Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Hornung shredded Colts in ’65 matchup
The Packers-Colts rivalry dates back to 1953, when the Colts were based in Baltimore. The franchise moved to Indianapolis in 1984, and the Colts hold a 2220-1 edge in regular-season play. Green Bay won the only playoff meeting: a controversial victory in sudden death at Lambeau Field in 1965.
Here are a few of the more memorable games in the Packers-Colts series:
Nov. 2, 1958: Colts 56, Packers 0
Green Bay, fresh off a thrilling 38-35 victory at City Stadium over the Philadelphia Eagles, was 1-3-1 when it faced the Western Conference-leading Colts in Baltimore. What transpired at Memorial Stadium changed the course of the season and franchise history.
Jerry Kramer, then a rookie guard, recalled a moment in the 56-0 blowout before rabid Colts fans.
“The Colts must have kicked off 8-10 times that game, and I’m on the receiving team,” Kramer said. “We’re down 56-0 in the fourth quarter, and we’re lined up for the kickoff and the whole stadium starts chanting, ‘Hold ’em, hold ’em.’
“I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ Someone once said that stadium was the largest outdoor insane asylum ever built, and I agree with that statement. I was a rookie and didn’t know what to expect, and I learned a lot in 1958 about what not to do. But as we all know, Coach Lombardi changed all that.”
The team collapsed after that loss, losing seven straight games to finish a dismal 1-10-1 — a franchise worst. Head coach Ray “Scooter” McLean resigned his position under pressure and the Packers hired New York Giants assistant coach, Vince Lombardi, in early February. And the rest is history.
Dec. 12, 1965: Packers 42, Colts 27
Paul Hornung etched his name in the franchise record book with a five touchdown-performance against the Colts at Baltimore Memorial Stadium.
The Packers halfback had a career day, running for three scores and catching two touchdown passes as Green Bay kept pace with Baltimore down the stretch of a season in which the teams tied atop the Western Conference standings.
“We knew Paul was back to his old self after that game,” linebacker Dave Robinson said. “It was an amazing performance against a great Colts team in their stadium. Coach Lombardi always said no one was better inside the 20 (yard line) than Paul Hornung.”
Baltimore led just once, early in the contest on Lou Michael’s 14-yard field goal. From then on, it was the Paul Hornung show. He scored on a 2-yard run and a 50-yard pass in the first quarter, 9and 3-yard rushes in the third, and on a 65-yard pass in the fourth to complete the game’s scoring.
“We got up on them early and Paul kept on scoring — we needed to because they never gave up,” Robinson said, not
ing Baltimore closed within 35-27 in the final quarter. “It was not an easy win. And then we had to play the Colts again in two weeks in the playoffs.”
Dec. 26, 1965: Packers 13, Colts 10 (OT)
Don Chandler’s controversial gamewinning field goal in sudden-death overtime propelled Green Bay to the NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field.
Both teams finished the regular season with 10-3-1 records, requiring a playoff game to determine the Western Conference champion. Both teams were without their starting quarterbacks, as Johnny Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo were sidelined with injuries and Bart Start went down on the first play of the game while trying to make a tackle on a fumble return.
Enter super-sub Zeke Bratkowski, who stepped in and didn’t miss a beat.
Halfback Tom Matte was pressed into service as Colts quarterback, which severely limited their vaunted passing game. Defense dominated the contest, and Baltimore led 10-0 at the half. Green Bay closed within 10-7 on Hornung’s 1yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Bratkowski engineered a drive in the fourth-quarter that ended with a gametying field goal attempt by kicker Don Chandler with 1:58 left. Starr, with his ribs heavily taped, was the holder for the 22-yard attempt.
Chandler’s kick sailed over the right upright and was called good by the officials. The irate Colts vehemently claimed it was wide right by several feet. The controversy from that kick resulted in an NFL rule change the next season, which increased the uprights by 20 feet.
The 10-10 game went into overtime — the first in Green Bay history — and was ended by another Chandler field goal from 25 yards.
Nov. 16, 1997: Colts 41, Packers 38
On paper, this game was an epic mismatch. The defending Super Bowl champion Packers were 8-2 and on a fivegame winning streak. The last-place Colts were 13-point underdogs and 0-10 — and hadn’t won a regular-season game since mid-December the year before.
The game took on special meaning for Indianapolis head coach Lindy Infante, who was fired by Ron Wolf in 1991 after four seasons in Green Bay. And the Colts responded with a tremendous effort against a superior opponent. “It was their Super Bowl — they were an 0-10 team that was fired up to play us,” said former Packers center Frank Winters.
They certainly were. Indianapolis ran up 41 points, 467 total yards, including 320 through the air and 147 on the ground, against a Reggie White-led Green Bay defense at the RCA Dome.
On this day, journeyman backup Paul Justin outdueled Brett Favre, completing 24 of 30 passes for 340 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Favre finished with 18 completions in 25 attempts for 363 yards and three touch
downs with two interceptions.
Green Bay led 28-27 at halftime, but the Colts took a 38-31 lead in the fourth quarter. Favre rallied the Packers to tie the contest with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman, but Indianapolis milked the final five minutes of the clock and won the game as Cary Blanchard’s 20-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired.
Sept 26, 2004: Colts 45, Packers 31
This one was an aerial circus, with Hall of Fame quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Brett Favre combining for nine touchdowns and 753 yards. But, the biggest play of the game was made by a rookie defensive back.
Amazing fact: this game featured five touchdown passes in the first quarter, which the Colts led 21-14.
Manning was on fire in the first half, throwing touchdown passes of 36 yards, 28, 34, 27 and 1, as Indianapolis built a 35-17 cushion at intermission.
Then it was Favre’s turn. Touchdown passes of 12 yards to Javon Walker in the third quarter and 27 yards to Donald Driver in the fourth cut the margin to 38-31 with 13:12 remaining.
Late in the fourth, a Green Bay drive was halted when David Harper stripped Walker of the football near mid-field, and Nick Harper returned it to the Packers 36. Edgerrin James put the game out of reach with a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 1:49 left.
Favre, who rallied the Packers within a touchdown from the 18-point half deficit, finished with 30 completions in 44 attempts for 360 yards and four touchdowns. Manning was magnificent, completing 28 of 40 passes for 393 yards and five touchdowns.
Some NFL history was also set in this contest: Favre made his recordbreaking 192nd consecutive start and Manning his 99th, second most in league history; and never before had two quarterbacks each thrown for 350 yards or more with at least four touchdowns and no interceptions.