Green Bay Packer QB Bart Starr (15) sneaks in the winning touchdown as Packers beat Cowboys 21-17 in the “Ice Bowl” on Dec. 31, 1967. The coldest NFL Playoff game — by far!

Photo: PackersNews.com

COURTSIDE WEATHER🥶/SPORTS🏈/HISTORY📗: -3 F FOR CHIEFS V. DOLPHINS PLAYOFF IN KC TONIGHT — That’s Not Even Close To The Coldest Playoff Game Ever, The 1967 “Ice Bowl!”

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

Special to Courtside Sports

Jan. 13, 2023

Alexandria, VA. When the Kansas City Chiefs take the Arrowhead Stadium field for their home playoff game against the Miami Dolphins in a few hours, it’s already being advertised as one of the coldest NFL playoff games in history. (Thanks to ethically-challenged fat-cat execs at NBC Universal, you’ll only be able to see the TV game if you subscribe to their streaming service, Peacock. But, media greed is another story.) For Fox Sports’s rundown of the coldest playoff games in history, see https://apple.news/AeZJd_34gSMyMhei2REuS1g.

Weather forecasts say the actual temperature could be as low as -3 F with a windchill of -13. But, that would be “Balmy Days” compared with the December 31, 1967, 1:00 PM CST kickoff of the NFL playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys (coached by the great Tom Landry) at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The actual temperature at kickoff was listed at -13 F. Although “wind chill” hadn’t yet become a craze, it has been calculated at -48 F.

According to participants, the temperature and wind chill actually fell during the game. “Minus-15 and minus-55 chill factor — the only time I’ve ever been exposed to that, and I don’t care that if it’s the last time,” according to Packer wide receiver Carroll Dale (3 catches, 43 yards.)

Here are two outstanding accounts of the details of the Packers’ 21-17 victory on their way to winning their (and the NFL’s) second Super Bowl: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/12/26/tales-from-the-cold-ice-bowl-still-chills-50-years-later/108919986/; https://tremlettonsport.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/untold-stories-the-1967-ice-bowl/. (Unfortunately, the otherwise excellent USA Today article will require you to navigate around some totally annoying pop up ads by Equifax.) Before the days of streaming shenanigans, CBS provided live network coverage with its team of Ray Scott, Jack Buck, Pat Summerall, Frank Gifford, and Tom Brookshier.

Behind Hall of Fame QB Bart Starr and legendary Head Coach Vince Lombardi the Packers were actually able to move the ball through the air in the first half, taking a 14-0 lead and going into the frigid halftime up 14-10.

But, it was a different story in the second half, with the Cowboy defense holding the Packers scoreless on 10 straight possessions, while taking a 17-14 lead. When the Pack took over on their own 32 yard line late in the 4th quarter, with 4:50 to go, a long cold winter in Green Bay was definitely on the dimming horizon.

Starr led the team to a first down and goal at the one with time running down. After two failed Donny Anderson runs, the Packers called their final timeout with :16 to go. That led to one of the most famous plays in NFL history — one that in the end defined Lombardi, Starr, guard Jerry Kramer, and the Packers.

I was watching the game at home in Wauwatosa, WI with my family on our 13” GE color tv. As my brother, Jim, likes to remind me, it was about this moment that, as the youngest driver, he was “designated” to take our grandmother home and, therefore, missed what came next.

Most of us were expecting a pass. Even if incomplete, it would stop the clock for a “chip shot” field goal on fourth down to likely send the game into sudden death overtime.

But, Starr fooled everyone by calling his own number. Going over a slight opening created by Jerry Kramer’s iconic block on 6’6” 260 pound Cowboy defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, Starr knifed into the end zone for what proved to be the deciding score. The extra point by Don Chandler was good, and the Packers led 21-17 with 13 seconds left.

That’s where most accounts of the game end. But, as Jim reminded me, “Many of us recall the Starr QB sneak as the final play but actually there were 13 seconds left and the Packers had to kick off and defend a couple of plays.”

Despite the treacherous weather, almost all of the then approximately 51,000 seats at Lambeau were filled with hardy fans, and few left before the final whistle blew. (The inoperability of metal whistles during the Ice Bowl actually resulted in the NFL’s decision to permanently switch to plastic whistles.)

Ironically, Bart Starr was known for his passing, leadership, and “on field smarts,” but definitely NOT for his running. The one-yard winning TD that day at Lambeau was his only rush of the day (he also got sacked eight times for losses of 76 yards by Dallas’s “Doomsday Defense,” and lost a fumble resulting in the Cowboys’ first touchdown).

The Ice Bowl cemented the legend of Lombardi, Starr, and the 1960’s Packers. But, it also gave rise to some myths.

Myth #1: The Packers’ Invincibility in Frozen Games. Not surprisingly, as described in the Fox Sports article linked above, the Packers have participated in three of the seven coldest NFL Playoff games. But, the Ice Bowl remains their only victory. They lost to the Giants 23-20 in 2007 in Brett Farve’s last game as a Packer. They also lost to the San Francisco 23-20 in 2013 during the Aaron Rodgers era.

Myth #2: The Packers Are Dominant In Lambeau Playoff Games: As I noted in a previous blog post, even with Rodgers and Farve, the Pack won only one Super Bowl in 21st Century, in 2010. https://immigrationcourtside.com/2024/01/08/🏈-sports-on-to-dallas-with-love❤️-pack-down-rival-bears-17-9-clinch-playoff-slot-as-qb-stars-jones-runs-defense-hangs-tough/. That year they were the last seed (#6) and got the Lombardi Trophy by winning 4 playoff games on the road.

Although they have had other chances at Lambeau playoff games since 2000, they never have never been able to duplicate their winning trip to the 2011 Super Bowl where they bested Pittsburgh. Interestingly, and perhaps fortuitously for Packers fans, this year’s Jordan Love led playoff team resembles the 2010 squad.

They have the worst seed (now #7), thereby eliminating any possibility of another game at Lambeau. Like the 2010 team, they are heavy underdogs who had to win out over the last few games of the season to even make the playoffs.

Myth #3: The Packers have “owned” the Cowboys in the Playoffs. Significantly, the Pack won the first two playoff meetings, in 1966 and 1967, on their way to their first two Super Bowl Championships. And, they have won the last two memorable playoff games with the Cowboys, played in 2015 (26-21) and 2017 (34-31).

But, in between, the Cowboys won four straight (1983, 1994, 1995, 1996). Indeed, when the Packers won their lone Super Bowl under Farve, 1997, they did not face Dallas in the playoffs.

So, actually, the Packers and the Cowboys are 4-4 in playoff games with Dallas strongly favored in tomorrow afternoon’s late matchup on Fox.

Which leads me to my final point. In an era of “enlightenment,” when player health and fan safety are supposed to be paramount, why not postpone tonight’s KC-Miami matchup to more suitable weather when the players can perform somewhere near their best and the fans can actually enjoy the game rather than just having to survive it?

After all, the competition is about football, NOT attempting to set coldness records or “out ice the Ice Bowl.” In an unusual burst of rationality, tomorrow’s untenable showdown between Pittsburgh and Buffalo at the latter’s snow-bound home has been postponed at the request of NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, due to public safety concerns.

If tonight’s Chiefs v. Dolphins contest is marred on or off the field by a preventable weather-related injury or fan problems, authorities in Kansas City and the NFL might wish that they had acted with more common sense and prudence. I’m sure that those of us Packer fans who remember watching the Ice Bowl in the comfort of home enjoyed the game more than the players or, for that matter, the 51,000 freezing fans!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-13-24

Green Bay Packer veteran kicker Mason Crosby had a genuinely horrible year in 2012. Notwithstanding his 80% career accuracy, Crosby missed more that one-third of the field goals he attempted. Even for a popular veteran player who does much for the community, that normally would be the end of the line; younger, stronger legs with much lower salaries were readily available. Most teams would have made the switch.

But, Packer management was unusually reticent to pull the plug. They viewed 2012 as an aberration in an otherwise sterling career. Crosby was resigned for 2013, and it payed off. He returned to form and has been golden when it counts ever since.

Tonight, that confidence paid off, big time! Crosby hit a 56-yarder to give the Pack a short-lived lead; then, he pushed two game winners, the second one, the only one that counted, barely inside the left upright to clinch the win and send the Pack into the NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons. For Crosby, it was an NFL record 23rd consecutive made field goal in playoff competition!

Crosby’s heroics were set up by superstar QB Aaron Rodgers (“AR”) and wide receiver Jared Cook. Following the Boyz game-tying FG by Dan Bailey, the Pack took over on their own 25-yard line with 35 seconds left. On a first down play from the Pack 42-yard line, AR was brutally sacked by the Boyz for a ten-yard loss. Most NFL QB’s would have coughed up the ball, setting up the Boyz for a 39-yard chip shot game winner. But, AR not only held onto the ball, but also had the presence of mind to call the Pack’s final timeout.

Then, on third and 20 from the 32, Rodgers drilled a bullet to Cook, who made a spectacular catch with two feet just barely in bounds at the Dallas 32 for a 36-yard gain. Although the pass originally was signaled incomplete, the call was reversed. Crosby then kicked the 51-yard game winner. But, Cowboy coach Jason Garrett absurdly was allowed to call a last second timeout. Fortunately, Crosby kicked it through again, although not by much. The Pack celebrated and are moving on to Atlanta for the NFL Championship game, one step from the Super Bowl.

The amazing AR thus led his team to a eighth consecutive victory following a 4-6 start. While he threw his first interception in 319 attempts, he finished 28 for 43 with 2 TDs and one INT, and the game-winning drive. On the negative side, the Pack blew a seemingly insurmountable 18 point lead, and AR’s single interception cost the Pack an almost sure touchdown that would have ended the game much earlier.

My brother, Jim, suggested that this was “the greatest Packer victory ever.” I countered with “what about the Ice Bowl in 1967” where the Packers bested the Cowboys on a famous last-second TD “sneak” by QB Bart Starr behind guard Jerry Kramer. Jim’s response: “As good as Starr was, I don’t think he could have pulled off some of the AR plays.” OK, I agree. But, it only makes a difference if they win the Super Bowl!

Check out the game-winner, set to music from “Titanic,” below.

RULES CHANGE NOTE: The ability of coaches to call last second timeouts from the sidelines when the ball is ready to be snapped, thus causing the kicker to kick twice, is a travesty that is both unsportsmanlike and dilutes the integrity of the game. It must be eliminated! The defensive team should not be allowed to call a timeout after the ball has been whistled “ready for play.”

But, hey, I’m only a retired judge. What do I know?

PWS

01/15/17

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/01/green-bay-packers-mason-crosby-field-goal-titanic-music-dallas-cowboys-nfl-playoffs

Category: Jim Schmidt