1967: Unitas Passes for 401 Yards as Colts Defeat Upstart Falcons

On September 17, 1967 the Atlanta Falcons traveled to Baltimore to begin their second season against the Colts. Coach Norb Hecker’s Falcons had gone 3-11 as a first-year expansion team in 1966, but all three of the wins came late in the year to give the enthusiastic fans hope for ’67. QB Randy Johnson started as a rookie, and took his lumps accordingly, but showed promise. Ex-Packer HB Junior Coffey performed well running the ball, and another prize rookie, MLB Tommy Nobis, quickly established himself as the key player on defense.

The Falcons faced a formidable opening-week foe in the Baltimore Colts. Coached by Don Shula, they were typically one of the league’s better teams and coming off a 9-5 season. As he had been for a decade, 34-year-old QB Johnny Unitas (pictured above) was the key to the well-balanced offense. The defense was tough both up front – where they had made it even tougher by drafting Michigan State All-American DE Bubba Smith – and in the backfield.

There were 56,715 fans in attendance at Memorial Stadium. It looked easy for the Colts when, on the first play from scrimmage, Unitas connected with HB Tom Matte for an 88-yard touchdown. However, the Falcons tied the game quickly when DB/flanker Ron Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a TD. Both extra points were successfully added and the score stood at 7-7. Before the opening quarter was over, Lou Michaels kicked a 16-yard field goal to put the Colts back in front.

In the second quarter, the Colts put together a 76-yard scoring drive. Unitas passed to flanker Jimmy Orr for 18 yards and, following a three-yard gain on a running play, connected with Orr again on a 55-yard bomb for a touchdown.

CB Bobby Boyd picked off a Randy Johnson pass and returned it 30 yards for a TD to expand the margin to 24-7. The Colts weren’t done yet in the first half as Unitas passes to TE John Mackey set up a three-yard scoring run by FB Tony Lorick. Baltimore was up by 24 points at halftime and the lead appeared to be impregnable.

Atlanta began to rally in the third quarter. An 82-yard drive ended with Johnson throwing a pass to TE Tax Anderson for a 21-yard touchdown. Later in the period Wade Traynham booted a 48-yard field goal to narrow Baltimore’s lead to 31-17.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Falcons crept closer as CB Lee Calland intercepted a Unitas pass and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown. With the successful extra point, Atlanta was down by only 31-24.

The Colts, who had been quiet thus far offensively in the second half, responded by driving 82 yards capped by Matte (pictured at left) running 10 yards for a TD. The Falcons didn’t fold, however, and a big play got them back down the field quickly. Johnson completed a pass to Ron Smith for a 60-yard gain to set up his own 17-yard scoring carry. With another successful PAT, the Falcons had pulled to within a touchdown of the Colts with two minutes left.

There was not to be a big upset, however. Atlanta got the ball back for one last try but LB Mike Curtis finally sealed the 38-31 win for the Colts with an interception at the Baltimore 40.

The Colts led significantly in total yards (508 to 303) and first downs (20 to 13) as two of Atlanta’s scores were not produced by the offense. The Falcons hurt themselves with five turnovers, which helped put them in their deep second quarter hole, as opposed to two suffered by Baltimore.

Johnny Unitas broke his own franchise single-game passing yardage record (397 in 1959) as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 401 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. It would remain his career high. John Mackey had 8 catches for 126 yards and, with the long scoring play, Tom Matte added 99 yards on his two receptions to go along with a team-leading 36 yards on 10 rushing attempts that also included a TD.

For the Falcons, Randy Johnson was successful on 18 of 29 throws for 217 yards and a TD but also tossed four interceptions. In addition, Johnson rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown on four carries, which also led the club. Junior Coffey was right behind as he ran for 38 yards on 13 attempts; he also caught 6 passes for another 20 yards. Ron Smith (pictured at right), with his one long reception, topped the team with 60 receiving yards. Added to his 139 kickoff return yards that included a TD and 22 yards on punt returns, Smith touched the ball 6 times for 221 total yards.

Following the high-scoring Week 1 battle, the fate of the two teams diverged significantly. The Colts were tied twice but didn’t lose until the last week of the season – although the loss to the Rams was enough to deprive them of the Coastal Division title and a spot in the postseason despite an 11-1-2 record.

The Falcons didn’t match their opening point total in any of their remaining games and, in fact, scored just 14 points in losing their next three games and the next time they met the Colts they lost 49-7. The final tally was 1-12-1 as Atlanta finished at the bottom of the division with the NFL’s worst record.

Johnny Unitas went on to receive consensus league MVP honors as well as being a first-team All-NFL and, for the tenth time, Pro Bowl selection. He led the league in completion percentage (58.5) and ranked second in pass attempts (436), completions (255), and yards (3428).

Ron Smith ranked fifth in the NFL in all-purpose yards with 1337, which included a league-leading 976 yards on kickoff returns. In the only season of his ten-year career in which he was used on offense, he caught 11 passes for 227 yards (20.6 avg.) and ran the ball 8 times for 42 yards. 

1965: NFL Awards Franchise to Atlanta for ‘66

On June 30, 1965 the NFL granted a franchise to Atlanta, moving into the Deep South for the first time and outmaneuvering the rival American Football League to do so. Originally, it had appeared that the AFL would be putting a club in Atlanta, and Commissioner Joe Foss had stated as much. The President of Cox Broadcasting Company, Leonard Reinsch, was to be the owner (he had also looked into the possibility of moving the Denver Broncos to Georgia). However, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle acted quickly to line up an ownership group headed by insurance executive Rankin Smith that paid $8.5 million for the franchise. The new Atlanta Stadium was secured for Smith’s group, and the chastened younger league was forced to look elsewhere (settling on Miami).

It was a major coup for the city that had also lured major league baseball’s Braves from Milwaukee and generated much initial fan excitement. A radio station contest came up with the name Falcons for the new team and 45,000 season tickets were sold within a few weeks of becoming available. Former player and scout Gene Cronin was chosen as director of player personnel while Norb Hecker, defensive backfield coach under Vince Lombardi in Green Bay, became the first head coach.

A draft of veterans from the other NFL clubs brought mostly marginal talent, since each team was able to protect its best players. The draft of college players was more promising as the Falcons were able to pick at the top and bottom of the first five rounds, as well as the top of the remaining rounds, giving them 25 choices in all. With the first overall choice, they took LB Tommy Nobis (pictured at top), the Outland Trophy winner out of Texas.

The Falcons were placed in the Eastern Conference for the ’66 season, but because the league now had an uneven number of teams with 15, they played each of the other NFL teams one time apiece (a so-called swing schedule, as opposed to the usual arrangement of playing a home-and-away series with each conference opponent).

It had been anticipated that Dennis Claridge, who had thrown a total of one pro pass as backup to Bart Starr and Zeke Bratkowski in Green Bay, would be Atlanta’s first starting quarterback. However, rookie Randy Johnson (pictured at right), their second pick at the end of the first round out of Texas A&I, gained the job instead and performed reasonably well while completing 43.7 % of his passes for 1795 yards with 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.

Another ex-Packer, HB Junior Coffey, was the club’s rushing star with 722 yards on 199 carries (3.6 avg.) and four TDs. He teamed with FB Ernie Wheelwright, formerly of the Giants, who added 458 yards on the ground, but neither had breakaway speed and depth behind them was lacking. 29-year-old flanker Alex Hawkins, a long-time reserve and special teams standout with the Colts, was Atlanta’s leading receiver with 44 catches for 661 yards (15.0 avg.) and two scores. TE Billy Martin, who split time with ex-Card Taz Anderson, pulled in 29 passes, one more than starting split end Vern Burke. Center Frank Marchlewski showed promise and starting guards Dan Grimm and Ed Cook and tackles Don Talbert and Errol Linden did reasonably well, although once again, depth was an issue.

On defense, Nobis stepped into the lineup at middle linebacker and had an immediate impact, gaining Rookie of the Year honors and selection to the Pro Bowl. But while OLB Marion Rushing was effective on the strong side, the weak side linebacking – held down by over-the-hill veterans Bill Jobko and Larry Morris – was lacking. The line was undistinguished and contained the team’s oldest player, 35-year-old DE Sam Williams. Starting cornerbacks were Lee Calland and Ron Smith, better known for his kick returning. FS Bob Riggle did well in tandem with SS Jerry Richardson, who led the club with five interceptions.

Lou Kirouac handled the bulk of the placekicking and was successful on just half of his field goal attempts (9 of 18) and missed five of 24 extra point tries. Punter Billy Lothridge was better, averaging 40.7 yards on his 73 kicks.

The Falcons lost their first nine games but won three of their last five to finish on a reasonably high note – and ahead of the 1-12-1 Giants (the team they defeated for their first regular season win). Not surprisingly, the team ranked at the bottom of the league in total offense (3536 yards) and scoring (204 points) while giving up the most points (437). Still, fan support was enthusiastic, and there were hopes for improvement in ’67 based on the club’s improved play in the late season.

Instead, the club regressed and won just one game. Coach Hecker failed to survive a third year at the helm in 1968, giving way to Norm Van Brocklin, previously the head coach in Minnesota following his Hall of Fame career as a quarterback. The Dutchman guided the Falcons to their first winning record in 1971, but they would not appear in the postseason for the first time until 1978. 

1966: Falcons Defeat Giants for Franchise’s First Win

The game at Yankee Stadium on November 20, 1966 between the New York Giants and visiting Atlanta Falcons was hardly a thrilling spectacle – the Falcons broke out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and never fell behind. Nor was it significant in the standings, as Atlanta had yet to win a game (0-9) and the Giants were scarcely better (1-7-1). However, when the Falcons won by a score of 27-16, it was not only their first win of the season but the first in the history of the franchise (excluding the preseason).

Atlanta had flirted with the AFL, both as a potential expansion site or as a new home for the Denver Broncos. The Broncos stayed put, however, and the NFL pulled the rug from under the rival league by awarding a franchise to insurance executive Rankin Smith for the 1966 season (the AFL expanded to Miami instead).

The Falcons took the field under Head Coach Norb Hecker, who had been an assistant under Vince Lombardi at Green Bay. As was usually the case with expansion teams, it was made up largely of castoff veterans and young, unproven players. However, they drew well at the new Atlanta Stadium, averaging over 56,000 in attendance for each home game.

Following the usual formula for a new team, Hecker concentrated on defense in this first season, building around MLB Tommy Nobis, the overall first draft pick out of Texas. The offense was also directed by a rookie, QB Randy Johnson from Texas A&I. The team didn’t score much, but they had a couple of reliable, if plodding, running backs in Junior Coffey (pictured) and ex-Giant Ernie Wheelwright, and veteran flanker Alex Hawkins, who had previously been a reserve with the Colts.

Against New York, Atlanta scored on a nine-yard pass from Johnson to Wheelwright in the first quarter. The Giants responded with a 24-yard field goal by Pete Gogolak, but Johnson threw his second TD pass of the game, an eight-yarder to split end Vern Burke, to give the Falcons a lead of 13-3 at halftime (the PAT attempt failed).

It was Johnson to Wheelwright again in the third quarter, for a six-yard TD, before the Giants finally scored a touchdown on a three-yard pass from QB Tom Kennedy to the versatile Joe Morrison, playing at halfback. Johnson scored once more on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter. The Giants were able to come up with one more TD, a 12-yard run by Morrison (who led all rushers in the game with 91 yards on 17 carries), to close out the scoring (the extra point attempt was no good).

The 27 points were the most the Falcons had scored to date. Johnson had made good on 15 of 25 passes for 177 yards, with three touchdowns against one interception. Coffey led the running game with 64 yards on 16 carries, while the fullback Wheelwright carried 14 times for 51 yards and also led the team in receptions with 5 for 35 yards and two scores. TE Taz Anderson had the most receiving yards for Atlanta, with 47 on his two catches.

Atlanta went on to win two of the remaining three games to finish with a 3-11 record and become the first expansion team to not finish in last place; they were in seventh in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the 1-12-1 Giants. For the Giants, the loss was one of many low points on the way to the worst record in franchise history.

For the year, Johnson completed 129 of 295 passes (43.7 %) for 1795 yards with 12 TDs and 21 interceptions. Coffey had a respectable season, ranking ninth in the league with 722 yards rushing on 199 carries. Wheelwright added 458 yards on 121 attempts; both caught 15 passes apiece.

While the anticipation was great that the Falcons would improve on the 1966 showing in ’67, it was not to be – they regressed to 1-12-1.