Packers Persicope: WE'RE BACK, WE'RE BACK, WE'RE BACK!
In the first Periscope of the 2024 season, we take a peek at training camp battles, the 1965 NFL Championship and look ahead to the preseason opener in Cleveland.
By Tony_Wilson
Oh how good it feels to be back. Not quite all the way just yet, but friends, we have a football game to watch on Saturday. It also happens to be a reasonably short drive from my home, so I'll be taking my 6-year-old to his first Packers game (future tears will undoubtedly be shed). It sure as hell ain't Lambeau, but it's the Packers on a football field -- I'll take it. Saturday's preseason opener will be a bit of a culmination of what we've been checking every practice day on Twitter, watching on YouTube podcasts or, for some of us, seeing in person from Ray Nitschke field. It's our first real view of the 2024 Packers and some of the positional battles taking place on the gridiron against guys in other uniforms.
And while no, there shouldn't be any huge takeaways or real cares about the outcome of the game, we'll certainly want to look at who's playing when, how much they're playing and who they're playing with. Especially on the offensive line, where there are probably the most questions to be answered. Safety also has a ton of competition to see who will be playing aside Xavier McKinney, so I'll be keeping an eye out to see who's alongside him on Saturday on the shores of Lake Erie.
And with that, let's raise up the Periscope for the first time in 2024 and take a gander at the past, present and future of the Packers and Browns.
The Past
The Packers and Browns first met on September 27, 1953 at a time when the Browns were very good and the Packers were very not good. In fact, the two teams met three times in the 1950s and the scores were, respectively, 27-0, 41-10 and 24-7. Not ideal! But then a fella by the name of Vince Lombardi came in and from 1961-1967, the Packers flipped the script winning five in a row of their own, including a rather big game in 1966 of which I'll go into greater detail below.
Recently, the Packers have had Cleveland's number, winning the last four match-ups dating back to 200 including a very pleasing-to-the-eyes uniform match-up of Christmas Day in 2021 when the Packers were largely outplayed by the Baker Mayfield-led Browns, but eked it out late saving us a lump of coal in our Christmas stockings.
Now back to the two teams' most famous meeting, the 1965 NFL Championship, which took place on January 2, 1966 on a foggy, muddy, windy winter day in Northeast Wisconsin. This game was a milestone in many forms. First, it was the first NFL Championship game played in January. Also, it was the first televised in color in addition to being the final Championship game prior to the Super Bowl. The Browns, coming off a bye, took on the Packers at Lambeau Field despite being the higher seed. At the time, the Championship alternated between conferences. Thankfully, it was the Western Conference's turn that season.
The Packers opened the scoring against the Jim Brown-led Browns, with Bart Starr hitting Carroll Dale for a 47-yard touchdown. Cleveland answered with a 17-yarder from Frank Ryan to Gary Collins followed by a Lou Groza field goal to make it 9-7 Browns after 1. The second saw two Don Chandler field goals to make it 13-9, then Groza tacked on one more for a 13-12 Packer lead at the break.
Now, my guess here is that Coach Lombardi was none-too-pleased with a modest one-point lead at halftime and likely had some choice words for his Packers. Because in the second, Green Bay absolutely dominated, stifling any and everything the Browns tried to do offensively while relying on methodical, gritty football to matriculate the ball down the field, capping off the lone touchdown drive with a 13-yard by the Golden Boy himself, Paul Hornung. Don Chandler drilled another field goal in the fourth to put it out of reach and give the Packers their first NFL Championship since 1962 and re-establishing themselves as the team of the 1960s.
Now, soak in these highlights. Unreal music. Look at that weather! It starts off with a gosh dang helicopter. This is football the way it is meant to be played.
The Present
Based on Matt LaFleur's presser this week, it looks like we'll get to see at least a little bit of Jordan Love and the starting Packers offense, or, at least an abbreviated version of that. But still, Love will be in the game, albeit briefly, so it'll be nice to see how he looks coming off his insane close to the 2023 season. Outside of that? Who really knows. Like I mentioned above, I'll be looking closely at the line and safeties to see if anyone is playing more than another, or in a particular combo.
Another area I'll be curious to see is everyone's favorite, the kickers! Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph have been pretty close in their competition this year, with Joseph maintaining a slight edge. It'll be fascinating to see how LaFleur and Rich Bisaccia determine who kicks when.
Cleveland, on the other hand, won't be playing their studs, and understandably so. They're much more experienced with DeShaun Watson at QB and Nick Chubb at running back, coming off a nasty knee injury early in 2023. They're playing it safe and that's probably what they should do.
In all, what I'm looking for is HEALTH. And you all should be too. Let's get some tape and get outta there without any injuries to report.
The Future
Saturday, August 10, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OH. Weather is looking delightful, with temperatures expected in the low-mid 70s. As an attendee of this game, I really am thankful it won't be hot or rainy. Cold beers, nice views, and getting my kid his first peek at an NFL game are atop the list and I can't be happier for that.
As for the game, there's no prediction. But as we've discussed, plenty to watch. It's step 1 for these 2024 Packers and many of the fellas fighting for jobs. It may not be the best football, but it's going to be very hard fought with careers and futures in the NFL on the line. And I can't be more excited to see it unfold.
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Tony Wilson takes pride in journalism training from 2/3 of directional-Michigan MAC schools. A former Sporting News writer, Tony now focuses on the Packers from his home in Toledo, OH. His beer of choice is a Miller Lite from the bottom of the cooler. You can find him on Twitter @TonePackTone.
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Comments (10)
GregC
August 07, 2024 at 09:07 pm
I watched that whole video. Great stuff! Jim Taylor was a beast. And the announcers should've given Ray Nitschke credit for breaking up that pass to Jim Brown in the end zone. Sure, Brown got behind him, but not by much, and Nitschke made an excellent recovery and showed great ball awareness to knock the ball out of Brown's hands. It was a great show of agility by a player who was mostly known for his toughness.
T7Steve
August 08, 2024 at 09:19 am
Good to see you back, Tony. Means real football is getting close.
I know I was only 7 at the time, but I can't believe I didn't remember alternate home fields for the championships. I do remember watching the game though.
Have fun at the game. Starting the boy out right. Remember, there's no crying in football.
Swisch
August 08, 2024 at 12:21 pm
T7Steve, do you remember anything in particular about that game that may stand out almost 60 years later?
I was only age 3, probably living in South Milwaukee, just before my dad was transferred to Houston with a company that was a contractor for NASA during the key years of the Space Race.
In other words, I was oblivious to the Packers and missed out on all of the fun of the Lombardi Era before and after 1965.
T7Steve
August 08, 2024 at 01:28 pm
I remember my mom being worried about the snow, but it turned out mud. I don't remember that they were covering the field in those days. They were lucky it was warm because they didn't install coils till the summer after the ice bowl, if I remember right.
Swisch
August 08, 2024 at 12:05 pm
The Browns had won the championship the previous season, with a huge upset of the Colts led by Johnny Unitas.
It's understandable that Packers fans may take the five championships of the Packers in seven seasons (1961-1967) a little for granted -- for example, by thinking it was easier to win championships back then than it is now.
There's also a tendency to downplay Bart Starr as not being among the greatest quarterbacks of all time -- supposedly because of all of the great players around him, plus the superb coaching of Lombardi.
I would encourage fans to question such conventions and truly appreciate the magnitude of what the Packers accomplished in the 1960s, the greatest run for any NFL team before or since.
***
It seems the Colts had a lot of great players in the 1960s, but won zero championships.
There were highly favored in the championship games of 1965 and 1968, but lost both.
Also, the Browns, Giants, Bears, and Lions put onto the field some formidable teams with great players during that decade when pro football emerged as the favorite sport of America.
In those days, only two teams made the playoffs, which consisted solely of the championship game.
A team couldn't sneak into the playoffs as a lower seed with the hope that anything can happen in playoffs.
In 1963, the Packers finished the season a stellar 11-2-1 but missed the playoffs, which ended their hopes for a third straight championship.
They were more determined on their next run, which began by this beating of the Browns for a title on muddy Lambeau Field.
***
It's what Bart Starr did off the field in preparing for games that helped to make him so great -- all of the little things he did to hone his craft of quarterbacking that fans tend not to notice, plus voluminous film study of opponents.
Most of all, he simply did whatever it took to win.
In other words, he didn't let his ego get in the way.
Although not the most gifted quarterback of his time as far as physical talent, he still made himself an excellent passer especially due to his accuracy.
In the season of 1966, he won NFL MVP, and in the championship win against the Cowboys threw for more than 300 yards with four touchdown passes.
In the rematch that was the championship game of 1967, the legendary Ice Bowl, the steady and steely Starr led the Packers on the dramatic winning drive for a touchdown with only seconds left on the clock.
Prior to that drive, the Packers had minus-9 yards of offense in the second half against the ferocious Cowboys defense. Then they had one last chance at their own 32-yard-line with 4:50 on the clock and the harshest of conditions on the literally frozen tundra of Green Bay.
Hornung and Taylor were no longer with the team in 1967. Pitts and Grabowski had been injured during the season. The backfield was a young Donny Anderson plus a castoff named Chuck Mercein, who had actually been out of the league for part of the season before his acquisition by the Packers.
Mercein would account for 34 yards on the 12-play drive of grit and precision to victory, half of the total of 68.
Starr orchestrated it all against the bitterly cold adversity of the moment, and it became the thrilling climax of everything the Packers represented in the 1960s as far as true greatness in terms of determination, attention to detail, and esprit-de-corps.
***
These lessons are timeless.
If our young Packers of 2024 want to do what it takes to get over the top for a title or two, they must realize that championships are a near thing in the sense of it being easy to fall just short of winning it all. They are won with lots of little sacrifices that are humble and largely hidden.
The great Lombardi described the dynamic of teamwork for shared glory as a kind of camaraderie that in its essence is "love."
On another note, it was definitely Lombardi who raised Starr from obscurity into what I deem to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
However, if Lombardi made Starr, I would say that Starr largely made Lombardi.
It was the understated excellence of Starr that sustained the Packers as champions for a second surge beginning with its win over the Browns in the aforementioned championship game of 1965.
Lombardi's mercurial temperament could have worn thin with players to the breaking point of a significant team letdown, but Starr's consistency of performance and character kept the players pushing forward against the almost impossible odds of winning three straight titles.
To finish, I love the sensational highlights that are a part of any contending team across a season; however, if we want the secret of the Packers attaining to glory unrivaled before or since in the long history of the NFL, we must go beyond the highlights to the unapplauded efforts of mundane moments during practices and games.
As Lombardi would say, you don't do things the right way only some of the time, but all of the time.
I think he would agree that what ultimately gets a player through when he doesn't feel like putting forth the physical and mental exertion for excellence is love of God and neighbor -- being accountable to both to be the best of ourselves.
Here's hoping the Packers of today tap into the Packers of the past to go further as a team than they could ever achieve as individuals, and so partake of the sweetness of solidarity in a common quest for splendor.
mnbadger
August 08, 2024 at 12:34 pm
Swisch - nothing but the bottom of the net in your comments above.
GPG!
T7Steve
August 08, 2024 at 01:36 pm
Cliff Cristy (sp?) contends it was much harder to win or even get to a championship in those days because you had to have a better record than half of all the teams. No wild cards and no 14 teams allowed to sneak into the playoffs. For people (form other teams) to say the Packers' two "threepeats" don't really count because they weren't in the Super Bowl era is ridiculous.
packfan2
August 09, 2024 at 10:39 am
Swish, wonderfully written comment, and the highlight of this morning. Thanks for the smile you brought me.
mnbadger
August 08, 2024 at 12:30 pm
I also watched the whole video, thank you for the link.
It's incredible how many HoF'rs were on the field, both teams.
All the Packers plus Paul Warfield and Jim Brown. Like Madden '65.
Hell, wasn't Madden an offensive lineman for the Browns before he got into coaching?
Anyway, GPG!
Since'61
August 09, 2024 at 09:20 am
Great to see the video of the '65 NFL championship game. I actually own a complete tape of that game. It's was good to see that the precision of the Packers OL was mentioned several times during the video plus the stoutness of the Packers defense. In those days it was the Packers OL and championship defense which carried the Lombardi Packers to their 5 championships in 7 years. The defense only allowing 9.7 PPG in the Packers 10 post seasons contests.
Another key factor was Starr's play calling. He was a brilliant play caller and executed most plays perfectly.
Another misnomer from that era is that the Packers only had to win one post season game to win the championship. Actually the Packers won while playing through 4 different post season formats during the 60s. In '61 and '62 the Packers won the Western conference title outright and the defeated the NY Giants for the NFL championship. However in '65 the Packers were tied with the Baltimore Colts for the Western conference title and had to play a playoff game with the Colts before defeating the Cleveland Browns as shown in the video above. The playoff game was played without Johnny Unitas for the Colts or Bart Starr for the Packers. Unitas was out with an injury and Starr was lost for the game on the first play from scrimmage when he was injured trying to make a tackle following a fumble recovery by the Colts defense. The Packers won in OT 13-10 with Zeke Bratkowski at QB.
In 1966 the Packers defeated the Cowboys for the NFL championship but then had to play and win the first Super Bowl against the KC Chiefs.
Finally in 1967 the Packers defeated the Rams in what would be the equivalent of today's divisional playoff game 28-7. Then they defeated the Cowboys in what would be today's equivalent of the NFCCG in the famous Ice Bowl 21-17 and finally they defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II.
So in '65, '66, and '67 the Lombardi Packers played and won via 3 different post season formats plus the original post season format back in '61 and '62.
The point is that the Lombardi Packers prevailed in which ever post season format came along and won 3 championships in a row. Also it would be foolish to believe that if the Super Bowl existed in 1965 that the Packers would not have won that game as well. Super Bowls 1 and 2 provide enough proof that the Packers would have dominated a '65 Super Bowl just as they did in '66 and '67. Thanks, Since '61