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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 19:41:45 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 19:42:55 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 19:49:43 GMT 10
The second AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Bay Packers defeated American Football League (AFL) champion Oakland Raiders by the score of 33–14. This game and the following year's are the only two Super Bowls played in the same stadium in consecutive seasons.
Coming into the game, much like during the first Super Bowl, many sports writers and fans believed that any team in the NFL was vastly superior to any club in the AFL. The Packers, the defending champions, posted a 9–4–1 record during the 1967 NFL season before defeating the Los Angeles Rams 28–7 in the first round of the playoffs, then outlasted the Dallas Cowboys 21–17 in the frigid NFL Championship Game (popularly known as the Ice Bowl). The Raiders finished the regular season at 13–1, then defeated the Houston Oilers 40–7 in the AFL Championship Game.
As expected, Green Bay dominated Oakland throughout the majority of Super Bowl II. The Raiders could only score two touchdown passes from quarterback Daryle Lamonica. Meanwhile, Packers kicker Don Chandler made four field goals, including three in the first half, while cornerback Herb Adderley had a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the game away. Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr was named the MVP for the second straight time, becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl MVP for his 13 of 24 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown.
The Packers won their third consecutive World Championship, the second such occasion in NFL history (the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers did it first). The 1965-67 Packers became the first and only team to win three consecutive championship games, as there were no NFL playoff games from 1920-1932. No NFL team has accomplished this feat since.
Game summary First quarter The game kicked off at 3:05 p.m. EST. On Oakland's first offensive play, Ray Nitschke shot through a gap and literally upended fullback Hewritt Dixon in what was one of Nitschke's signature plays of his entire career. The hit was so vicious, it prompted Jerry Green, a Detroit News columnist sitting in the press box with fellow journalists, to say in a deadpan, that the game was over. The Packers opened up the scoring with Don Chandler's 39-yard field goal after marching 34 yards on their first drive of the game. Meanwhile, the Raiders were forced to punt on their first two possessions.
Second quarter The Packers then started their second possession at their own 3-yard line, and in the opening minutes of the second quarter, they drove 84 yards to the Raiders 13-yard line. However, they once again had to settle for a Chandler field goal to take a 6–0 lead. Later in the period, the Packers took the ball on their own 38-yard line following an Oakland punt. Raider cornerback Kent McCloughan jammed Packer split end Boyd Dowler at the line of scrimmage but then allowed him to head downfield, thinking that a safety would pick him up. However, McCloughan and left safety Howie Williams were both influenced by the Packer backs who were executing a "flood" pattern, with halfback Travis Williams and fullback Ben Wilson running pass routes to the same side as Dowler. Dowler ran a quick post and was wide open down the middle. He grabbed Starr's pass well behind middle linebacker Dan Conners, and right safety Rodger Bird could not get over quickly enough. Dowler outran the defense to score on a 62-yard touchdown reception, increasing the Packer lead to 13–0.
After being completely dominated until this point, the Raiders offense finally struck back their next possession, advancing 79 yards in 9 plays, and scoring on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Daryle Lamonica to receiver Bill Miller. The score seemed to fire up the Raiders' defense, and they forced the Packers to punt on their next drive. Raiders returner Rodger Bird gave them great field position with a 12-yard return to Green Bay's 40-yard line, but Oakland could only gain 1 yard with their next 3 plays and came up empty when George Blanda's 47-yard field goal attempt fell short of the goal posts. Oakland's defense again forced Green Bay to punt after 3 plays on the ensuing drive, but this time after calling for a fair catch, Bird fumbled punter Donny Anderson's twisting, left footed kick, and Green Bay's Dick Capp recovered the ball. After 2 incomplete passes, Starr threw a 9-yard completion to Dowler (despite a heavy rush from Ike Lassiter) to set up Chandler's third field goal from the 43 as time expired in the first half, giving the Packers a 16–7 lead.
At halftime, Packers guard Jerry Kramer said to his teammates (referring to Lombardi), "Let's play the last 30 minutes for the old man."
Third quarter Any chance the Raiders might have had to make a comeback seemed to completely vanish in the second half. The Packers had the ball three times in the third quarter, and held it for all but two and a half minutes. On the Packers second drive of the half starting at their own 17, Ben Wilson ripped up the middle for 14 yards on a draw play. Anderson picked up 8 yards on a sweep, and Wilson carried to within inches of the first down. Starr then pulled one of his favorite plays on third down and short yardage, faking to Wilson and completing a 35-yard pass to wide receiver Max McGee who had slipped past three Raiders at the line of scrimmage. This was McGee's only reception of the game, and the final one of his career. Starr then hit Carroll Dale on a sideline route at the Oakland 13. Starr overthrew Donny Anderson wide open in the end zone, but on the next play he rolled out to the right and threw back to Anderson who was tackled on the two by linebacker Gus Otto. The next play was a broken play, as Anderson thought he saw daylight to the right but ran into Starr. The Packers were not rattled, and the line and fullback Ben Wilson wiped out the Raiders on Anderson's 2-yard touchdown run over right tackle, making the score 23–7.
Packer guard Jerry Kramer must have taken to heart his plea to play the second half for Coach Lombardi. On this drive, game films show him blowing Dan Conners out of Wilson's path on the draw play, then flattening Conners again on Anderson's scoring run.
Again the Green Bay defense forced Oakland to go three-and-out, and the Raiders punted. The Packers drove from their own 39 to the Raider 24 and increased their lead to 26–7 as Chandler kicked his fourth field goal (which hit the crossbar from 31 yards out and bounced over).
Fourth quarter Early in the fourth quarter, Starr was knocked out of the game when he jammed the thumb on his throwing hand on a sack by Davidson. (Starr was replaced by Zeke Bratkowski, who was then sacked on his only pass attempt.) But later in the period, the Packers put the game completely out of reach when Herb Adderley intercepted a pass intended for Fred Biletnikoff and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, making the score 33–7. Adderley laid back as the Raider end ran a curl route, then dashed in front of him to snare the ball and scored with the help of a crushing downfield block by tackle Ron Kostelnik.
Oakland did manage to score on their next drive after the turnover with a second 23-yard touchdown pass from Lamonica to Miller, set up by Pete Banaszak's 41-yard reception on the previous play. But all the Raiders' second touchdown did was make the final score look remotely more respectable, 33–14.
At the end of the game, coach Lombardi was carried off the field by his victorious Packers in one of the more memorable images of early Super Bowl history. It was in fact Lombardi's last game as Packer coach and his ninth consecutive playoff victory.
Oakland's Bill Miller was the top receiver of the game with 5 receptions for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. Green Bay fullback Ben Wilson was the leading rusher of the game with 62 yards despite missing most of the fourth quarter while looking for a lost contact lens on the sidelines. Don Chandler ended his Packer career in style with 4 field goals. Lamonica, the game's leading passer, finished with 15 out of 34 pass completions for 208 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Bart Starr completed 13 of 24 (with a couple of dropped passes) for 202 yards and one touchdown; his passer rating for the game was 96.2 to Lamonica's 71.7. The Packers outgained the Raiders in rushing yardage 160 to 107, led in time of possession by 35:54 to 24:06, had no turnovers, and only one penalty. Packer guard Jerry Kramer later recalled the mental mistakes his team made in the game, which only highlights the impossibly high standards held by Lombardi's team. As previously mentioned, this was Lombardi's last game as Green Bay head coach and this was also the final game for Green Bay Packer players Max McGee, Fuzzy Thurston, and Don Chandler.
Wikipedia
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 19:52:27 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 19:55:18 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 19:58:54 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:00:28 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:01:53 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:04:30 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:05:59 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:07:24 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:08:59 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:10:28 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:51:20 GMT 10
Oaklands Hewritt Dixon (35) is upended trying to go over the line in the first period.
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Post by NFL Historian on Oct 14, 2023 20:52:49 GMT 10
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