967 Playoff Bowl 20-14 over the Eagles, on a touchdown run by Matte with 14 seconds left in the game.  The Playoff Bowl was discontinued after the 1969 season, becoming another part of NFL history.

Of the ten Playoff Bowls played no one player will be remembered more than Tom Matte for his performance against the Dallas Cowboys.