Two weeks earlier, the Raiders had shredded the Oilers for 263 yards on the ground, but barely got over 100 against the Pack.Bryan wrote:Raiders were kind of hamstrung in SB II with Clem Daniels being out with injury and Warren Wells not really 'on the scene' yet (Bill Miller 2 TDs, though). The Raiders offensive line was manhandled by Jordan and Davis, and Nitschke wiped out their sweeps. Perhaps the Chiefs/Stram would have come up with something different in SB II.
Could any AFL team have beaten GB in Super Bowl 1 or 2?
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BD Sullivan
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Re: Could any AFL team have beaten GB in Super Bowl 1 or 2?
Re: Could any AFL team have beaten GB in Super Bowl 1 or 2?
I do think the 1968 Packers should have won their division. They were still the most talented team. There were some talented reserves. Bob Hyland, Bill Lueck, Francis Peay, Travis Williams, Elijah Pitts, Bob Brown, Fred Carr, Doug Hart, John Rowser were all backups. The team had some talent.
McGee had retired, though his regular season contributions were becoming minimal. Claudis James came in and had a couple of TD catches. The aging of the receiving corps would show up in a couple of years.
Don Chandler retired just before training camp. He wanted to commute, miss some practices to attend to business. The Packers wouldn't let him. Though the Packers did have a couple of other kickers in camp, Jerry Kramer was given the kicking job. First time in five years he had kicked. There were a few position players still kicking - Blanda, Cappelletti, Lou Michaels. Wayne Walker was starting LB for the Lions and kicking still, though they were trying to replace him. (There was another Wayne Walker who was kicking for the Oilers at the same time!) But all of these players were on the downsides of their careers. This has to be about the last time a newly available kicking job was given to a position player, and a starter at that. It'd be nice to blame the lacking performance of the kicking carousel (Chuck Mercein, Errol Mann, and Mike Mercer also took their turn) for the Packers' woes, but there wasn't really a specific game where the issue cost the Pack a win. Ironically, the Packers got even worse performance the next season, when professional kickers Mercer and Booth Lusteg went the whole way.
The Packers pass defense was still excellent, the fifth straight year of the fewest yards given up. But the defense broke down in a key late season contest, giving up 296 yards to John Brodie and the 49ers and blowing a 20-7 fourth quarter lead. A 1-4-1 division mark also was a big disappointment. On the bright side, a road victory over a vexed Cowboy team was the best performance of any team in this division. Overall, there was enough talent on this team to merit a better performance than 6-7-1.
McGee had retired, though his regular season contributions were becoming minimal. Claudis James came in and had a couple of TD catches. The aging of the receiving corps would show up in a couple of years.
Don Chandler retired just before training camp. He wanted to commute, miss some practices to attend to business. The Packers wouldn't let him. Though the Packers did have a couple of other kickers in camp, Jerry Kramer was given the kicking job. First time in five years he had kicked. There were a few position players still kicking - Blanda, Cappelletti, Lou Michaels. Wayne Walker was starting LB for the Lions and kicking still, though they were trying to replace him. (There was another Wayne Walker who was kicking for the Oilers at the same time!) But all of these players were on the downsides of their careers. This has to be about the last time a newly available kicking job was given to a position player, and a starter at that. It'd be nice to blame the lacking performance of the kicking carousel (Chuck Mercein, Errol Mann, and Mike Mercer also took their turn) for the Packers' woes, but there wasn't really a specific game where the issue cost the Pack a win. Ironically, the Packers got even worse performance the next season, when professional kickers Mercer and Booth Lusteg went the whole way.
The Packers pass defense was still excellent, the fifth straight year of the fewest yards given up. But the defense broke down in a key late season contest, giving up 296 yards to John Brodie and the 49ers and blowing a 20-7 fourth quarter lead. A 1-4-1 division mark also was a big disappointment. On the bright side, a road victory over a vexed Cowboy team was the best performance of any team in this division. Overall, there was enough talent on this team to merit a better performance than 6-7-1.
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BD Sullivan
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Re: Could any AFL team have beaten GB in Super Bowl 1 or 2?
The Packers botched some winnable games:
9/29 vs. Lions (17-23)
Kramer missed a 21-yard FG after the Packers had the ball on the Lion 7 with a 10-0 lead, which changed the momentum of the game. On the Lion's game-winning drive, Bill Munson fumbled, but a Lion lineman recovered, with Lee Roy Caffey got flagged for unnecessary roughness for piling on in the scramble.
10/13 vs. Rams (14-16)
Bruce Gossett kicked the game-winning FG with 55 seconds left. The Packers coughed up the ball five times, which led to 10 points, but still had a 14-13 lead with six minutes left. The Rams converted on 4th-and-2 at their own 44, with Billy Truax''s catch almost looking like it was trapped. Then, Herb Adderly was flagged for pass interference.
11/3 vs. Bears (10-13)
Mac Percival kicked the game-winning FG (on a free kick) with 32 seconds left. Three minutes earlier, Chuck Mercein missed a 22-yard FG attempt. Mercein replaced Errol Mann, who had missed a 44-yarder and 29-yarder in the first half. Earlier, Dick Gordon bungled a kickoff and fell on it in the end zone. Two officials said it was a safety, but the ref overruled them and called it a touchback. The Packers blocked a Bear FG attempt, with the ball bouncing off Bob Jeter's hands out of bounds. He had a clear path to the end zone had he held on. The Pack couldn;t stop Sayers, who ran for 205 yards. One week later, he ripped up his knee.
11/10 vs. Vikings (10-14)
With under three minutes left, Donny Anderson fumbled at the Viking 18. After holding Minnesota, GB got the ball back with 1:43 left, but Claudis James got drilled after
a catch at midfield, with Earsell Mackbee returning it to the Packer 26. Earlier in the fourth, Carl Eller blocked Mike Mercer's 25-yard FG attempt.
12/1 vs. 49ers (20-27)
A fourth quarter collapse after holding a 20-7 lead at windy Kezar. Kermit Alexander picked off a Bratkowski pass into the wind and the Niners converted to cut their deficit to six points. Then Donny Anderson had a 24-yard punt, with SF scoring again to take the lead, 21-20. Another SF field goal with five minutes left made it 24-20, with Travis Williams bungling the ensuing kickoff to start the Packer drive at their own 4. After being forced to use third-string QB Bill Stevens, the Pack had another wind-blown 26-yard punt and SF kicked a FG with 13 seconds left. On the day, the Packers O-Line gave up seven sacks.
Winning just two of these games would have given the Packers the division title.
9/29 vs. Lions (17-23)
Kramer missed a 21-yard FG after the Packers had the ball on the Lion 7 with a 10-0 lead, which changed the momentum of the game. On the Lion's game-winning drive, Bill Munson fumbled, but a Lion lineman recovered, with Lee Roy Caffey got flagged for unnecessary roughness for piling on in the scramble.
10/13 vs. Rams (14-16)
Bruce Gossett kicked the game-winning FG with 55 seconds left. The Packers coughed up the ball five times, which led to 10 points, but still had a 14-13 lead with six minutes left. The Rams converted on 4th-and-2 at their own 44, with Billy Truax''s catch almost looking like it was trapped. Then, Herb Adderly was flagged for pass interference.
11/3 vs. Bears (10-13)
Mac Percival kicked the game-winning FG (on a free kick) with 32 seconds left. Three minutes earlier, Chuck Mercein missed a 22-yard FG attempt. Mercein replaced Errol Mann, who had missed a 44-yarder and 29-yarder in the first half. Earlier, Dick Gordon bungled a kickoff and fell on it in the end zone. Two officials said it was a safety, but the ref overruled them and called it a touchback. The Packers blocked a Bear FG attempt, with the ball bouncing off Bob Jeter's hands out of bounds. He had a clear path to the end zone had he held on. The Pack couldn;t stop Sayers, who ran for 205 yards. One week later, he ripped up his knee.
11/10 vs. Vikings (10-14)
With under three minutes left, Donny Anderson fumbled at the Viking 18. After holding Minnesota, GB got the ball back with 1:43 left, but Claudis James got drilled after
a catch at midfield, with Earsell Mackbee returning it to the Packer 26. Earlier in the fourth, Carl Eller blocked Mike Mercer's 25-yard FG attempt.
12/1 vs. 49ers (20-27)
A fourth quarter collapse after holding a 20-7 lead at windy Kezar. Kermit Alexander picked off a Bratkowski pass into the wind and the Niners converted to cut their deficit to six points. Then Donny Anderson had a 24-yard punt, with SF scoring again to take the lead, 21-20. Another SF field goal with five minutes left made it 24-20, with Travis Williams bungling the ensuing kickoff to start the Packer drive at their own 4. After being forced to use third-string QB Bill Stevens, the Pack had another wind-blown 26-yard punt and SF kicked a FG with 13 seconds left. On the day, the Packers O-Line gave up seven sacks.
Winning just two of these games would have given the Packers the division title.