Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

SixtiesFan wrote:

GameBeforeTheMoney wrote:Music city Miracle is probably close to that - I don't know exactly how many seconds were left in regulation. My guess is that there have been a few times that a team has taken a lead and then the opposing team scored a TD on the kickoff return to win.

Also, what was the time left on that classic Lions/Colts game in the 60s? Lions got a long pass for a TD right after Baltimore scored. Leeny Moore caught a TD pass and then the Lions scored on a long pass to win.

I saw the ending of the 1960 Lions-Colts game on TV. After receiving the kickoff after Lenny Moore's TD catch, the Lions had time for one play. I still have it in my mind's eye; Morrall dropping straight back, throwing a long pass to Jim Gibbon who ran into the end zone. The clock ran out while Gibbon was running down the sideline. They lined up and kicked the extra point anyway.

The play looked so easy watching it on TV in "real time."

It still does on film. The Colts had players back there but Steve Junker, I think, took out two players on a block and Bobby Boyd was out of position and let Gibbons get outside.

Moore's catch came with 14 seconds to play. That beats the Music City game, in which Buffalo had taken the lead with 20 seconds left.

That miracle Detroit win @ Balt in 1960 was the first NFL game I can remember watching. I was nearly 7 years old. I recall it chiefly because my oldest brother Bob was whooping it up cuz he'd placed a bet on the game.

After a tough loss to SF just the week before, the Colts really needed this game against Detroit. With them winning on that play, the Colts never recovered, losing out the rest of the season. 1960 was one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of the Baltimore Colts. They would lose Alan Ameche to injury, Milt Davis to early retirement and trade Gene Lipscomb and John Sample. Four players that were not only on potential HOF paths but could have helped save Weeb Ewbanks job, where he was let go after 1962 ...

Also, what was the time left on that classic Lions/Colts game in the 60s? Lions got a long pass for a TD right after Baltimore scored. Leeny Moore caught a TD pass and then the Lions scored on a long pass to win.

According to the game sheet provided by the PFRA's Gamebook section the Colts scored to go ahead 15-13 with 14 seconds remaining. Apparently the KO return only took 4 seconds off the clock. The Lions put the ball in play from their own 35-yard line with 10 seconds left to play, and Morrall connects with Gibbon on the 65-yard game-winner that set the two-time defending NFL Champion Colts on their downward slide that would prevent them from becoming the league's first post WW II 3-time champion.

RichardBak wrote:That miracle Detroit win @ Balt in 1960 was the first NFL game I can remember watching. I was nearly 7 years old. I recall it chiefly because my oldest brother Bob was whooping it up cuz he'd placed a bet on the game.

I was age 10 when I saw it. In 1960 there was no instant replay. It was over and done. Now (or even in the 70s), that TD would be replayed for 10-15 minutes from all angles. Again, I was impressed with how easy it was for the Lions to hit a 65 yard TD pass on the last play of the game. Not seeing a replay was a factor in that.

Now I can play it back over and over. You can see the Colt DBs getting in each others way. Also I remember the dead silence of the crowd remarked upon by Raymond Berry in the NFL Films segment on the game.

SixtiesFan wrote:

RichardBak wrote:That miracle Detroit win @ Balt in 1960 was the first NFL game I can remember watching. I was nearly 7 years old. I recall it chiefly because my oldest brother Bob was whooping it up cuz he'd placed a bet on the game.

I was age 10 when I saw it. In 1960 there was no instant replay. It was over and done. Now (or even in the 70s), that TD would be replayed for 10-15 minutes from all angles. Again, I was impressed with how easy it was for the Lions to hit a 65 yard TD pass on the last play of the game. Not seeing a replay was a factor in that.

Now I can play it back over and over. You can see the Colt DBs getting in each others way. Also I remember the dead silence of the crowd remarked upon by Raymond Berry in the NFL Films segment on the game.

That's right, CBS didn't introduce instant replay until 1962 or '63. I think it was '63, becuz I recall reading somewhere that the technology had just become available at the time of JFK's assassination. That's why we saw Ruby shooting Oswald over and over again. Or maybe it was slow-motion replay that had just been introduced in the '63 season??

Another factor in that Colts Lions game is that the clock would have started after the ball was set following the kickoff return. Art Donovan stated that he was kicked out of the game for retaliating for something Gil Mains did on the kickoff. Thus the clock stopped.

Now no penalty yardage was marked off for this, so maybe it was offseting penalties. And if the Lions had time outs left, they just would have taken one after the kickoff anyway. But that's a rule that is forgotten today.

Citizen wrote:Moore's catch came with 14 seconds to play. That beats the Music City game, in which Buffalo had taken the lead with 20 seconds left.

It was actually 16 seconds. There were 20 seconds remaining when the ball was snapped on Steve Christie's go-ahead field goal. I remember wondering if Buffalo should have run one more play. Kicking off with 16 seconds left- I thought maybe the Bills were leave a slight opening for the Titans offense to complete a long pass to get into FG range. I never dreamed that the Titans would run the kickoff back for a TD.

Hey conace21 ... whats your take on the seniors ? Agree, disagree?