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The New Orleans Saints face the Los Angeles Rams on this week’s NFL schedule, so this week for our Throwback Thursday feature we’ll travel back to opening day of the 1967 season, when the Rams took on New Orleans in the Saints’ very first game in the history of their franchise. NFL owners weren’t very kind to expansion franchises in those days, allowing them to only stock their teams with aging veterans and castoffs through an expansion draft, although they were allotted extra picks in the college draft. Coached by Hall of Famer Tom Fears, New Orleans went for a big name in the expansion draft when they plucked star running back Paul Hornung from the powerhouse Green Bay Packers, but the move backfired as a spinal cord injury forced Hornung to retire before ever playing a game for the Saints. Their roster was dotted with past-their-prime players like Billy Kilmer, Jim Taylor, Ernie Wheelwright, Doug Atkins and Jackie Burkett.

Fans in the Crescent City found reason to be optimistic after the Saints finished 5-1 in the preseason, and when rookie John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff in the opener against the Rams 94 yards for a touchdown, there was outright jubilation. One fan supposedly jumped up and yelled “this is going to be the greatest football team in history!” when Gilliam reached the end zone. Reality set in eventually, however, and Ram quarterback Roman Gabriel ran 2 yards for a score and threw a TD pass to Les Josephson, while Dick Bass ran for another touchdown as the Rams prevailed 27-13. The Saints finished the ’67 season with a 3-11 record, finishing last in the Capitol Division but playing competitive football in nearly every game. Some bright spots came out of that inaugural season for the new franchise, as defensive back Dave Whitsell came up with 10 interceptions to lead the league and set a team record that still stands to this day, earning him a Pro Bowl berth. Also, a young rookie receiver named Danny Abramowicz emerged as a rising star, one who would continue his excellent play for seven years with the Saints, becoming one of only a few bright lights to shine during a dismal losing stretch that would last over 20 years.

John Gilliam returns opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown

On this week’s NFL schedule, there is a clash of 2 of the oldest franchises in the league, the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. Our Throwback Thursday feature harkens back to the 1963 NFL championship game played between these teams on December 29, 1963 at Wrigley Field, and was the fifth and final title game played at the venerable old ballpark. Wrigley was without lights in those days, and then NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle asked Bears’ owner George Halas to move the game to Soldier Field, which was uninhabited since the Cardinals had moved to St. Louis in 1960. Halas refused, so Rozelle, fearing the game could go into multiple overtimes and into darkness, moved the starting time up from 1 PM to noon. This was the Bears’ first appearance in the title game since 1956, when they lost to these same Giants at Yankee Stadium. Halas’ club had ridden the efforts of a fierce defense nicknamed “The Monsters of The Midway” to an 11-1-2 record and the Western Division championship, breaking a 2 year run of Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. The Giants, meanwhile, were an offensive powerhouse guided by aging quarterback Y.A. Tittle, who had a spectacular season throwing the ball, leading the league with a then-record 36 touchdown passes.

The game was a classic matchup of a stingy defense and a high-scoring offense, and as the old adage goes, offense sells tickets but defense wins championships. The Bears prevailed 14-10  as Tittle was subjected to some brutal punishment from the Chicago defense. Coached by future head coaching legend George Allen, the Bears’ defense dominated the NFL in the regular season, allowing just a shade over 10 points per game and finishing first in all statistical categories for the year, including in total interceptions with 36. Allen concocted a zone defense that combined a strong pass rush led by ends Doug Atkins and Ed O’Bradovich, a strong secondary that featured Rosey Taylor and Richie Petitbon, and a crew of linebackers who were both strong tacklers against the run and defended the short pass well in Bill George, Joe Fortunato and Larry Morris. Tittle had some success early as he led the Giants on an 83 yard scoring drive capped off by a 14 yard touchdown pass to flanker Frank Gifford, but was mauled by the Bears for most of the game.  He completed only 11 of 29 passes in the game and was intercepted 5 times. He also suffered a knee injury in the second quarter that affected his play the rest of the game.

Chicago’s quarterback was also an aging veteran, Bill Wade. He scored both of his team’s touchdowns on short QB sneaks, both set up by his defense. Allen, the defensive wizard, was awarded a game ball for his unit’s dominating performance, while the beating Tittle took effectively ended his career. He came back to play the next season but the Giants finished with a 2-10-2 record. In the second game of the year he was blind-sided by Pittsburgh’s John Baker and suffered crushed cartilage in his ribs, a cracked sternum and a concussion, but still played in every remaining game that year before retiring at the end of the season.

Bear linebackers, from left, Larry Morris, Bill George and Joe Fortunato

There is an NFC West division matchup on this week’s NFL schedule pitting the San Francisco 49ers against the Arizona Cardinals, and for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature we’ll go back to a game played between these 2 franchises on Halloween in 1976. The Cardinals were based in St. Louis at the time, and played in the Eastern Division of the NFC while the Niners were an NFC West team. Played at Busch Stadium, the game featured a matchup of Cardinal coach Don Coryell’s wide-open offense, guided by veteran quarterback Jim Hart, against a San Francisco team led by former top draft pick Jim Plunkett, who had been a bust in New England and was trying to revive his career with the 49ers. Both teams entered the game with 6-2 records so it was an important game for their respective playoff chances. It was a close, exciting game, with the 49ers riding the hard running of Delvin Williams, who rushed for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Cardinals countered with a balanced attack as Jim Otis ran for 109 yards while Hart threw for 3 touchdowns, including a 77 yard bomb to Mel Gray that tied the game at 20-20 at the end of regulation, sending it into overtime. Hart then led his club on a drive culminating in a game-winning 21 yard field goal by Jim Bakken. The Cards won 23-20,  a typical win for coach Coryell’s team, who had made a habit of winning these types of nail-biters over the years, earning the nickname of the “Cardiac Cards”.

Ironically, neither team made the playoffs that year. San Francisco faded in the second half of the year and wound up at 8-6, finishing second in the NFC West. The Cardinals wound up with a better record at 10-4, but they were third in their division, the extremely competitive NFC East. Plunkett’s play eroded as the season went on, and he was dispatched by the Niners. It appeared as if his playing days were over as he failed with a second team. However, he found a home after that with the Oakland Raiders, a club known for taking chances on troubled players, and went on to great success, winning a pair of Super Bowls as the Raiders’ quarterback.

St. Louis’ Jim Hart calls signals behind his dominating offensive line

The Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers meet on the NFL schedule this week, and for our Thursday Throwback we will highlight a “sort of” playoff game between these 2 teams, played the day after Christmas  in 1965, that wasn’t technically a playoff game. The Colts and Packers had finished tied for the Western Division title, and this game needed to be played to determine who would represent the West in the NFL Championship game the following week against the Eastern Division champion (and defending league champion) Cleveland Browns. The Colts were at a dramatic disadvantage going into the game as both of their quarterbacks, John Unitas and Gary Cuozzo, were injured, forcing coach Don Shula to play his starting halfback, Tom Matte, at quarterback. The Colts had ruled the Western Division the previous season and were vying for the chance to seek revenge for the being shut out by the underdog Browns in ’64, but the lack of a viable signal caller made them heavy underdogs in this game.

Armed with a wrist band that contained the team’s offensive plays, Matte proceeded to play a competitive game for the Colts, although he didn’t accomplish much through the air. The playing field was leveled somewhat for Baltimore when Packer QB Bart Starr was hurt early on, forcing coach Vince Lombardi to go with his backup, Zeke Bratkowski. With a backup and a converted running back running the team’s offenses, the game predictably became a defensive struggle between 2 of the NFL’s strongest units, and the Colts clung to a slim 10-7 lead until just after the two minute warning, when a play occurred that would alter NFL history. Green Bay placekicker Don Chandler booted a 22 yard field goal that appeared to sail wide right, but the official signaled it to be good. Chandler even lowered his head in disappointment at what he thought was a miss. At the time, the league had just one ref, positioned directly under the goalposts, to judge field goals.  The Packers went on to win the game in overtime as Chandler made good on another three point attempt, this time from 25 yards out. When replays seemed to clearly show that Chandler’s game-tying kick had indeed gone wide, the league decided to raise the length of the uprights to the height that they are in today’s game for the following season. It was just another example of a controversial play in NFL history leading to an improvement to avoid future miscues by officials. The Packers then went on to defeat Cleveland in the title game, beginning a stretch of 3 consecutive championship seasons for Lombardi’s club.

Tom Matte, Baltimore’s “emergency QB”