1963: Lions Beat Steelers in Playoff Bowl as Layne Plays for Last Time

The Detroit Lions were appearing in the Playoff Bowl for the third straight year on January 6, 1963. While it was a meaningless postseason exhibition game, it still attested to the fact that they had placed second in the NFL’s Western Conference from 1960-62. Detroit did so again in ’62 with an 11-3 record, third best in the NFL.

Representing the Eastern Conference were the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had gone 9-5 in their sixth season under Head Coach Buddy Parker – the same coach who had led the Lions to back-to-back NFL titles in 1952 and ’53. The Steelers had won six of their last seven games and were largely a veteran club. QB Bobby Layne was nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career, and it was 34-year-old Ed Brown, formerly of the Bears, who would be starting against the Lions. Ninth-year FB John Henry Johnson had the finest season of his distinguished career, rushing for 1141 yards. Split end Buddy Dial was a potent deep threat, while TE Preston Carpenter was chosen for the Pro Bowl. Savvy veterans, center Buzz Nutter and DT Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, were also picked for the Pro Bowl, and other key contributors over 30 were DT/DE Ernie Stautner and LB George Tarasovic. Lou Michaels, a placekicker as well as defensive end, set a new NFL record with 26 field goals.

Detroit had demolished the Steelers during the regular season by a 45-7 margin, but that was at the beginning of the year and before they began to reel off wins. Coached by Parker’s successor, George Wilson, the Lions were renowned for their defense that included tackles Roger Brown and Alex Karras, MLB Joe Schmidt, and the league’s best secondary with cornerbacks Dick “Night Train” Lane and Dick LeBeau and safeties Yale Lary and Gary Lowe. The offense continued to be a problem, and the acquisition of QB Milt Plum (pictured above) from Cleveland during the previous offseason, although an improvement, did not fully resolve the issue.

There were 36,284 fans for the nationally-telecast game at Miami’s Orange Bowl, the game’s best attendance to date (and exceeding the 35,000 threshold that NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle stated was necessary for Miami to continue hosting the event). The Steelers were also debuting a new (and now familiar) black helmet design, having worn gold helmets previously.

The Detroit offense looked good in the first quarter, twice driving into field goal range. The first possession included passes by Plum of 20 yards to split end Gail Cogdill and 14 to flanker Pat Studstill. However, Wayne Walker missed a 29-yard field goal attempt. The second drive began just before the end of the scoreless opening period as FB Ken Webb ran for 32 yards (the longest carry of the day) to just past midfield. Plum passed the team down to the 18, and this time Walker was successful on a field goal attempt from 27 yards.

The Steelers couldn’t get beyond their 40 yard line until midway through the second quarter when they put together an 11-play drive for a touchdown. A pass interference call on a third-and-16 play got the drive moving, and a 19-yard pass from Ed Brown to Carpenter gained 19 yards, followed by a 26-yard throw to Dial for another 26 down to the Detroit 19. HB Dick Hoak scored on a six-yard run and the Steelers led by 7-3.

The Lions again drove into Pittsburgh territory, but LB Tom Bettis intercepted a pass by Plum at the goal line. However, Detroit LB Carl Brettschneider returned the favor by intercepting a Brown pass and returning it 32 yards to the Pittsburgh 34; the Lions capitalized with a 20-yard TD pass from Plum to Webb in the last minute of the half. It was 10-7 in favor of Detroit at the intermission.

In the third quarter, Pittsburgh’s Michaels tied the score at 10-10 with a 40-yard field goal. Following an interception of Plum by safety Clendon Thomas, Michaels tried another field goal but missed from 38 yards.

The Lions came back as Plum connected with HB Dan Lewis on a 74-yard pass play to the Pittsburgh five. Webb scored his second TD shortly thereafter on a two-yard run, and Detroit was ahead to stay.

In the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh DB Glenn Glass intercepted a pass and returned it 28 yards to the Detroit 35. However, blitzes by the Lions defense resulted in sacks that pushed the ball back to the 47 and the Steelers came up empty.

Brown was replaced at quarterback for Pittsburgh midway through the fourth quarter by Layne, appearing in the last game of his illustrious career, and ironically against the team that he had quarterbacked so successfully from 1950 through the second game of the ’58 season. Having just turned 36, the old pro might have been broken down physically, but still had competitive fire and provided some excitement as he sought to bring the Steelers from behind. He completed three passes to get Pittsburgh to the Detroit 21 yard line. However, two long throws by Layne fell incomplete as the Lions defense held. A field goal attempt by Michaels was blocked.

Detroit tried to extend its lead on the following possession, but a 32-yard field goal attempt by Walker was partially blocked and fell short, setting the stage for one last try by Layne and the Steelers. A final drive to midfield ended when Layne was intercepted by Yale Lary, essentially finishing the contest. Detroit won by a score of 17-10.

For an exhibition game, there was plenty of hard hitting and several players went down with injuries. John Henry Johnson suffered an apparent concussion, and Pittsburgh DB Willie Daniel broke his jaw while OT Dan James injured his leg. Detroit’s Ken Webb was knocked out when hit by Lipscomb.

The Lions won, despite giving up three interceptions and missing two of three field goal attempts. However, they registered six sacks in all and intercepted two passes while also blocking a field goal attempt.


Milt Plum was selected as the game’s MVP as he completed 16 of 29 throws for 274 yards and a TD (the yardage total ended up being the highest in the 10-game history of the Playoff Bowl). Dan Lewis (pictured at left) had 115 receiving yards while Ken Webb gained 47 yards on the ground to lead the club.

For Pittsburgh, Ed Brown completed 5 of 12 passes for 82 yards while Bobby Layne (pictured below) was good on 4 of 8 throws for 69 yards. Dick Hoak was the leading rusher with 64 yards.

Bobby Layne’s next stop was the Pro Football Hall of Fame five years later. Tragically, “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, who appeared in the Pro Bowl the following week, died from a drug overdose in May.

With the win over the Steelers, the Lions were victors in all three of their Playoff Bowl games. They would not appear in the contest again (the last was played following the 1969 season), but the three wins were the most by any team.

1960: Late Walston Field Goal Gives Eagles Key Win Over Browns

The Philadelphia Eagles were off to a good start in 1960, but faced their toughest test in traveling to Cleveland to face the Browns at Municipal Stadium on October 23. The Browns had beaten the Eagles decisively in the season-opening game at Franklin Field and were undefeated at 3-0. Philadelphia had recovered to win three straight games and arrived in Cleveland with a 3-1 tally (the Browns had already had a bye week).

The Eagles had a veteran head coach in 61-year-old Buck Shaw and were led on offense by the tough 34-year-old QB Norm Van Brocklin, in his 12th season overall and third in Philadelphia after being obtained from the Rams. The running game was average, at best, and it was the passing game that made the difference thanks to The Dutchman having outstanding receivers in flanker Tommy McDonald and ends Pete Retzlaff and Bobby Walston (pictured above; he was also the team’s placekicker).

The Eagles came into the game as 13-point underdogs and had not won in Cleveland since 1952. Head Coach Paul Brown’s club had the best one-two running back punch in pro football with FB Jim Brown and HB Bobby Mitchell, and also featured the precision passing of QB Milt Plum.

Eagles LB John Nocera was out with an injury, and his replacement Bob Pellegrini went down early in the contest. As a result, 35-year-old Chuck Bednarik, once one of the top linebackers in the game but now the starting center, had to return to linebacking duty in addition to his role on the offensive line.

Less than four minutes into the first quarter, after stopping the Browns on their opening series, Philadelphia scored on its first play from scrimmage as Van Brocklin threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Walston that gave the Eagles the early 7-0 advantage.

Cleveland drove down the field but came up short of a touchdown thanks to a goal line stand by the Eagles defense. They settled for a 12-yard field goal by Sam Baker. Baker, who had been obtained from Washington to replace the retired Lou Groza (who would return the following year), booted another field goal, of 23 yards, early in the second quarter to narrow Philadelphia’s lead to 7-6.

Plum put the Browns ahead later in the period with an 86-yard scoring pass to flanker Leon Clarke, who was substituting for the injured Ray Renfro. Baker’s extra point attempt failed, but he added a 44-yard field goal to extend Cleveland’s lead to 15-7 at halftime.

The Browns led by 22-7 early in the third quarter after Jim Brown took off on a 71-yard touchdown run. The Eagles came back, though, as FB Clarence Peaks ran up the middle on a draw play for 57 yards to put the Eagles in scoring position. Van Brocklin followed up with a six-yard pass to Walston and HB Billy Barnes plunged into the end zone for a touchdown from a yard out.

Shortly thereafter, Philadelphia struck again as Van Brocklin connected with McDonald for a 57-yard TD that cut Cleveland’s margin to 22-21 after three quarters.

Van Brocklin put the Eagles in the lead at 28-22 early in the fourth quarter with a swing pass to Barnes that covered eight yards for a touchdown. But the Browns responded with an 88-yard drive the ended on a three-yard TD pass from Plum to Mitchell. Cleveland was back in front at 29-28 with just over six minutes remaining to play.

The Eagles again drove into Browns territory, but safety Don Fleming intercepted a Van Brocklin pass. The Eagles defense held the Browns and forced them to punt, giving the Eagles one more shot.

With time running down, the Eagles took over at their 10 yard line. Van Brocklin passed to Retzlaff for 27 yards and then McDonald for 12 to just short of midfield. However, it appeared that Cleveland would win when safety Bobby Franklin came up with an interception, but LB Vince Costello was flagged for pass interference and the Eagles, instead of losing the ball, now had a first down at the Browns 30.

With 15 seconds remaining, Walston kicked a 38-yard field goal and the Eagles came away with a big 31-29 win.

Both teams put up plenty of yards, with the Browns outgaining Philadelphia by 451 yards to 428; they also had more first downs (21 to 18).


Norm Van Brocklin (pictured at left) completed 17 of 26 passes for 292 yards with three touchdowns and the one interception. Thanks to the long run in the third quarter, Clarence Peaks had a season-high 102 yards on 13 carries. Billy Barnes, who ran for 25 yards on 9 attempts and a TD, caught 7 passes for 48 yards and another score. Bobby Walston, in addition to kicking the winning field goal, also led all receivers with 94 yards on four catches. Pete Retzlaff and Tommy McDonald contributed significantly, with the former gaining 80 yards on three receptions and the latter 66 yards and a TD on two catches.

Jim Brown, as usual, put up big numbers for the Browns with 167 rushing yards on 22 carries, including the long touchdown run, and added another 57 yards on four pass receptions. Bobby Mitchell, who had devastated the Eagles in the opening game with 156 yards on 14 carries, was held to 35 yards on 14 rushes this time, although he still caught 7 passes for 70 yards and a TD. Milt Plum had 16 completions in 22 pass attempts for 289 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Costello, who was flagged for the interference call, was angry afterward. “I didn’t think there was any interference.” Coach Paul Brown avoided controversy, saying “You couldn’t tell anything from the bench. Vince was pretty hot about it.”

But Van Brocklin insisted the call was correct, saying “(Halfback) Ted Dean had been knocked down and I had to throw to the other side. The call was made right away. Two of the Browns linebackers seemed to sandwich Dean and he went down.”

Regarding the performance by the Eagles’ quarterback, Coach Brown summed up after the game, “As for Van Brocklin, he is one of the finest football players of all time.”

The Eagles were able to rest up with a bye the following week and then kept on winning to end up atop the Eastern Conference with a 10-2 record. They defeated the Green Bay Packers for the NFL Championship. Cleveland went 2-2-1 over the next five games and finished second with an 8-3-1 tally.

Norm Van Brocklin received unanimous MVP recognition (AP, UPI, NEA, and the Bert Bell Award) in his greatest – and last – season. He ranked second in the league in pass attempts (284), completions (153), yards (2471), and touchdowns (24).

Bobby Walston finished second in the league in scoring with 105 points. He had the best field goal percentage (70 %) as a result of connecting on 14 of 20 attempts. Walston also caught 30 passes for 563 yards (18.8 avg.) and four TDs.


Chuck Bednarik (pictured at right) played 59 minutes against Cleveland and led the club with 15 tackles, 11 of them unassisted. With the injuries plaguing the linebacking corps, Concrete Charley showed the critics who said he was too old to play linebacker that they were wrong, and did so while playing both ways (the last NFL player to do so regularly) all the way to the title game (he averaged over 50 minutes per game).

Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing for the fourth consecutive season with 1257 yards on 215 attempts (5.8 avg.) and nine touchdowns. Milt Plum was the league’s top passer - by the current system, his 110.4 rating was the best until Joe Montana’s 112.4 in 1989.