Super Bowl III, 1969: New York Jets 16 Baltimore 7

Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Super Bowl". Super Bowl III is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in both American football history and in the history of professional sports. The 19½-point underdog American Football League (AFL) champion New York Jets defeated the National Football League (NFL) champion Baltimore Colts by a score of 16–7.

The game was the first Super Bowl victory for the AFL. Before the game many sports writers and fans believed that AFL teams were less talented than NFL clubs, and expected the Colts to defeat the Jets by a wide margin. Baltimore posted a 13–1 record in the regular season and shut out the Cleveland Browns 34–0 in the NFL Championship Game. The Jets were 11–3 in the regular season, and defeated the Oakland Raiders 27–23 in the AFL Championship Game.

Jets quarterback Joe Namath famously made an appearance three days before the Super Bowl at the Miami Touchdown Club in which he personally guaranteed his team's victory. His team backed up his words by controlling the majority of the game, building a 16–0 lead by the fourth quarter off of a touchdown run by Matt Snell and three field goals by Jim Turner. Colts quarterback Earl Morrall threw three interceptions before being replaced by Johnny Unitas, who then led Baltimore to its only touchdown, during the last few minutes of the game. With the victory, the Jets were the only winning team to score only one touchdown (either offensive, defensive, or special teams) until the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. Namath, who completed 17 out of 28 passes for 206 yards, was named as the Super Bowl's most valuable player, making him the first player in Super Bowl history to be declared MVP without personally scoring or throwing for a touchdown.

This is the only Super Bowl whose matchup cannot occur in the Super Bowl again, as both the Jets and Colts play in the American Football Conference (AFC). However, the teams have still managed to meet in three AFC playoff games since, including the 2009 AFC Championship Game.

Game summary
New York entered the game with their primary deep threat, wide receiver Don Maynard, playing with a pulled hamstring. But his 112-yard, two touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game made the Colts defense pay special attention to him, not realizing he was injured. Using Maynard as a decoy—he had no receptions in the game—Joe Namath was able to take advantage of single coverage on wide receiver George Sauer Jr. (After studying the Colts' zone defense, Ewbank had told his receivers, "Find the dead spots in the zone, hook up, and Joe will hit you.") The Jets had a conservative game plan, emphasizing the run as well as short high-percentage passes to minimize interceptions. Meanwhile, with the help of many fortunate plays, the Jets defense kept the Colts offense from scoring for most of the game. Also, Baltimore had a distinctly older group of players with 10+ years experience (Braase, Shinnick, Lyles, Boyd) on their defense's right side versus New York's younger, bigger left offensive side (Hill, Talamini, Schmitt, Sauer)--and back Snell when running left behind left tackle Hill, who thoroughly defeated defensive end Braase.

First quarter
Namath recalled that he did not become "dead serious" until, on the sideline before the game, he saw Unitas. The Jets, led by captains Namath and Johnny Sample, and Colts, led by captains Preston Pearson, Unitas, and Lyles, met at midfield where referee Tom Bell announced that the Jets had won the coin toss and had elected to receive the football. The coin toss had been conducted an hour prior to kickoff but this was done for the benefit of the spectators. Colts kicker Lou Michaels (the younger brother of Jets defensive coordinator, Walt Michaels) kicked the ball off to Earl Christy who returned the ball 25 yards to the Jets' 23-yard line. Namath handed the ball off to Snell on first down who carried it 3 yards. On second down, Snell carried the ball for 9 yards, earning the Jets their first first down of the game. Colts free safety Rick Volk sustained a concussion when he tackled Snell and was subsequently lost for the game. On the ensuing play, Emerson Boozer lost four yards when he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage by Don Shinnick. Namath threw his first pass to Snell that gained 9 yards on 2nd and 14, but a 2-yard loss by Snell on the following play forced the Jets to punt the ball. The Jets noticed, however, from watching film the predictability of the Colts' defense based on how players lined up. Instead of calling plays in the huddle, Namath usually gave formations to his team and operated from the line of scrimmage. Center John Schmitt recalled that the Colts were "in shock" and "it drove them crazy ... no matter what [the Colts] did, [Snell] would run it the other way".

The Colts began their first offensive series on their own 27-yard line. Quarterback Earl Morrall completed a 19-yard pass to tight end John Mackey and then running back Tom Matte ran for 10 yards to place the ball on the Jets' 44-yard line. Jerry Hill's runs of 7 and 5 yards picked up another Colts first down, then Morrall's pass to tight end Tom Mitchell gained 15 yards on third and thirteen and saw the ball placed at the Jets' 19-yard line. In scoring position, Morrall attempted to score quickly against a reeling Jets defense. Receiver Willie Richardson dropped Morrall's pass on first down followed by an incompletion on second down after Mitchell was overthrown. On third down, none of his receivers were open and Morrall was tackled at the line of scrimmage by Al Atkinson. Michaels was brought out to attempt a 27-yard field goal, but it was wide left. "You could almost feel the steam go out of them", said Snell.

The Jets did not only rely on Snell; Namath said "if they're going to blitz, then we're going to throw". Shula said that Namath "beat our blitz" with his fast release, which let him quickly dump the football off to a receiver. On the Jets' second possession, Namath threw deep to Maynard, who, despite his pulled hamstring, was open by a step. The ball was overthrown, but this one play helped change the outcome of the game. Fearing the speedy Maynard, the Colts decided to rotate their zone defense to help cover Maynard, leaving Sauer covered one-on-one by Lenny Lyles, helping Sauer catch 8 passes for 133 yards, including a crucial third quarter 39-yard reception that kept a scoring drive alive. The Jets kept rushing Snell to their strong left, rushing off tackle with Boozer blocking the linebacker, and gained first down after first down as the Colts defense gave ground. The Colts defense was more concerned about Maynard, the passing game, and the deep threat of a Namath to Maynard touchdown. Although the Colts were unaware of Maynard's injury, the Jets were aware that Lyles had been weakened by tonsillitis all week, causing them great glee when they saw the one-on-one matchup with Sauer.

With less than two minutes left in the period, Colts punter David Lee booted a 51-yard kick that pinned the Jets back at their own 4-yard line. Three plays later, Sauer caught a 3-yard pass from Namath, but fumbled while being tackled by Lyles, and Baltimore linebacker Ron Porter recovered it at New York's 12-yard line.

Second quarter
However, on third down (the second play of the second quarter), Morrall's pass was tipped by Jets linebacker Al Atkinson, bounced crazily, high into the air off tight end Tom Mitchell, and was intercepted by Jets cornerback Randy Beverly in the end zone for a touchback. "That was the game in a nutshell," says Matte. Starting from their own 20-yard line, Snell rushed on the next 4 plays, advancing the ball 26 yards. The Jets would have success all day running off left tackle behind the blocking of Winston Hill, who, according to Snell, was overpowering 36-year-old defensive end Ordell Braase, the man who had tormented the rookie Hill in Colts' training camp. Said Snell, "Braase pretty much faded out." Namath later completed 3 consecutive passes, moving the ball to the Colts 23-yard line. Boozer gained just 2 yards on the next play, but Snell followed it up with a 12-yard reception at the 9-yard line and a 5-yard run to the 4-yard line, and capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, once again off left tackle. The score gave the Jets a 7–0 lead, and marked the first time in history that an AFL team led in the Super Bowl.

On Baltimore's ensuing drive, a 30-yard completion from Morrall to running back Tom Matte helped the Colts advance to the New York 42-yard line, but they once again failed to score as Jets cornerback Johnny Sample broke up Morrall's third down pass and Michaels missed his second field goal attempt, this time from 46 yards. Two plays after the Jets took over following the missed field goal, Namath's 36-yard completion to Sauer enabled New York to eventually reach the Baltimore 32-yard line. But Namath then threw two incompletions, and was sacked on third down by Colts linebacker Dennis Gaubatz for a 2-yard loss. New York kicker Jim Turner tried to salvage the drive with a 41-yard field goal attempt, but he missed.

On their next possession, Baltimore went from their own 20-yard line to New York's 15-yard line in three plays, aided by Matte's 58-yard run (the longest play from scrimmage in the game). However, with 2 minutes left in the half, Morrall was intercepted again, by Sample at the Jets' 2-yard line, deflating the Colts considerably. The Jets then were forced to punt on their ensuing drive, and the Colts advanced the ball to New York's 41-yard line. What followed is one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history. Baltimore tried a flea flicker play, which had a huge impact on the momentum of the game. Matte ran off right tackle after taking a handoff, then pitched the ball back to Morrall. The play completely fooled the NBC Camera Crew, and the Jets defense, leaving receiver Jimmy Orr wide open near the end zone. However, Morrall failed to spot him and instead threw a pass intended for running back Jerry Hill that was intercepted by Jets safety Jim Hudson as time expired, maintaining the Jets' 7–0 lead at halftime. Earlier in the season, against the Atlanta Falcons, on the same play, Morrall had completed the same pass for a touchdown to Orr, the play's intended target. "I was the primary receiver," Orr said later. "Earl said he just didn't see me. I was open from here to Tampa." "I'm just a lineman, but I looked up and saw Jimmy open," added center Bill Curry. "I don't know what happened." Some speculated that Morrall couldn't see Orr because the Florida A&M marching band (in blue uniforms similar to those worn by the Colts) was gathering behind the end zone for the halftime show.

Third quarter
The third quarter belonged to the Jets, who controlled the ball for all but three minutes of the period. Baltimore ran only seven offensive plays all quarter, gaining only 11 yards. Matte lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, yet another demoralizing event, which was recovered by linebacker Ralph Baker on the Colts 33-yard line, leading to Turner's 32-yard field goal to increase the Jets' lead, 10–0. Then after forcing the Colts to punt again, Namath completed 4 passes for 40 yards to set up Turner's 30-yard field goal to increase the lead, 13–0. On that drive, Namath temporarily went out of the game after injuring his right thumb, and was replaced by backup quarterback Babe Parilli for a few plays. Namath returned by the end of the third quarter, but the Jets would not run a pass play for the entire fourth quarter.

Matt Snell said, "By this time, the Colts were pressing. You saw the frustration and worry on all their faces." After Turner's second field goal, with 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Colts head coach Don Shula took Morrall out of the game and put in the sore-armed Johnny Unitas to see if he could provide a spark to Baltimore's offense. Unitas could not get the Colts offense moving on their next drive and they were forced to punt again after 3 plays.

Fourth quarter
Aided by a 39-yard pass from Namath to Sauer, the Jets drove all the way to the Colts 2-yard line. Baltimore's defense would not quit, and kept them out of the end zone. Turner kicked his third field goal early in the final period to make the score 16–0.

The Colts' inability to score made Namath so confident by the fourth quarter, that he told Ewbank that he preferred to run out the clock instead of playing aggressively. Namath did not throw any passes in the quarter. On Baltimore's next possession, they managed to drive all the way to the Jets' 25-yard line. However, Beverly ended the drive by intercepting a pass from Unitas in the end zone, the Jets' fourth interception of the game. New York then drove to the Colts 35-yard line with seven consecutive running plays, but ended up with no points after Turner missed a 42-yard field goal attempt.

Unitas started out the next drive with three incomplete passes, but completed a key 17-yard pass to Orr on fourth down. Ten plays later, aided by three Jets penalties, Baltimore finally scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Hill to cut their deficit to 16–7, but with only 3:19 left in the game. The Colts then recovered an onside kick and drove to the Jets 19-yard line with 3 consecutive completions by Unitas, but his next 3 passes fell incomplete. Instead of kicking a field goal and attempting another onside kick (which would have been necessary in the end), they opted to throw on 4th down, and the pass fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs. That ended any chance of a Baltimore comeback, as the Jets ran the ball for six plays before being forced to punt.

When the Colts got the ball back, only 8 seconds remained in the game. The Colts then attempted two more passes before the game ended. Matt Snell said, "Leaving the field, I saw the Colts were exhausted and in a state of shock. I don't remember any Colt coming over to congratulate me". As he ran off the field, Namath, in a spontaneous show of defiance held up his index finger, signaling "number one"; "the only time I ever did that in my life", he said.

Namath finished the game having completed 17 of his 28 passes. He is the only quarterback to win Super Bowl MVP without throwing a touchdown pass. Snell rushed for 121 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown, and caught 4 passes for 40 yards. Sauer caught eight passes for 133 yards. Beverly became the first player in Super Bowl history to record two interceptions. Morrall had a terrible game—just 6 of 17 completions for 71 yards, with 3 interceptions. Through 56 games, he had the third worst passer rating in Super Bowl history, with a 9.3, one of only 3 ratings below 10. Despite not being put into the game until late in the third quarter, Unitas finished with more pass completions (11) and passing yards (110) than Morrall, but he also threw one interception. Matte was the Colts' top rusher with 116 yards on just 11 carries, an average of 10.5 yards per run, and caught 2 passes for 30 yards. The Colts were minus-4 in turnovers throwing four interceptions, all of which were deep in Jet territory.

Wikipedia

New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath passes under pressure from Baltimore Colts defensive end Bubba Smith.