1967 Strat-O-Matic Tournament: Cowboys at Packers

Editor’s Note: For this cards and dice simulation, the 1967 six-team set of football cards released by the company will be used. The six teams are the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders and New York Jets.

GREEN BAY, Wisc. – A grinding ground attack by Green Bay was too much for Dallas to overcome as the Packers claimed the National Football League title with a 31-21 victory over the Cowboys at Lambeau Field.

The victory sets up the championship game at the Orange Bowl in Miami between the Packers and the American Football League champion Oakland Raiders.

With 270 yards on the ground, the Packers finished with 57 running plays and four scores, while chewing up the clock with possession time of 35:30 for the game.

Quarterback Bart Starr also aided the running game as he completed 15-of-18 passes for 196 yards for an offensive total of 466.

Dallas had 404 yards of total offense, but most of that came from quarterback Don Meredith as the Cowboys fell behind. Meredith was 17-of-29 for 300 yards.

The Opening Drive

The Packers put together a nine-play, 69-yard drive to open the contest and they would never trail the rest of the way.

Elijah Pitts scored the first of his two touchdowns to cap the drive with a nine-yard run with 10:45 remaining in the first quarter.

In the second period, the Packers would take control as Don Chandler booted a 38-yard field goal and Pitts added his other score on a nine-year jaunt.

After Pitts scored to make it 17-0, the Cowboys were finally able to answer with an 80-yard drive that ened with Walt Garrison reaching the end zone on a three-yard run.

The Packers had a chance the add to their lead, but Chandler missed a 48-yard field goal try on the final play of the frist half.

Green Bay started the third stanza by stopping Dallas on its initial possession.

The Packers ran the ball 13 times out of the 14 plays as they went 76 yards to make it 24-7 with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

Travis Williams scored on an end run for the six-yard touchdown.

Time to Pass

From that point, the Cowboys abandoned the running game and went to the air.

Garrison did score on a one-yard dive, which was just the second run of an 11-play drive that cut Green Bay’s lead to 24-14.

Early in the final period, Donny Anderson finished the scoring for the Packers with a two-yard run off tackle with 12:00 remaining.

The Cowboys were left trying to attack the Packers with Meredith’s arm, but Green Bay had an answer by creating two turnovers.

Herb Adderley ended a drive with an interception, while Willie Davis sacked Meredith and recovered the fumble he caused with the hit.

In the final minute, Meredith did hook up on a 23-yard scoring pass with Bob Hayes.

For the Packers, Pitts led the way with 124 yards on 24 carries. Williams added 69 yards on 11 attempts.

Max McGee had four catches for 53 yards, while Anderson also had four grabs for 14 yards to go with 19 yards rushing.

Boyd Dowler had a pair of receptions for 50 yards with Carroll Dale finishing with two catches for 48 yards.

Hayes was Meredith favorite target for long passes as the speedster finished with seven grabs for 173 yards.

Meredith also found Lance Rentzel seven times for 98 yards.

With a lot of early carries, Garrison led the Cowboys with 92 yards rushing on 19 attempts.

Defensively, Ray Nitschke topped the Packers with six tackles, while Adderley and Willie Wood both had five stops.

Bob Lilly had a game-high 12 tackles for the Cowboys with five coming behind the line of scrimmage. He also recovered a funble.

Lee Roy Jordan had nine tackles with Dave Edwards adding eight.

1967 Tournament Schedule
AFL-NFL Championship
Raiders vs. Packers
NFL
Cowboys 34, Colts 21
Packers 28, Rams 10
Packers 31, Cowboys 21
AFL
Raiders 24, Jets 17