NFL playoffs, 1967

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The NFL playoffs following the 1967 NFL season determined who would represent the league in Super Bowl II.

This was the first season that the NFL used a four-team playoff tournament. The four division winners advanced to the postseason. The Championship Game was the famous Ice Bowl, played on December 31st.

Although the Baltimore Colts (11-1-2) had tied for the best record in the league, they lost the new division tie-breaker to the Los Angeles Rams and were excluded from the playoffs.

Home field in the playoffs was still determined by a yearly rotation. Seeding the playoff teams by regular season records did not occur until the 1975 season. This is why the Rams (11-1-2) played a road game against the Packers (9-4-1).

1 Tournament bracket
2 Conference playoff games
- 2.1 Eastern Conference
- 2.2 Western Conference
3 NFL Championship Game
4 References

[edit] Tournament bracket

Conference playoff		NFL Championship

December 24, 1967 - Cotton Bowl
Dallas Cowboys	52
Cleveland Browns	14

		December 31, 1967 - Lambeau Field
		Dallas Cowboys	17
		Green Bay Packers	21



December 23, 1967 - Milwaukee County Stadium
Green Bay Packers	28
Los Angeles Rams	7

[edit] Conference playoff games

[edit] Eastern Conference

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	7	0	7	14
Cowboys	14	10	21	7	52

Dallas Cowboys 52, Cleveland Browns 14

December 24, 1967 at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Starting Quarterbacks:

Cleveland Browns - Frank Ryan 13
Dallas Cowboys - Don Meredith 17

Like the Dallas Cowboys, the wildly inconsistent Cleveland Browns underachieved themselves to a 9-5 record. The Browns featured one of the best running games in the league with Leroy Kelly, while the Cowboys had one of the best run defenses in the game.

"Dandy" Don Meredith, the Cowboys quarterback, had been hampered by injuries all year, but Meredith was fully for the contest with Browns, completing 10 of his 12 pass attempts for 212 yards. Trailing 14-0 early, the Browns drove down into field goal range, only to have Lou Groza's attempt fail due to a fumbled snap. The Cowboys responded immediately, as Meredith found the former Olympic sprinter Bob Hayes for a 86-yard score, the longest scoring play at the time in NFL Playoff history. Hayes also set up three other touchdowns in the game with two spectacular punt returns and a 36-yard reception.

Scoring

DAL - Baynham 3 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)
DAL - Perkins 4 run (Villanueva kick)
DAL - Hayes 86 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)
DAL - FG Villanueva 10
CLE - Morin 13 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)
DAL - Baynham 1 run (Villanueva kick)
DAL - Perkins 1 run (Villanueva kick)
DAL - Green 60 interception return (Villanueva kick)
DAL - Baynham 1 run (Villanueva kick)
CLE - Warfield 75 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)

[edit] Western Conference

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	0	0	0	7
Packers	14	7	7	0	28

Green Bay Packers 28, Los Angeles Rams 7

December 23, 1967 at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Starting Quarterbacks:

Los Angeles Rams - Roman Gabriel 18
Green Bay Packers - Bart Starr 15

The Rams came into the Western Conference Championship with all the momentum, possessing the NFL's best record having beaten the injury riddled Packers two weeks earlier by a score of 27-24. This postseason affair, however, would be played in the sub-freezing temperatures of Wisconsin, conditions that Coach George Allen's Rams were mostly unfamiliar with.

Playing with a backfield depleted by injuries, the Packers made the early mistakes of the game. A fumble set up the first score of the game, a 29-yard pass from Roman Gabriel to Bernie Casey. The Rams were unable to capitalize on a subsequent interception of Bart Starr when Dave Robinson blocked Bruce Gossett's 19 yard field goal attempt, and the Packers took over in the second quarter. The speedy rookie Travis Williams raced 47-yards for Green Bay's first touchdown, and Starr followed up with a TD pass to Carroll Dale before the half was over.

Led Jerry Kramer and Forrest Gregg, the Packers' offensive line neutralized the vaunted "Fearsome Foursome" of Los Angeles. Where they had thoroughly harassed Starr in the Rams victory several weeks, Starr was sacked once in the Playoff contest. The Packers defensive line took Gabriel down five times and pressured him into throwing inaccurate passes all day. Short runs by Chuck Mercein and Williams in the second half, the latter set up by a 48 yard pass from Starr to Dale, closed the scoring for the Packers.

Scoring