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| Date | January 4, 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Metropolitan Stadium Bloomington, Minnesota | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Joe Kapp (Quarterback; Minnesota) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 47,900 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Ray Scott,Paul Christman, and Bruce Roberts | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
The1969 NFL Championship Game was the 37th and final championship game prior to theAFL–NFL merger, played January 4, 1970, atMetropolitan Stadium inBloomington, Minnesota, a suburb south ofMinneapolis. The winner of the game earned a berth inSuper Bowl IV inNew Orleans against the champion of theAmerican Football League, theKansas City Chiefs.[1][2]
TheMinnesota Vikings of the Western Conference hosted theCleveland Browns of the Eastern Conference. It was the Vikings' first appearance in the title game, while the Browns were making their second straight appearance and fourth of the 1960s.
Minnesota had a regular season record of 12–2, including a 51–3 defeat of the Browns eight weeks earlier on November 9.[3][4] The Vikings defeated theLos Angeles Rams 23–20 in theWestern Conference championship a week earlier at Met Stadium. They were coached byBud Grant and led on offense by quarterbackJoe Kapp and wide receiverGene Washington. The defense allowed only 133 points (9½ per game) during the regular season and their four defensive linemen were known as the "Purple People Eaters."
Cleveland was 10–3–1 during the regular season and had upset theDallas Cowboys 38–14 at theCotton Bowl for theEastern Conference title.[5][6] The Browns were coached byBlanton Collier;Bill Nelsen was the starting quarterback andGary Collins andPaul Warfield were star wide receivers for the team.
Although not as severe as the "Ice Bowl" of1967, the weather conditions were bitterly cold at 8 °F (−13 °C), with a sub-zerowind chill factor. Cleveland linebackerJim Houston sufferedfrostbite during the game and was hospitalized.
Minnesota was favored by nine points to win the title game at home,[1][7] and they won, 27–7.[2][8][9]
Of the four NFL teams that joined the league during the AFL era (1960s), Minnesota was the sole winner of a pre-merger NFL championship. TheDallas Cowboys entered the league in1960 and lost two NFL title games to theGreen Bay Packers, in1966 and1967. The expansionAtlanta Falcons (1966) andNew Orleans Saints (1967) did not qualify for the postseason until1978 and1987, respectively.
The Vikings would go on to lose Super Bowl IV 23–7 to the AFL championKansas City Chiefs. Starting with the1970 season, the NFL champion was determined in the Super Bowl, beginning withSuper Bowl V.
This was also the final broadcasting assignment forPaul Christman, who died less than two months later on March 2.
Cleveland had lost theprevious season's NFL title game 34–0 at home, and this time fared little better. The Vikings dominated the game, racking up 381 yards with no turnovers, while Cleveland gained just 268 yards and turned the ball over three times.
The Vikings took a lead just four minutes into the first quarter, driving 70 yards for a touchdown in 8 plays. The key play of the drive was a pass fromJoe Kapp to receiverGene Washington that was nearly 5 yards short of the mark. Despite the short throw, Washington was able to come back and haul it in for a 33-yard gain to the Browns' 24-yard line. Two plays later,Dave Osborn's 12-yard run moved the ball to the 7. Then two plays after that,Bill Brown accidentally slipped and bumped into Kapp while moving up to take a handoff, but Kapp simply kept the ball himself and ran it 7 yards for a touchdown.
The situation never improved for Cleveland. The next time Minnesota took possession of the ball, defensive backErich Barnes slipped while in one-on-one coverage with Washington, enabling him to catch a pass from Kapp and run to the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown completion. Barnes had been knocked down by linebackerJim Houston, his teammate; the score was 14–0 after just over 7 minutes of play.[10] Near the end of the first quarter, Browns running backLeroy Kelly lost a fumble that was recovered by linebackerWally Hilgenberg on the Cleveland 43. Kapp then completed a 12-yard pass to Washington beforeFred Cox finished the drive with a 30-yard field goal, putting the Vikings up 17–0. Later in the second period, Hilgenberg snuffed out a Cleveland scoring threat by intercepting a pass fromBill Nelsen on the Vikings' 33-yard line. Minnesota subsequently drove 67 yards in 8 plays. Kapp started the drive with a pair of completions toJohn Henderson for 17 total yards, while Osborn broke off a 16-yard run and ended up finishing the drive with a 20-yard touchdown burst, giving the Vikings a 24–0 lead with 4:46 left in the first half. Cleveland responded with a drive to the Vikings' 17, but turned the ball over on downs when Nelsen overthrew receiverGary Collins in the end zone on 4th and 3.
The third quarter was mostly uneventful, with the exception of Fred Cox's 32-yard field goal that gave Minnesota a 27–0 lead after an 11-play, 80-yard drive. The most noteworthy play was a 13-yard scramble by Kapp in which he plowed into 240-pound Browns linebackerJim Houston so hard that Houston was knocked out of the game. In the 4th quarter, Cleveland finally got on the board when a diving 18-yard reception byPaul Warfield (playing his final game in his first stint with the Cleveland Browns; Warfield would be traded to Miami in 1970 and wouldn't return to Cleveland until 1976) set up Nelsen's 3-yard touchdown pass to Collins. There were still 13 minutes on the clock at this point, but there would be no more scoring. The Vikings had a drive to the Cleveland 2-yard line, but decided to let the clock run out instead of go for another score.[11]
Kapp completed 7 of 13 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 57 yards and another score. Osborn rushed 18 times for 108 yards and a touchdown. Washington had 120 yards and a touchdown on just 3 receptions. Kelly was the Browns' top rusher with 80 yards, while also catching two passes for 17. Nelsen completed 17 of 33 passes for 181 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.[2][8][9] The Browns had trouble on the frozen turf ofMetropolitan Stadium even though many players worebroomball shoes.[10]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Browns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Vikings | 14 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
atMetropolitan Stadium,Bloomington, Minnesota
| Game information | ||
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The NFL had six game officials in1969.
44°51′14″N93°14′31″W / 44.854°N 93.242°W /44.854; -93.242