The Cleveland Browns seemed poised to take control of the
NFL Eastern Conference race as they hosted the New York Giants on October 27,
1963. The Browns were undefeated at 6-0 and had looked very good in defeating
the Giants at Yankee Stadium two weeks earlier. Under first-year Head Coach
Blanton Collier, they had the league’s top rusher in FB Jim Brown, who was
leading the NFL with 931 yards on the ground and had compiled 209 yards from
scrimmage in the previous meeting with the Giants. QB Frank Ryan was also
leading the NFL with a completion percentage of 62.1.
The Giants, coached by Allie Sherman, had topped the
Eastern Conference in each of the last two years but, at 4-2, were in danger of
falling out of contention unless they could derail Cleveland. 37-year-old QB
Y.A. Tittle (pictured above) had been a sensation since arriving from San Francisco in 1961 and
had a fine receiving corps led by split end Del Shofner. The veteran group of
running backs included FB Alex Webster and HB Hugh McElhenny. The defense also
had a well-seasoned core that was anchored by MLB Sam Huff and included such
stalwarts as DEs Andy Robustelli and Jim Katcavage, DT Dick Modzelewski,
cornerbacks Dick Lynch and Erich Barnes, and FS Jim Patton.
There were 84,213 fans at Municipal Stadium, the
second-largest crowd for a regular season game to date in the history of the
huge venue. The tone was set on the second play from scrimmage when Jim Brown
fumbled after picking up seven yards and Sam Huff recovered for the Giants at
the Cleveland 30. Four plays later, Don Chandler kicked a 29-yard field goal to
give New York the early lead.
On the next play following the kickoff, Frank Ryan threw
a pass that was intercepted by Jim Patton and the Giants again took possession
in Cleveland territory. They immediately capitalized when Y.A. Tittle threw to
Del Shofner for a 23-yard touchdown. Chandler added the extra point and less
than three minutes into the game, the visitors were ahead by 10-0. Cleveland had
run only three offensive plays.
The Browns went three-and-out on their next series and
were forced to punt. The Giants, taking over at their 14, put together an
86-yard drive in 15 plays. Tittle completed seven passes along the way, two of
which converted third downs, including one to TE Aaron Thomas for 19 yards in a
third-and-10 situation and another to TE Joe Walton for 13 yards on a
third-and-six play. Hugh McElhenny and Alex Webster ran effectively and Tittle
finished the series off with a six-yard scoring pass to McElhenny. New York’s
lead was 17-0 after a quarter of play.
The Browns again had to punt and once more New York
responded by putting points on the board. This time the Giants moved the ball
34 yards in eight plays capped by Chandler booting a 34-yard field goal. Tittle
again came through with a third down completion to keep the drive going,
connecting with Shofner for 16 yards to the Cleveland 31 on a third-and-seven
play.
Another short series by the Browns was followed by
another New York scoring drive. Tittle completed four more passes, Cleveland
was flagged for pass interference on one he didn’t complete, and Chandler
kicked another field goal, this time from 33 yards. The Giants had scored on
every first half possession and took a commanding 23-0 lead into halftime. The
statistics were as lopsided as the score - New York had outgained the Browns by
195 yards to 35 and Cleveland had run just 20 plays.
The Giants kept pouring it on as the third quarter began.
McElhenny took the second half kickoff 51 yards and they ended up with a fourth
Chandler field goal, of 42 yards. The Browns still remained stymied on offense
and punted, and New York remained unstoppable. The offense put together another
methodical scoring drive that ended with Webster running the last two yards for
a TD.
The outcome was not in doubt in the fourth quarter as the
Giants finally failed to score on a possession. After reaching the Cleveland
37, Tittle’s deflected pass was intercepted. Jim Ninowski was now at quarterback
for the Browns, but had no better luck at moving the team until his second
series, after Chandler missed on a 44-yard field goal attempt. Ninowski threw
to split end Tom Hutchinson for 70 yards and two plays later finally got the
Browns on the board with a 10-yard touchdown pass to end Rich Kreitling.
However, Groza’s extra point attempt was blocked by Huff. The final score was a
resounding 33-6 win for the Giants.
New York had a huge lead in total yards (387 to 142) and
first downs (26 to 6). The Giants sacked Cleveland’s quarterbacks four times
and Cleveland turned the ball over on three occasions, to just the one late and
insignificant turnover suffered by New York. The Giants only punted twice, both
coming in the final period.
Y.A. Tittle completed 21 of 31 passes for 214 yards and
two touchdowns with one intercepted. Del Shofner (pictured at left) had 7 catches for 108 yards
and a TD. Alex Webster rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and
Hugh McElhenny also ran for 53 yards, on 13 attempts, while contributing a TD
on his lone pass reception. Don Chandler helped out with his four field goals
in five attempts.
For the Browns, Frank Ryan was successful on only one of
9 throws for a startling minus six passing yards and was intercepted once. Jim
Ninowski hit on 4 of 11 passes for 120 yards and a TD with one picked off. Jim
Brown was held to just 40 yards on 9 carries and had the critical early fumble.
He was also ejected after getting into an altercation with New York LB Tom
Scott, who was also tossed, in the game’s last minute. Tom Hutchinson, thanks
to the long reception in the fourth quarter, had two catches for 97 yards to
lead the club.
The Giants continued on to win their next four games and
lost only once more on the way to once again topping the Eastern Conference
with an 11-3 record. However, they lost to the Bears in the NFL title game, falling
short for the third straight time. Cleveland won the next week at Philadelphia
but then lost two straight, faltering down the stretch and ending up in second place
at 10-4.
Y.A. Tittle broke his own NFL record with 36 touchdown
passes and also led the league in overall passing (104.8 rating in current
system), completion percentage (60.2), yards per attempt (8.6), and percentage
of TD passes (9.8, tied with Frank Ryan). Del Shofner ranked third in pass
receiving yards (1181) and fourth in pass receptions (64). Don Chandler led the
NFL in scoring (106 points) and was third in field goals (18) and first in
extra points (52).
