Dec. 5, 1964 - Willie Wood’s brilliant punt returns and Jim Taylor’s battering to his fifth successive 1,000-yard rushing season swept the Green Bay Packers to a 17-3 victory over the Chicago Bears today.
Wood’s punt returns of 64 and 42 yards set up both Green Bay touchdowns in the nationally televised game before 43,646 shivering fans in snow‐steeped Wrigley Field.
Taylor, who exploded 13 yards for the second Packer touchdown in the third period, wound up with 89 yards for the day and 1,005 yards in 13 games, the first man in NFL history to rush more than 1,000 yards in five straight seasons.
Of his 64-yard return, Wood said he thought the ball was going to roll dead or out of bounds.
“Instead,” he said, “it bounced right into my hands. Hank Gremminger made the first key block. That’s all I needed to get outside.
“I was lucky on the other, the 43-yard sprint. The first defender was knocked down, and the next one ran right by me. I surprised them as well as myself.”
Fleet Willie said he’d rather handle line drives than high floaters.
“The faster the ball gets to me, the more room I have to maneuver. All I want is some time.”
Taylor said he just “slipped up the middle” for his 13-yard touchdown run.
“We nickeled and dimed ‘em with a lot of stuff inside the tackles,” Taylor explained. “When we can play our possession game, we can hurt a lot of people.”
Both Packer coach Vince Lombardi and Bear coach George Halas agreed Wood’s punt returns were the deciding factor.
Lombardi said Willie “ran for daylight and got four magnificent blocks. You can’t discount that.”
Halas commented: “On the first punt return by Wood, we let up, and that’s all he needed.”
Green Bay’s Paul Hornung returned to the starting lineup after an absence of three weeks due to a pinched nerve in his neck. His touchdown, a field goal, and two extra points gave him a season’s point total of 101.
He told newsmen after the game he is considering going to the Mayo Clinic after the season to have a thorough examination of the injury, which has troubled him repeatedly.
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