The majority of NFL fans know about the 1967 NFL Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which was played in -15 and a wind chill of -48 in a game that become to be immortalized as the “Ice Bowl” with Green Bay coming out on top 21-17 thanks to quarterback Bart Starr’s game-winning one-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left.
But “The Ice Bowl” was not the first time the Cowboys and the Packers met for the NFL Championship.
One year earlier, the two teams met at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in the 1966 NFL Championship Game that perhaps to some people from that era was a better game than the “Ice Bowl”.
The Packers were at the height of their powers, having won three of the last five NFL championships, including the year before and were led by their legendary head coach, Vince Lombardi.
Green Bay entered the game as a touchdown favorite against the upstart Cowboys, who had just finished their first winning season in their seven-year history in 1966.
Coached by Tom Landry, the Cowboys had players with no championship experience and only one player over 30 in linebacker Chuck Howley.
But with the home field advantage and the league’s #1 ranked offense, with quarterback Don Meredith at the helm, Dallas felt it had a chance to upset the seasoned Packers.
This was also extra incentive for both teams as the winner of the game would go to face off with the American Football League Champion two weeks later in the first Super Bowl which determine the first undisputed world champion of pro football since the AFL came into existence in 1960.
The Packers got the ball to start the game and made their presence felt on the first play from scrimmage as running back Elijah Pitts ran for 32 yards to the Dallas 44-yard-line on a misdirection.
Seven plays later, Pitts scored the game’s first touchdown as he caught a pass from Starr at the Cowboys’ five-yard-line, then broke the tackle of Dallas cornerback Warren Livingston to complete the 17-yard touchdown that put Green Bay ahead 7-0.
It only took the Packers 12 seconds to get back into the end zone as on the ensuing kickoff, defensive tackle Bob Brown knocked the ball loose from the Cowboys Mel Renfro, causing a fumble that was picked up by Jim Grabowski, who raced in untouched for a 18-yard touchdown to increase the Green Bay 14-0 lead before the Cowboys offense had even touched the ball.
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| Packers quarterback Bart Starr was sensational as he threw four touchdown passes on 19-of-28 passing for 304 yards in the 1966 NFL Championship Game. |
When the Cowboys offense finally got the ball for the first time, they drove 63 yards in 13 plays, culminating with a three-yard touchdown run by future NFL head coach Dan Reeves to cut the deficit in half to 14-7.
Then after forcing the Packers to punt on their next possession, the Cowboys put together a five-play, 59-yard drive that ended with Don Perkins’ 23-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 14 with 24 seconds left in the opening period.
But the tie lasted only 35 seconds as on the second play of the second quarter, Starr connected with Carroll Dale for a 51-yard touchdown pass that put the Packers back on top 21-14 just 24 seconds into the second quarter.
The Cowboys would with respond with a 68-yard drive, most of the yardage coming on a 40-yard pass from Meredith to Reeves, but the drive stalled at the four-yard-line and Dallas had to settle for a 11-yard field goal(remember the goal posts were at the top of the end zone in 1966) to cut the lead to 21-17.
Before the end of the half, the Packers drove to the Cowboys’ 21-yard-line to set up a potential 30-yard field goal, only to have the kick blocked by Dallas’ Ralph Neely to keep the score 21-17 as the first half come to a close.
Early in the third quarter, the Packers once again drove to the Cowboys’ 21-yard-line, but once again come with no points as Pitts fumbled when he was hit by Livingston, the man he had beaten for the game’s first touchdown, knocking the ball loose which was recovered by Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley at the Dallas 21.
It took Dallas 13 plays to drive to the Packers’ 25-yard-line where the drive stalled and the Cowboys had to settle for a 32-yard field goal to Villanueva to bring Dallas to within one point, 21-20.
The Packers responded to the field goal with another bomb from Starr to Dale, this one covering 43 yards and putting Green Bay at the Dallas’ 31-yard-line.
Five plays later, Starr threw his third touchdown of the game, a 16-yarder to Boyd Dowler that pushed the Green Bay lead back up to 8 points at 28-20.
The score was still 28-20 in the 4th quarter when Cowboys wide receiver Bob Hayes made a critical mistake by catching a punt at his own one-yard-line rather than let it roll into the end zone for a touchback as Hayes was able to return the ball to his own five-yard-line.
Worse yet for Dallas they did not gain a 1st down and had to punt the ball back to the Packers, who took over at the Cowboys’ 48-yard-line with a chance to put the game away.
Three times on the drive, Starr and the Packers were faced with 3rd-and-long situations and all three times the Packers converted, the last one being on a 3rd-and-19 where Starr connected with Max McGee for a 28-yard touchdown with 5:20 to go and Green Bay on the verge of making it a three-score game.
But Cowboys defensive tackle Bob Lilly blocked the extra point to keep the score 34-20 and Dallas’ slim hopes alive as they would need only two scores(two touchdowns and two extra points) to send the game into overtime.
Dallas would get that first score almost a minute later as Meredith found Frank Clarke for a 68-yard touchdown which cut the lead in half to 34-27 with 4:27 to go in regulation.
Now the Cowboys needed was a stop to give their offense a chance to tie the game and force overtime.
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| Don Meredith completed 15 of 31 passes for 238 yards as he almost lead the Cowboys to an upset win over the defending NFL champion Green Bay Packers. |
The Packers’ ensuing drive started off well with a 18-yard pass from Starr to tight end Marv Fleming for a Green Bay 1st down at their own 46-yard-line.
But the next three plays saw a sack of Starr by Dallas linebacker Dave Edwards, then an incomplete pass, and fullback Jim Taylor being stopped for a loss, forcing the Packers to punt the ball back to the Cowboys.
To make matters worse for the Packers, Chandler’s punt went only 16 yards, giving Dallas the ball at the Green Bay 47-yard-line with 2:12 left in regulation.
The first play of the drive was a 21-yard pass from Meredith to Clarke, followed by a runfor four yards by Perkins.
Then Meredith threw a pass intended for Reeves in the end zone which fell incomplete but drew a pass interference penalty on Packers safety Tom Brown, giving Dallas a 1st-and-goal at the two-yard-line with the game looking destined for overtime.
Reeves gained one yard on 1st down, but a false start penalty on left tackle Jim Boeke pushed the Cowboys five yards back to the six-yard-line.
Reeves would drop a pass in the flat on 2nd down, which was followed by a four-yard pass to Pettis Norman that had Dallas back at the two-yard-line for 4th down and needing a touchdown to have any chance of extending the game.
Meredith took the snap and rolled to his right with his right guard, Leon Donohue in front of him as a blocker.
But Donohue was unable to get a hand on Packers linebacker Dave Robinson, who brushed past the guard, and was able to get his arms around Meredith in an attempt to bring down for the sack.
However, Meredith was able to get a pass away before Robinson took him to the ground, which went to the back of the end zone and landed in the hands of Brown, who atoned for his pass interference, by making the game-saving interception to give Green Bay the 34-27 victory for the Packers’ 4th NFL title in six years(double-click to play)
Two weeks later, the Packers traveled to Los Angeles to face off with the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs, which the Packers won 35-10, thanks to another great performance from Starr as he completed 16 of 23 passes for 250 yards and threw two touchdown passes.
Of course, the Cowboys and the Packers would meet again for the NFL Championship in the “Ice Bowl” one year later which eclipsed the drama of the 1966 NFL Championship Game because the Packers won their NFL title in a row and two weeks later won Super Bowl II in what was Lombardi's final game as head coach of the Packers.
But that doesn't mean the 1966 NFL Championship Game should be forgotten.
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| Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi is hoisted on the shoulders of his players after their win over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1966 NFL Championship Game. |
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