Nov. 8, 1964 - Two pass plays, both sent in from the bench, set up the Browns’ 34-24 win over the Washington Redskins in Cleveland today, coaches disclosed after the game. The victory moved the Browns one step closer to their first NFL Eastern Division title since 1957.
In the first backbreaker, fullback Jim Brown passed for the first time this season — and for a touchdown. The play was a handoff from quarterback Frank Ryan to Brown and was sent from the bench to the huddle, with Brown telling end Gary Collins: “Get out there, and keep looking.”
After Brown got the ball, Collins was held up by a linebacker but finally got loose, and Brown tossed the ball 13 yards into the end zone for the score. That put Cleveland ahead, 20-3, in the first half.
“It was a high, lofty pass — just like Otto Graham used to throw,” Brown grinned.
In the third quarter, halfback Paul Warfield, hampered by a leg injury, put on some extra speed and got away from his defender. This pass from Ryan covered 55 yards in the air, and Warfield took it on the seven and went in to score. It was 27-10 and put the game out of reach of the Redskins, said Browns coach Blanton Collier, who called the play.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland defensive strategy was also paying off.
“We planned to blitz [quarterback Sonny] Jurgensen early and force him to make only short passes. We didn’t want him to throw a touchdown pass to one of his fast receivers,” Collier said.
Collier said it was the best-balanced game of the year: “We held them until we got control of the game.”
Quarterback Ryan said it was one of the better games, but he still believes the team “is going uphill.”
“It was certainly not a perfect game. Just wait and see when we do get a perfect game this season,” he said.
Brown, meanwhile, has scored 100 touchdowns and needs give more to tie the NFL record held by former Green Bay end Don Hutson.
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