1969 Browns at Vikings - NFL Championship

the cleveland browns and minnesota vikings met for the national football league championship celebrating the 50th year of pro football both are relative newcomers to the league the browns having joined in 1950 while the vikings were non-existent 10 short years ago likewise both came into the title game as red hot as this mobile heater that had to keep the field in excellent shape up to game time the browns under coach plant and collier entered as the class of the east after working another voodoo job on the cowboys their so-called rubber band defense quarterback bill nelson three fine receivers and leroy kelly were out to avenge a 51-3 pummeling by the vikings earlier in the year and a defeat by the colts in last year's championship coach bud grant and the vikings were out to avenge nothing they merely wanted to be the first expansion team in pro football history to win the title and their arsenal consisted of two potent weapons a tough reckless defense led by their front four called the purple people leaders and an equally fearless leader named joe capp who plays quarterback with a reckless abandon of a middle linebacker cap in his defense steamrolled their way to the title game with an exciting win over the rams and although their early easier victory over the browns in regular season gave the vikings a psychological edge both teams were confident that bourbon street awaited them at the end of today's game the dixieland jazz of new orleans would become a reality for the vikings the browns however would depart with the old saint louis blues i'm jack whitaker and this is the nfl game of the week physically the tenor of the game was set from the opening kickoff as seen from our endzone camera it would be nothing less than a hard-hitting all-out effort by both clubs [Music] joe capp came out throwing as he did against the rams and he wanted to burn rookie corner back walt sumner but on the first play from scrimmage he failed [Music] he then tested his ground game against a quick front four and number 30 bill brown succeeded with a big gainer on the play watch number 51 linebacker dale lindsay dive and miss brown who helped established a running game cap would count on heavily capped sport though is the long bomb and he was intent on beating sumner with it he heaved the ball to gene washington and after an amazing catch the vikings were on the browns 24. on a repeat from our super slow-motion camera watch bill brown take out the blitzing number 82 jim houston while other viking linemen also did their job to give cap the time he needed to complete his pass to the great receiver [Music] then cap returned to the ground and dave osborne number 41 was turned loose on the first of what were to be many important runs for the veteran from north dakota on a replay watch osborne's determination and second effort can enable him to get extra yards on the play then cap decided to improvise result six point [Music] the first score of the game came on a busted play cap bumped into brown and decided to go for pay dirt himself [Music] the amazing quarterback once again did nothing right except score as the california bread canadian hardened viking leader had put his team into a quick seven to nothing lead the browns started out well also as bill nelson's plan was to negate the viking rush with a short game quick screens and flares and draws to his backs leroy kelly and number 35 bo scott but his plan would eventually fail due to great pressure from the viking front four and great pursuit by number 58 wally hilgenberg cleveland's first series ended in a punt the vikings play a basic simple game of football but their game plans are as unusual as their quarterback bombs on first down runs on second and third cap again came out throwing intent on hitting gene washington cap again went up top long and it paid off defender irish barnes had slipped so number 84 took it all alone and trotted into the end zone as interesting as the downfield action was what happened to quarterback cap on the touchdown [Music] cap was rocked as he threw and never did see the catch or run by washington [Music] joe was told of a success by none other than the man in the striped shirt and cap exited with a 14-nothing lead midway through the first quarter [Applause] [Applause] the rest of the period yielded no more scoring for the browns it yielded nothing but frustration cleveland's ground game and its famed sweep was being shut off continually by the great play of wally hilgenberg who would play a key role throughout the game nelson was also having trouble with his passing the front four was not getting to him but their pressure was forcing his timing off and he was throwing either too early or too late as this isolated view of gary collins shows later in the quarter the vikings forced the first turnover of the game a fumble by kelly one of the men who hit kelly and later recovered the fumble was wally hilgenberg from here cap took the vikings to another score the running of bill brown and dave osborne got the ball to the browns 30. [Music] osborne's trademark is second effort and he was showing it today a cap to washington pass entered the first quarter on the browns 18. [Music] as he always does cap conferred with coach graham as the team's changed direction but grant was once coached by his adversary today coach plant and collier who is now facing the sidelines wondering what fate the norse gods next had in store for him what the gods had for collier and the browns was more of joe capp but for the first time in memory cap headed for the sidelines on this scramble not for the defender's body dave osborne had been running extremely well inside the tackle so far twisting and turning to get extra yards and he got six more on second down but a penalty made it third and 14. cap saw henderson had beaten his man deep and he went to him but the sun seemed to cause henderson to lose sight for a split second and it went for naught [Music] so fred cox came in kicked a 30 yard field goal and it was 17 to nothing the next time the browns got the ball they got their first first down since the opening series on a kelly run even though it went for a good gain watch number 59 lonnie warwick prevent a further gain by recovering quickly and tripping up kelly as he broke into daylight nelson's passing was not sharp as he seemed to be hearing the footsteps of the viking front four so he tried a play action to hold the defense and instead nelson threw up his first interception on a wobbly pass caught by the ubiquitous wally hilgenberg the vikings had their second turnover and could all but ice the game if cap could convert it into points this joe capp did but the man who carried most of the burden was dave osborne osborne is a slashing type runner who has the speed to turn the corner on the last play watch ozzie break an attempted tackle by number 50 john garlington then cut around left end 16 yards into brown's territory [Music] the browns line was now keying on osborne watch what happens to number 41 on this next play even though he didn't have the ball [Music] a runner's lot is not always a happy one now on the 28th cap was mixing his plays well and a pass to john henderson got a first down at the 20. as the offensive line was again today cap's impeccable protection then as if the norse gods had ordained it dave osborne shot off left tackle past the flying defender and went 20 yards to a touchdown on a replay watch osborne evade the leap of defender mike cowell number 34 then carry linebacker garlington into the end zone osborne now had over 60 yards rushing in the half now let's see the blocks that initially set osborne loose to the biggest play of the game so far watch the blocking of setback reed number 64 milt sunday and number 80 john henderson as osborne then evades tacklers himself and drags scarlington into the end zone [Music] this touchdown which gave the vikings a 24 to nothing lead had virtually ended the nfl championship with four minutes to go in the half once again joe capp the front four dave osborne and 34 other vikings had stunned and staggered their enemy with an aggressive explosive style of football and the purple gang from minnesota could all but hear the trumpets blaring on bourbon street [Music] it wasn't until late in the second period that cleveland showed some thrust and kelly was the man who sparked it with a 22-yard run to the cleveland 45 a repeat in super slow motion shows two vikings had overcharged and kelly simply changed direction to the outside broke a tackle and streaked down the sideline before being forced out by paul krauss [Music] team bill nelson then completed his first downfield pass and as if to prove he was back on the beam threaded the needle on a second pass to collins deep in viking territory the browns desperately wanted to get on the scoreboard before the half ended but it was too little too late nelson's next two passes fell harmlessly in the end zone and the half ended 24 to nothing minnesota had executed their game plan they put points on the board early and forced their opponents away from the ball control game they played so well minnesota had momentum and a 24 point lead over the frozen frustrated browns the second half began and cleveland started the long road back with bill nelson and many of the browns wearing a sneaker type shoe for a while it looked like it might make a difference [Music] both scott took a screen and running beautifully twisted 35 yards to the minnesota 40. it was a great individual effort by scott but as a repeat shows it was a perfect screen that sprung him the viking rush was allowed to filter through and nelson passed through the outstretched hands of carl eller [Music] several players had a shot at scott but none got him until karl kazuki pulled him down from behind after leroy kelly ran the ball to the 27 nelson tried for collins in the end zone but free safety paul krauss intercepted to end cleveland's biggest threat of the day [Music] a repeat shows that collins who had run his favorite the post pattern clearly had his man beaten but krauts seemed to come from nowhere to take the ball away this is in the best tradition of the free safety position the ball hawks of pro football after such an enjoyable first half joe cap appeared eager to get going again his meal ticket was again dave osborne who today gave an outstanding demonstration of the virtues of second effort he continually bounced off defenders for large gains after apparently being stopped at the line he totaled over a hundred yards rushing then inside cleveland territory a play occurred which typifies the viking rough style of play the most physical of all is their leader cap and when he can't throw the ball he throws himself this time it was big jim houston cap hurled into when the dust had cleared the cleveland linebacker was not cold never to play again this day joe cap merely returned to his huddle ready for the next play a repeat from the end zone shows cap's receivers were covered so he took off around right end for his date with houston his knee hit the browns captain in the head houston never knew what hit him so houston a 10-year veteran was replaced by number 52 inexperienced bill andrews and cap didn't waste any time picking on the young linebacker he burned him with the circle pattern which puts a setback coming out of the backfield one-on-one with the linebacker andrews could only clutch feudally as the viking backs streak by him for a substantial game another look reveals the receiver was number 30 230 pound bill brown an original member of the young team and their all-time leading runner brown's efforts resulted in a fred cox field goal from the 32-yard line and a 27 to nothing ball game despite the snowballing score cleveland didn't lose its composure and continued attacking to the end nelson led them on two long time-consuming drives the first leading to their only score of the day the browns returned to the medium-range quick passes that worked so well all season the first was to milk morin for 18 yards and the second to paul warfield for his first catch of the day an isolated look at warfield discloses he slipped while making his cut but still managed to slant in and take the ball the final quarter began and nelson continued gunning he was getting more time to plant his feet before unloading and his accuracy returned warfield's diving catch between two defenders put the ball on the viking nine a repeat shows that nelson threw to a spot rather than the receiver warfield's timing was perfect nelson then hit collins at the right sideline for seven more yards at the minnesota two the cleveland quarterback then returned to collins on a turnout for the first and only cleveland touchdown of the day a review of the scoring play in slow motion shows the play action fake to scott froze the linebackers long enough to allow clear passing lanes on the right side the browns had finally scored a few points can do wonders for a defense even one down 20 points the cleveland front four visibly slumped when the vikings got their quick 14 point lead now for the first and only time in the game they asserted themselves [Music] the vikings were forced to punt and cleveland was on the move again nelson was throwing with authority now and employed kelly on two successive passes for good yardage this is a facet of kelly's talent that is often overlooked besides running and throwing well number 44 is an excellent receiver despite the fact that cleveland was virtually ignoring the running game kelly gained 80 yards on the ground [Music] [Applause] [Applause] nelson continued to employ his air arsenal of short and medium range strikes with little more than pride at stake the browns were determined to get into the end zone one more time in this their 11th championship game in 20 years with a strike to warfield nelson had completed 10 straight passes and with the ball inside of the goal line it appeared cleveland wouldn't be denied but the purple platoon prevailed watch number 88 alan page overpower his blocker almost decapitate nelson then finish him off with pursuit worthy of a linebacker this combination of strength and speed made page an all-pro in his third season [Music] with it fourth and ten the browns had their last chance of the game the viking defense camouflaged the blitz until just before the snap then blew in on nelson who had to pass hurriedly and inaccurately bill nelson of the shrewd mind average arm and bad knees had been called a winner by bud grant but today a disappointed young quarterback fell far short of his championship goal for the second year in a row capp just had to keep the ball on the ground to run the clock out and he couldn't resist doing even this in a somewhat unorthodox manner [Music] caps maneuvers put the vikings at the cleveland goal as time ran out a lyman's frustration said it all for the browns but it was the finest day of all for minnesota and the vikings they entered the nfl in 1961 and struggled for years after one winning season and six bud grant and joe cap were brought in and the club became a winner the vikings are the first expansion team to win an nfl title next week in new orleans they hope to end the magnificent season in a perfect way a victory over the kansas city chiefs in the super bowl it will be the final test for the powerful purple gang from minnesota

Channel: Comrade Dobler

Views: 7,323

Rating: 4.8387098 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: sjF-pHJfiiw

Length: 23min 36sec (1416 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 19 2020