Work has made updating the blog daily a hard thing to do this week, but we’re here for today anyway.
Much has been written/said about the “4th and 26” at Philadelphia a few years ago, and without re-hashing that again, we present a fourth down situation that the Packers were on in the old days that is more fun to read, and with a better outcome.
“The scoreboard wasn’t playing tricks in the second quarter of the Packers-Lions game at Green Bay’s City Stadium (soon to be called “Lambeau Field”) on November 8, 1964 when the lights flashed “fourth down and 51 to go.”
But that was the situation early in the second quarter with the Packers leading 17-0.
The Lions had a first and 10 on their own 49 but on the first play they were found guilty of holding on (Lion’s QB) Milt Plum’s six-yard pass to Gail Cogdill.
The officials put the ball back on the Lions’ 25 and the Detroiters tried another first down. Willie Davis promptly threw Milt Plum for a seven-yard loss and it was second down on the 18. Plum went back to pass again and this time Hank Jordan and Davis threw him for a nine-yard loss to the nine.
On third down, Plum tried another pass but it was incomplete, and the audience of 42,327 let out a big cheer for the Packer defense as the Lions were actually 51 yards away from a first down. Yale Larry punted from behind his own goal line and Willie Wood called for a fair catch on the Detroit 45.
Thus, with the help of the defense, the Packers moved down for a 19-yard field goal by Paul Hornung… and a 20-0 lead. The Packers won the game 30-7.”
Source: 1965 Green Bay Packers Yearbook
