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The Rams were supposed to beat the Chicago Bears and then face the
Baltimore Colts to determine the division championship. But a series of
mistakes -- and the Bears -- got in the way as the Rams lost, 17-16.
The most controversial error was made by the officials, who lost a
down when the Rams were trying to drive for a winning field goal with
less than a minute to play.
The Rams were called for holding on a first-down pass play that fell
incomplete. The Times' Mal Florence picks up the action: "Seemingly the
Rams had a first down on their own 47, but the yard marker
unaccountably read second down. You don't lose a down on such an
infraction after the defense accepts the penalty."
But the Rams did.
"We have no excuses, no alibis," Coach George Allen said. According
to Florence's story, Allen wasn't aware at the time that the Rams had
lost a down.
Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended the officials, taking them out
of contention for post-season games. Made sense, since the loss did the
same thing to the Rams.
-- Keith Thursby
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A bitter defeat for the Rams.
If I recall correctly, Rams Owner Dan Reeves held George Allen personally responsible for the lose and tried to fire Allen after the end of the season.
I'm sure George Halas savored the victory gven the bad blood between him and George Allen after Allen had departed the Bears for the Rams.
Only 66,000 were at the game?
Looks like more people showed up for Rams games at the L.A. Coliseum during the 1950's.
Were the Rams already losing fans in L.A. in the 1960's?
I thought the decline began during the Carroll Rosenbloom - Chuck Knox era.
Posted by: Richard H | December 09, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Your question about the attendance got me thinking. I seemed to recall the Coliseum reducing its capacity some years (might have been for NFL TV blackout rules, I have no idea). Anyway, found this on wikipedia....
During the 1960s and 70s, it was common practice to shift the playing field to the closed end of the stadium and install end zone bleachers in front of the peristyle, reducing the capacity to 71,500.
That makes 66,000 sound not so bad.
--Keith
Posted by: Keith Thursby | December 09, 2008 at 12:17 PM