Sept. 12, 1964 - Charlie Johnson (pictured), Jim Bakken, Joe Robb, and Larry Stallings carried the St. Louis Cardinals to a 16-6 NFL season-opening victory over the Dallas Cowboys tonight at the Cotton Bowl.
Johnson threw a 40-yard scoring pass to Sonny Randle in the second period, and Bakken kicked 37, 41, and 32-yard field goals in the first, third, and fourth periods. All this helped the Eastern Conference title favorites to gain their seventh triumph in eight games against the Cowboys.
The Cowboys, cheered on by a crowd of 36,519, whipped 70 yards after the opening kickoff, with three Don Meredith-to-Frank Clarke passes playing the big role. The aerials included a 15-yarder for the touchdown.
But then Robb, Stallings, and the rest of the Cardinals’ defense took command. But for a brief bit of excitement when Don Perkins burst through the middle for 53 yards to the St. Louis 21-yard line, the Cowboys spun their offensive wheels in their own end of the field, except for the last play of the game.
A third-quarter Cowboy threat died immediately when Meredith fumbled the ball away on an attempted option play. Two other times, the Cardinals took the ball away on interceptions.
Meredith, listed as a doubtful starter, often was rushed, and his passing was erratic. He was roundly booed by the fans, who kept calling for coach Tom Landry to use John Roach, the former Green Bay reserve who was lured out of retirement to backstop Meredith. But Roach sat on the bench until the final 10 seconds, when Meredith was hurt. Roach hit his only pass to Clarke to the St. Louis 17 on the final play of the game. It was Clarke’s 10th catch of the night for a total of 145 yards.
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