American Football Wiki
1964 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration
East Champions Cleveland Browns
West Champions Baltimore Colts
Championship Game
NFL Champions: Cleveland Browns
National Football League seasons
 < 1963 1965 > 

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 Cardinals wore 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, 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

Awards[]

Most Valuable Player Johnny Unitas, Quarterback, Baltimore Colts
Coach of the Year Don Shula, Baltimore Colts

See also[]

  • 1964 American Football League season

References[]

Template:1964 NFL season by team

NFL seasons

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