1968: Packers Beat Raiders in Super Bowl II

Head Coach Vince Lombardi had guided the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships in nine seasons, including three straight from 1965-67. Having beaten the Dallas Cowboys in a dramatic NFL Championship game on a frigid day at Lambeau Field, he now looked to cap his tenure with a second Super Bowl win over the AFL champions, the Oakland Raiders.

The Packers were a solid and seasoned club, having overcome a slow start in '67 by QB Bart Starr (pictured above) due to injuries at the beginning of the season, and the loss of HB Elijah Pitts and FB Jim Grabowski along the way. But Lombardi filled in with players like fullbacks Ben Wilson and Chuck Mercein, and there were familiar names throughout the roster, including Pro Bowlers in split end Boyd Dowler, G Jerry Kramer, OT Forrest Gregg, DE Willie Davis, LB Dave Robinson, FS Willie Wood, and cornerbacks Herb Adderley and Bob Jeter.

The team they would be facing on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Raiders, was in the postseason for the first time. Coached by John Rauch and operated by managing general partner Al Davis, Oakland profited from an offseason trade with Buffalo that brought QB Daryle Lamonica to the team. Lamonica, a highly-regarded backup with the Bills for four years, was outstanding as he led the league in passing and touchdown passes (30) while throwing for 3228 yards, and was named AFL Player of the Year by the Associated Press and UPI. He was not the only newcomer who made good – CB Willie Brown was obtained from the Broncos and had an All-AFL season, and 40-year-old George Blanda provided depth at quarterback and reliable placekicking. Rookie G Gene Upshaw joined young veterans having breakout years like flanker Fred Biletnikoff and FB Hewritt Dixon, and stalwarts such as center Jim Otto and G Wayne Hawkins.

The Raiders won the Western Division with a 13-1 record and decimated the Oilers in the league title game. The Packers were nevertheless 14-point favorites.

Attendance at the first Super Bowl in Los Angeles had been disappointing, but there were 75,546 fans filling the Orange Bowl for the second contest (still not officially called the Super Bowl). Oakland received the opening kickoff and proceeded to go three-and-out. The Packers responded by driving 34 yards in 11 plays on their first possession, capped by a 39-yard field goal by Don Chandler.

The Raiders nearly made it to midfield on their next possession, and Mike Eischeid’s punt traveled 45 yards before going out of bounds at the Green Bay three yard line. The Packers proceeded to methodically drive 84 yards in 16 plays, running 8:40 off the clock and highlighted by Starr’s 16-yard pass completion to flanker Carroll Dale and 14-yard run on a broken play. The long possession was capped in the second quarter by another Chandler field goal, this time from 20 yards, for a 6-0 lead.

Following another short Oakland possession, Starr fired a pass to Dowler who blew past CB Kent McCloughan and ran unencumbered the rest of the way for a 62-yard touchdown (pictured below). With the score now 13-0, Lamonica directed the Raiders on a nine-play drive that covered 78 yards and ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass to split end Bill Miller.


Green Bay took over at its own 15 yard line following the ensuing kickoff and DT Tom Keating’s sack of Starr drove the Packers backward. Donny Anderson’s 45-yard punt was returned 12 yards by safety Rodger Bird to give Oakland good field position at the Green Bay 40. However, the Raiders offense went three-and-out and George Blanda’s 47-yard field goal attempt was short.

Following another short Green Bay possession, Anderson punted again but this time Bird fumbled after signaling a fair catch and TE/LB Dick Capp recovered for the Packers at the Oakland 45. Chandler kicked a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half and the Packers took a 16-7 lead into the intermission.

The Packers pulled away in the third quarter, much as they had done against the Chiefs in the first Super Bowl. Following a trade of punts to start the half, Green Bay drove 82 yards in 11 plays, highlighted by Ben Wilson’s 13-yard opening run on a draw play, a pass from Starr to split end Max McGee that covered 35 yards, an 11-yard Starr completion to Dale on a third-and-nine play, and a 12-yard pass completion to HB Donny Anderson. Anderson capped it all with a two-yard touchdown run and the Packers held a 23-7 lead.

Following another three-and-out possession by the Raiders, Green Bay put together another long drive that ended in Chandler’s fourth field goal, from 31 yards, with two seconds remaining in the period. The Packers now had a commanding lead of 26-7 with just a quarter to play.

The fourth quarter began with HB Pete Banaszak fumbling after catching a pass from Lamonica and Dave Robinson recovering for Green Bay. After a short possession by the Packers, the Raiders got the ball back and this time another turnover added the final nail to Oakland’s coffin as Lamonica was intercepted by Adderley (pictured below), who returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.


The Raiders came back to score on the next possession, again on a Lamonica pass to Miller that covered 23 yards, but it was too little, too late. Starr had to leave the game due to a jammed thumb, with veteran backup QB Zeke Bratkowski taking over to mop up, but the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Green Bay won its second Super Bowl by a score of 33-14.

The Packers outgained Oakland (322 yards to 293), including 160 yards on the ground, and led in first downs by 19 to 16. The efficient NFL champions didn’t beat themselves, suffering no turnovers and being penalized just once. The Raiders turned the ball over three times.

Bart Starr completed 13 of 24 passes for 202 yards with a touchdown and was again named MVP of the game. Ben Wilson ran for 62 yards on 17 carries, followed by Donny Anderson with 48 yards on 14 attempts and HB Travis Williams, who contributed 36 yards on 8 runs. Carroll Dale caught four passes for 43 yards and TE Marv Fleming also caught four, for 35 yards, while Boyd Dowler led the Packers in receiving yards, thanks to his long touchdown reception, with 71 on two catches.

For the Raiders, Daryle Lamonica completed 15 of 34 passes for 208 yards with two TDs and one picked off. Bill Miller (pictured below) caught 5 passes for 84 yards and scored both of the club’s touchdowns. Hewritt Dixon was the leading ground gainer with 54 yards on 12 carries.


“We're a young team,” John Rauch said. “I was happy with the fact that at no point in the game did we give up. It's characteristic of our team. We hope to continue with our program and get better.”

The game was the last for Max McGee, hero of the first Super Bowl and 12-year veteran who caught one 35-yard pass against the Raiders, and Don Chandler, who booted the four field goals to end his 12-season career as a placekicker/punter (with the Giants as well as Green Bay) on a high note. But another departure for the Packers was the most significant of all.

A few days after the game, Vince Lombardi confirmed what was widely rumored and stepped down as head coach, although he remained the general manager for another year. It marked the end of a remarkable coaching tenure for the man whose name became attached to the trophy presented each season to the Super Bowl-winning team.

1967: Broncos Stun Lions in First Preseason Game Between AFL-NFL Teams

The merger between the NFL and AFL that was agreed to in 1966 was implemented in phases. In the first, following the ’66 season, a game was played between the champions of the two leagues (now known as Super Bowl I). For 1967, there was a common draft of college talent between the two leagues, and while they would still play separate schedules until 1970, interleague preseason games could be scheduled. While at one level the contests were mere exhibition games that counted for nothing in the standings, to the participants they meant a great deal. In particular, the AFL players were determined to prove their mettle against the clubs from the older NFL.

Such was the case as the AFL’s Denver Broncos hosted the NFL’s Detroit Lions at University of Denver Stadium on August 5, 1967. The Broncos, a club that had never produced a record above .500 in any season and had gone 4-10 in ’66, hardly seemed likely to fare well against any NFL team. Under new Head Coach Lou Saban, who had led Buffalo to back-to-back championships in 1964 and ’65 before coaching for a year at the University of Maryland, the team was in the process of being revamped. Gone were key veterans that Saban deemed unfit for taking part in a rebuilding effort like split end Lionel Taylor, safety Goose Gonsoulin, and guard Jerry Sturm. Most notable among the newcomers was the rookie first draft choice out of Syracuse, halfback Floyd Little. Denver had lost its first preseason game, against the second-year Miami Dolphins by a score of 19-2.

The Lions also had a new head coach in Joe Schmidt, at age 35 only two years removed from his Hall of Famer career as a linebacker. Detroit had gone 4-9-1 in 1966 and was also in transition. Defense had long been the team’s strong suit, and they still had a strong veteran core of defensive tackles Roger Brown and Alex Karras, linebackers Mike Lucci and Wayne Walker, and safety Dick LeBeau. Veteran QB Milt Plum was recovered after missing half of the season due to injury and was being challenged by Karl Sweetan, who had performed creditably as a rookie in his absence. The top three picks in the draft had added HB Mel Farr from UCLA, CB Lem Barney of Jackson State, and Tennessee LB Paul Naumoff.

There were 21,288 fans in attendance for the Saturday evening contest. Neither team was able to mount much offense in the first half. Playing inspired football, the Broncos defense kept the Lions offense out of the end zone; the closest Detroit penetrated was to the Denver 36 yard line. Safety Lonnie Wright made two big plays, intercepting a Sweetan pass at his own 20 and then batting down a long Detroit pass in the end zone to stop another drive.

Following a 56-yard pass play from QB Scotty Glacken to flanker Al Denson, Errol Mann kicked a 35-yard field goal that staked the Broncos to a 3-0 lead (while Mann failed to make it to the regular season with Denver, ironically, he eventually ended up kicking for the Lions for 7 ½ years).

The key play of the game occurred on a 4th and 11 situation at the Detroit 44 in the third quarter. Denver punter Bob Scarpitto (pictured at top) ran instead of kicking and picked up 28 yards and a first down at the Lions 16 yard line. Six plays later, FB Cookie Gilchrist bulled into the end zone from a yard out and the Broncos led by 10-0.

Detroit finally scored in the fourth quarter as Plum threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to WR Bill Malinchak. That was it for the Lions, and Mann’s second field goal of the game from 32 yards out capped the scoring at 13-7 in favor of Denver.

On the bus after the game, Roger Brown of the Lions moaned “The Denver Broncos…it didn’t happen!” But Coach Schmidt summed up by saying, “I want to pay tribute to the Denver team. And, if the other AFL teams show as much desire, there will be many other surprises in the preseason inter-league competition.”

While the Broncos went on to defeat the Vikings, 14-9, and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs thrashed the Chicago Bears by an astounding score of 66-24, the NFL teams won the remaining contests and had an overall record of 13-3 in the 1967 interleague preseason games.

For all of the excitement and heightened expectations, the Broncos still ended up at the bottom of the AFL’s Western Division with a 3-11 record. Detroit finished the ’67 regular season with a 5-7-2 tally that ranked third in the Central Division of the NFL’s Western Conference.