1967: Eagles Defeat Steelers with Snead to Hawkins Combination

The Philadelphia Eagles were at 1-1 as they hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 1, 1967. Coached by Joe Kuharich for the fourth year, the Eagles had looked impressive in an opening-week win against Washington but decidedly less so in being flattened by the Colts in their second game. QB Norm Snead was talented but inconsistent, although the arrival of two veteran receivers, split end Gary Ballman and TE Mike Ditka, helped and flanker Ben Hawkins (pictured at right), a disappointment as a rookie the previous year, was showing signs of improvement. The defense lacked a strong pass rush and had given up lots of passing yards in both contests.

The Eagles would not be seeing the likes of Washington’s Sonny Jurgensen or Johnny Unitas of the Colts lining up against them with Pittsburgh coming to town. With starting QB Bill Nelsen injured, backup Kent Nix would be making his first pro start for the Steelers. They would also be without TE John Hilton, further hampering the passing game. But Head Coach Bill Austin’s club had a tough defense and was also at 1-1, having whipped the Bears in the first week before losing to the Cardinals.

There were 60,335 fans in attendance at Franklin Field. The Steelers shuttled running backs to bring in plays in an effort to help the inexperienced quarterback, but the receiving corps was depleted further when flanker Roy Jefferson went out with a leg injury in the early going. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh scored first after flanker Chuck Hughes of the Eagles was nicked by a punt and FS Paul Martha recovered at the Philadelphia 43. Four plays later, FB Willie Asbury ran 25 yards for a touchdown and Mike Clark added the extra point for the early 7-0 advantage.

The Eagles responded with a 79-yard drive in seven plays. Norm Snead completed four passes and FB Israel “Izzy” Lang added an option toss to Gary Ballman for a gain of 26 yards to the Pittsburgh seven. Two plays later, Snead rolled to his right and connected with Lang in the corner of the end zone for a five-yard TD. Sam Baker added the game-tying point after.

Prior to the end of the period, Clark attempted a 36-yard field goal into the wind that fell short, but early in the second quarter, Baker was successful from the same distance to put the Eagles ahead by 10-7. Shortly thereafter, a Nix pass was intercepted by FS Joe Scarpati at the Pittsburgh 29. Snead immediately went long to Ben Hawkins, who outmaneuvered SS Clendon Thomas for a TD. Baker converted and the home team was up by 17-7.

The Steelers got a break on their next possession when, forced to punt, DE Mel Tom was flagged for roughing-the-kicker. A third down pass by Nix was complete to Asbury for 21 yards to the Philadelphia 25 and, with Hoak and Asbury carrying, the visitors ground away to another touchdown, this time on Hoak’s three-yard run. Clark added the extra point to narrow the score to 17-14.

The Eagles responded quickly, advancing 68 yards in six plays. Snead (pictured at left) threw to Hawkins for 40 yards to the Pittsburgh 28 and again on a third-and-10 play for 19. He then lobbed a throw to TE Jim Kelly, who caught it over LB Andy Russell for a four-yard touchdown. Baker converted, and with 33 seconds remaining in the first half Philadelphia was ahead by 24-14. Pittsburgh got one last shot to add points before halftime, but Clark missed a 52-yard field goal try and the tally remained unchanged.

The Eagles were forced to punt following their first series of the third quarter and Baker’s kick was shanked, traveling just 29 yards to give Pittsburgh the ball at the Philadelphia 49. The Steelers reached the 15 before Clark kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it a seven-point game.

Neither team scored again during the period. The Steelers missed two opportunities, the first after reaching the Philadelphia 34 when CB Jim Nettles picked off a Nix pass and the second when an apparent 76-yard scoring run by Hoak was nullified by a holding penalty. The Eagles also missed out when Snead barely overthrew Hawkins near the Pittsburgh goal line.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Steelers put together their most impressive drive of the game, moving 93 yards as Nix completed two passes along the way and Hoak tossed an option pass to Asbury for 21 yards. The long series ended with Nix completing a TD throw to split end J.R. Wilburn, who made a leaping catch from 18 yards out. Clark converted to tie the score at 24-24 with 11 minutes to play.

With the game knotted, Hawkins returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to give the Eagles good starting field position in Pittsburgh territory. Snead threw to Hawkins for 19 yards and FB Tom Woodeshick ran the ball effectively on four plays before Snead connected with Hawkins once again on a post pattern for an eight-yard touchdown. Baker again booted the PAT and the Eagles were back in the lead at 31-24.

There was still time for the visitors but, following an interception of a Nix pass by LB Mike Morgan, Snead threw to Hawkins for 24 yards and the possession resulted in Baker adding a game-clinching field goal from 35 yards. Philadelphia came away with a hard-fought 34-24 win.

Total yards were almost even, with the Eagles having the edge (319 to 318) while Pittsburgh had more first downs (19 to 17). The Steelers were effective running the ball, gaining 153 yards, while Philadelphia accumulated just 48 yards on 29 carries. But the Eagles had far more net passing yards (271 to 165) and turned the ball over once, to three by Pittsburgh. Philadelphia mistakes on special teams proved beneficial to the Steelers and the Eagles were also hurt by committing eight penalties, at a cost of 71 yards, as opposed to three flags that were thrown on Pittsburgh.

Norm Snead completed 16 of 24 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns while giving up no interceptions. Ben Hawkins had a huge performance with 8 catches for 187 yards and two of the TDs. Tom Woodeshick, who caught three passes for 33 yards, topped the Philadelphia runners with 30 yards on 16 carries.

For the Steelers, Kent Nix (pictured at right) had a respectable showing as he succeeded on 12 of 26 throws for 159 yards and a TD while giving up three interceptions. HB Jim “Cannonball” Butler rushed for 81 yards on 17 attempts and Willie Asbury contributed 54 yards on 7 carries that included a touchdown while also gaining 42 yards on two pass receptions. Split ends Dick Compton and J.R. Wilburn caught a team-leading four catches apiece, for 70 and 50 yards, respectively, and Wilburn scored a TD.

“They gave us single coverage on Hawkins and appeared to be more worried about (Gary) Ballman,” explained Norm Snead. “I called three-man patterns most of the time but ended up going to him (Hawkins) pretty much.”

“Nix ran the team well enough to win,” said Coach Bill Austin of his quarterback. “When you score 24 points, you should have enough to win.”

Philadelphia won again the next week to rise to 3-1, but could not do so consistently and finished at 6-7-1 and second in the Capitol Division of the Eastern Conference. The Steelers lost their next three games before edging the first-year Saints on the way to a 4-9-1 record that put them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference’s Century Division.

Norm Snead had the biggest statistical year of his long career, achieving career highs in pass attempts (434), completions (240), yards (3399), and TD passes (29). The big performance by Ben Hawkins proved to not be a fluke as he broke out with 59 catches for a league-leading 1265 yards (21.4 avg.) and 10 touchdowns. He had five hundred-yard performances and his 187 yards against the Steelers were not his highest total – thanks to an 87-yard TD catch, Hawkins compiled 197 yards on six receptions in a game at St. Louis (albeit one that the Eagles lost by a score of 48-14).

Kent Nix started a total of nine games for the Steelers , continuing to see action even after Bill Nelsen’s return. He completed 136 of 268 passes (50.7 %) for 1587 yards and 8 TDs, but also gave up 19 interceptions. The son of Emery Nix, who had a brief career with the Giants in the 1940s, he spent another two years with Pittsburgh, but saw decreasingly less action before departing for the Bears and Oilers.

1966: Concannon Runs, Passes Eagles to Win Over Steelers

The Philadelphia Eagles were 6-5 and trying to put together their first winning season in five years as they hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 4, 1966. Head Coach Joe Kuharich’s team had a fine offensive line anchored by OT Bob Brown and good group of running backs that included HB Timmy Brown and up-and-coming FB Tom Woodeshick. The passing game was a problem, however, as QB Norm Snead, typically the starter, was enduring a dreadful season. One of the other two quarterbacks, King Hill, led the team to a win at San Francisco the previous week, but now it was Jack Concannon (pictured at right) getting the call at home against Pittsburgh.

Concannon, a star at Boston College, was Philadelphia’s second-round draft choice in 1964 and had received a big contract to keep him away from the Patriots of the AFL.  Buried behind Snead and Hill on the depth chart, he saw little action but started one game against the Cowboys late in his rookie season and provided plenty of excitement with his flashy running ability, while throwing for 134 yards and two TDs in a win. That performance made him the backup most chanted for when the offense was performing badly, but being a fan favorite didn’t guarantee him playing time. He saw scant playing time in 1965 and Coach Kuharich tried him as a halfback, flanker, and punt returner during the ’66 season before finally giving him another starting shot at quarterback.

The Steelers, under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Bill Austin, were 3-7-1 and also had a change at quarterback. Bill Nelsen, having missed nine games due to a knee injury, was back behind center. But while there were good receivers, most notably flanker Gary Ballman, the line was inadequate and, other than FB Willie Asbury, the backs unimpressive. The defensive line was a strong point, and was a reason for Jack Concannon to get the starting assignment at quarterback for the Eagles because Coach Kuharich believed that his mobile, rollout style would match up well against it.

There were 54,275 fans in attendance at Franklin Field. The Steelers had first possession and punted and the Eagles, starting from their 30 yard line, drove 42 yards. Jack Concannon set the tone when, on a third-and-seven play, he took off and ran for 18 yards. He also had a five-yard carry and completed a pass to Tom Woodeshick that picked up 11 yards and set up a 35-yard field goal by Sam Baker.

Pittsburgh responded by advancing into Philadelphia territory, the big gain being a 45-yard carry to the ten yard line by Willie Asbury on a draw play. But Bill Nelsen was sacked for a loss of 14 yards by DE Gary Pettigrew (pictured at left) in between tossing two incomplete passes, and Mike Clark was unsuccessful on a 31-yard field goal attempt.

The Eagles turned the ball over on the next possession when Timmy Brown fumbled a handoff and DE Ben McGee recovered to give the Steelers the ball at the Philadelphia 19. In a series that stretched into the second quarter, Pittsburgh scored when Asbury ran seven yards for a touchdown and, adding Clark’s extra point, the visitors held a 7-3 lead.

Philadelphia again turned the ball over in its own territory when Concannon fumbled as he was hit by LB Andy Russell and safety Paul Martha recovered at the 34. The result was a 37-yard Clark field goal that extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 10-3.

The Eagles came back with an 80-yard drive in 11 plays. Concannon completed three passes and twice scrambled for sizable gains. An 11-yard completion to split end Fred Hill converted a third-and-ten situation, an 11-yard scramble led to another first down, and a 29-yard run on a third-and-six play advanced the ball to the Pittsburgh 25. Concannon threw to Brown for a 17-yard gain that converted yet another third down and set up a three-yard touchdown carry by Woodeshick. Baker converted to tie the score.

With just over two minutes to play in the first half, the Eagles took advantage of a turnover when Nelsen fumbled and LB Dave Lloyd recovered at the Pittsburgh 25. Concannon had runs of six and eight yards, but when he was finally thrown for a loss on third down, Philadelphia settled for a 22-yard Baker field goal.

There was still enough time for the Steelers, and Nelsen drove them down the field with completions of 11 yards to HB Dick Hoak, 18 yards to Gary Ballman, and 22 yards to Hoak. Clark kicked a 32-yard field goal on the last play before halftime and the score was tied at 13-13 at the intermission. Concannon had accounted for 47 passing yards and 77 by rushing.

The teams traded punts to start the third quarter until Pittsburgh put together a scoring possession. The big gain came on a Nelsen throw to Ballman for 26 yards to the Philadelphia 28 and, while the Steelers could get no further, they came away with another field goal by Clark, this time from 35 yards.

The Eagles responded by advancing 70 yards in 11 plays. Concannon completed passes to flanker Ron Goodwin for 29 yards and Hill for 11, and ran three times for 21 yards. Woodeshick ran the last yard for a TD and Baker’s PAT put the home team on top by 20-16.

Asbury fumbled on Pittsburgh’s next play from scrimmage and Pettigrew recovered at the Steelers’ 30. As the period wound down, Concannon scrambled for a 16-yard gain and completed a pass to Timmy Brown for eight more. On the fourth play of the fourth quarter, Concannon scored from a yard out on a quarterback sneak and Baker added the point after to put the Eagles up by 27-16.

The Steelers came right back as Ballman returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards and Nelsen immediately went to the air and connected with flanker Roy Jefferson for 43 yards to the Philadelphia four. Asbury ran for a two-yard touchdown three plays later, Clark converted, and Philadelphia’s lead was narrowed to four points.

The teams exchanged punts and, with time running short for the Steelers as they took over possession on their own 47, Nelsen threw an incompletion, Asbury was stopped for no gain on a draw play, Ballman dropped a pass, and a fourth-down throw was also incomplete to turn the ball over on downs. Pittsburgh got one more shot following another Philadelphia punt, but a penalty and a sack by LB Harold Wells forced them into a deep hole from which they couldn’t escape. The Eagles won by a final score of 27-23.

Philadelphia led in total yards (304 to 250) and first downs (19 to 15). The Eagles also recorded four sacks, to one by Pittsburgh. Each team turned the ball over twice.

Jack Concannon completed 13 of 25 passes for 131 yards with no touchdowns, but also with none intercepted, but made an even bigger impression with his running as he gained 129 yards on 15 carries that included a TD. Tom Woodeshick gained 46 yards on 19 attempts with two short touchdowns and he also picked up 28 yards on three pass receptions. Timmy Brown, who ran for only five yards on nine carries, led the club with 5 catches for 43 yards.

For the Steelers, Bill Nelsen was successful on 11 of 25 throws for 195 yards, also throwing no TD passes or interceptions. Gary Ballman caught 6 passes for 93 yards and averaged 27.3 yards on four kickoff returns. Willie Asbury (pictured above) ran for 70 yards on 14 attempts that included two TDs.

“I ran a bit more today than I want to, and I hope I don’t have to do that again,” said Jack Concannon. “My timing was off from rustiness and our running attack wasn’t working the way I hoped that it would, so I ran more than a quarterback should.”

“We let Concannon go wide on us a couple of times and he hurt us each time,” said Coach Austin of the Steelers. “We didn’t get our people up quick enough to contain the rollouts.”

The Eagles won again the next week against the Browns, with Concannon again leading the way at quarterback, but it was King Hill behind center when they beat Washington in the finale to make it four straight victories to finish out the season. Philadelphia’s final record was 9-5, which was good for a second place tie with the Browns in the Eastern Conference and a spot in the Playoff Bowl, the postseason exhibition game that pitted the runners-up in each conference. They lost to the Colts with Hill and Concannon at quarterback. Pittsburgh also finished on a high note, scoring a combined 104 points behind the good play of Bill Nelsen in beating the Giants and expansion Falcons. The Steelers ended up sixth in the conference at 5-8-1.

Jack Concannon was traded to the Bears in the offseason. In three years with the Eagles, he completed just 43.7 percent of his 103 passes for 637 yards and four touchdowns against eight interceptions. However, he ran for 433 yards on 50 carries, averaging 8.7 yards per attempt and scoring two TDs. The team was 3-0 in his starts and the 129 rushing yards against the Steelers remained the single-game record for a Philadelphia quarterback until 2010, withstanding the presence of far more accomplished mobile Eagles quarterbacks over the years like Randall Cunningham and Donovan McNabb before it finally was exceeded by Michael Vick.

1967: Bakken Kicks 7 Field Goals as Cardinals Defeat Steelers

Jim Bakken of the St. Louis Cardinals was already well-established as a top placekicker prior to the 1967 NFL season, having kicked 80 field goals over the previous four years and been selected to the Pro Bowl in 1965. He had kicked two three-pointers in the team’s opening-game loss to the Giants to give him field goals in 12 consecutive games. But on September 24 against the Steelers, the 26-year-old straight-ahead kicker of the old school put his name prominently in the record book.

The Cardinals, coached by Charley Winner, came into the game as ten-point underdogs. While St. Louis was coming off an 8-5-1 season in ’66, veteran QB Charley Johnson had been called up to active military duty, leaving untested second-year QB Jim Hart to direct the offense. To be sure, there was still plenty of talent on offense, including a good group of running backs in HB Johnny Roland, HB Prentice Gautt, and FB Willis Crenshaw, as well as TE Jackie Smith and flanker Bobby Joe Conrad. Still, the Steelers, under Head Coach Bill Austin, had beaten the Bears in their Week 1 game by the convincing score of 41-13 while the Cards were losing to the Giants, 37-20.

There were 45,579 fans at Pitt Stadium, and any hopes that the Steelers would cruise to a second win were quickly dashed. In the first 20 minutes of action, the Cardinals took advantage of three interceptions and a fumble recovery to put 16 points on the board while having great success at keeping Pittsburgh’s offense off-balance with blitzes.

CB Pat Fischer intercepted two passes and DT Chuck Walker recovered a fumble, keeping the action almost exclusively in Pittsburgh territory as a result. Still, the St. Louis offense had difficulty getting into the end zone. Bakken kicked first quarter field goals of 18 and 24 yards before Hart scored a touchdown near the end of the period on a 23-yard run on a broken play due to a mixup in the backfield.

Bakken kicked a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter, making the score 16-0, before the Steelers finally got on the board. Pittsburgh QB Bill Nelsen didn’t complete a pass until there were just over five minutes to go in the first half, but once he found the range he was successful on three straight throws, one of 48 yards to TE Chet Anderson and the last a five-yard scoring pass, again to Anderson. Bakken booted his fourth field goal, from 29 yards, before the first half was over and the Cardinals took a 19-7 lead into the intermission.

In the third quarter, and following an interception by DB Marv Woodson, the Steelers scored again after driving 33 yards, highlighted by a 19-yard Nelsen completion to split end Roy Jefferson, with FB Willie Asbury plunging in for a one-yard TD. That reduced the Cardinals’ margin to five points at 19-14.

However, that was it for Pittsburgh. Nelsen left the game with five minutes to go due to a knee injury after taking a pounding from the Cardinals defense, getting sacked five times and hit on several other occasions after having just gotten rid of the ball. Meanwhile, Bakken kicked three field goals, of 24, 32, and 23 yards, in the fourth quarter to nail down the 28-14 win for St. Louis as well as set a new single-game record both for field goals made and attempted in a game.

The seven field goals made broke the previous NFL mark of six set just the year before by Detroit’s Garo Yepremian (Gino Cappelletti had already kicked six in an AFL game in 1964). Bakken’s nine attempts (he missed from 50 and 45 yards) exceeded the record of eight that had been held by Yepremian, from his six-field goal game in ‘66, and Lou Michaels of the Steelers in 1962.

Five of the successful kicks were into the 14 mph wind at Pitt Stadium. Bakken also had a substitute holder for the last three, when his regular holder, FS Larry Wilson, suffered a hand injury and Bobby Joe Conrad took over.

It was also the 13th straight game in which Bakken kicked a field goal, putting him one short of the existing NFL record (he surpassed that mark and topped out at 19).

“I knew about the record, and it almost cost me,” Bakken said afterward. “When I kicked the seventh one, I wanted to see if it was any good almost before I kicked it. So I looked up and almost dubbed it. I just made it.”

Beyond Bakken’s heroics, the Cardinals outgained Pittsburgh by 283 yards to 237 while the Steelers had more first downs (17 to 12). The big difference in the game was Pittsburgh’s six turnovers, to just one suffered by the Cards.

The inexperienced Jim Hart continued to struggle, as he completed just 8 of 25 passes for 137 yards with one intercepted. In the last 2:30 of the game, Charley Johnson, on leave from military duty, made his first appearance of the season for the Cardinals but threw no passes. Prentice Gautt ran for 77 yards on 14 carries to lead the club, while split end Bill Gambrell was the top receiver with three catches for 55 yards.

For the Steelers, Bill Nelsen also was successful on just 8 of his 25 throws for 130 yards with a TD and three interceptions. His replacement, Kent Nix, was good on three of five passes for 46 yards. Chet Anderson and split end Dick Compton both caught four passes, with Anderson gaining 84 yards and scoring a touchdown (Compton had 51 yards). HB Jim “Cannonball” Butler led the club with 51 yards on 10 rushing attempts.

The Cardinals won their next two games but then tailed off to finish at 6-7-1 and in third place in the Century Division. Jim Hart showed poise and potential as the starting quarterback, although he also tossed 30 interceptions, but an undercurrent of racial discord led to dissension on the club. Pittsburgh lost four more games in a row before beating the expansion Saints and ended up at the bottom of the division with a 4-9-1 record.

Jim Bakken led the NFL in field goals (27), field goal percentage (69.2), and scoring (117) and was named to the Pro Bowl for the second time. As was the case with most kickers of that era (not to mention earlier in football history), Bakken had not started out as a specialist but had been a high school quarterback and college defensive back who also handled the placekicking. He was originally drafted out of Wisconsin by the Rams as a safety in 1962 and was waived and picked up by the Cardinals. While Bakken saw some action in the defensive backfield that first year, he became the team’s full-time placekicker in ’63 and remained in the job until 1978, a total of 16 seasons.

At the time of his retirement, Bakken ranked third in career field goals in NFL history (282, tied with Fred Cox), extra points (534), and second in scoring (1380 points). He had a respectable 63.1 percent success rate on his field goal attempts and was a consensus first-team All-Pro twice later in his career (1975 and ’76) and was selected to a total of four Pro Bowls. Soccer-style kickers, who had not yet entered the pro ranks when Bakken first started out, were dominant by the end of his career, which even spanned the move of the goal posts from the goal line to the back of the end zone in 1974. But the player who had learned to placekick as an afterthought while playing other positions before he was a pro ended up being one of the best of the old-style kickers.

The record of seven field goals in a game was equaled by Rich Karlis of the Vikings in 1989, as well as two Dallas placekickers, Chris Boniol in 1996 and Billy Cundiff in 2003, before being broken by Tennessee’s Rob Bironas with eight in a contest against the Texans in 2007 (Shayne Graham of the Bengals kicked seven in a game later in the ’07 season). The record of nine attempts in a game still stands as of this writing, and Bakken of course remains the only straight-ahead kicker with as many as seven.