Dec. 6, 1964 - The St. Louis football Cardinals, in the pattern set by their baseball namesakes last summer, kept their title hopes alive today with a surprising 28-19 victory over the Cleveland Browns, the leaders of the Eastern Conference of the NFL.
Immediately after Charlie Johnson, the Cards’ quarterback, had led his team to the triumph, the Cards became the strongest New York Giant rooters in the nation.
The Giants must beat the Browns Saturday in New York and then the Cards must defeat or tie the Philadelphia Eagles in St. Louis next Sunday for St. Louis to win its first Eastern Conference crown since the Cards were moved to St. Louis from Chicago four years ago. If Cleveland wins Saturday, it will clinch the title.
A crowd of 31,585 fans filled Busch Stadium in freezing weather today and cheered wildly as Johnson sparked a second quarter rally that settled the issue. He passed for two touchdowns in that 15-minute segment and ran one yard for another. He also ran a yard for the final Cardinal touchdown in the third period.
Johnson and his offensive team were greatly supported by one of the best Cardinal defensive efforts in recent weeks. An intercepted pass and a blocked field‐goal attempt set the stage for two of the Card touchdowns, and Cleveland couldn’t do much more than get its field‐goal kicker, Lou Groza, within range time and again.
“There wasn’t any adjustment to handle Jimmy Brown,” said St. Louis coach Wally Lemm. “All you do with him anyhow is hit and hold on and wait for help.”
Said Cleveland coach Blanton Collier: “Well, I said before the season that the eastern division champion would lose three games, and now we’ve done it.
“I never had a bunch of kids more ready to play. But somewhere between the clubhouse and the field we lost something.
“The Cardinals were loose, aggressive, and reckless. They executed everything they tried to perfection. The only way to beat a team like that is to do it better. Obviously, we didn’t. We have no excuses.”
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