The Green Bay Packers faced an 18-point halftime deficit at Tiger Stadium in Detroit in Week 5 of the 1965 NFL season. But Vince Lombardi’s team rallied behind a strong second half by quarterback Bart Starr and managed a 31-21 comeback win over the Lions to keep their undefeated season going. Today we look back at an incredible second half comeback by the Packers in 1965.
Bart Starr Leads the Packers to a Comeback Win over the Lions in 1965: The Buildup
The Pack was coming off back-to-back second place finishes in 1963 and 1964. Lombardi was determined to get back on the championship track in 1965. The Packers responded with a 4-0 start to the season and outscored their opponents 111-50 in those four games.
Green Bay was dealing with injuries heading into this big road game with their division rivals. The Packers would be without two future Hall of Famers. Middle linebacker Ray Nitschke would miss the game due to injury, and he would be replaced by outside linebacker Lee Roy Caffey who moved into the middle. Tommy Crutcher filled in for Caffey on the outside. Meanwhile, tackle Forrest Gregg sat this game out. It was the first game Gregg missed since Lombardi became coach in 1959. He was replaced by Fuzzy Thurston.
Detroit entered the game with a 3-1 record, just one game behind the Packers. They opened the season with three straight wins before dropping a 31-7 decision to the Baltimore Colts in Week 4. The Packers had a chance to put some distance between themselves and the Lions with a win. Meanwhile, the Lions could establish themselves as true contenders if they could defeat the Packers.
A Sluggish Start
The Packers actually scored first in this game but couldn’t hold that lead. Tom Brown intercepted Lions quarterback Milt Plum to give the Packers the ball in good field position. The Lions defense held the Don Chandler booted a 49-yard field goal to give the Packers a 3-0 lead.
The Lions responded immediately. Plum gave Detroit the lead in the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass to former Packers tight end Ron Kramer.
In the second quarter, Wayne Rasmussen intercepted Starr and returned the ball 36 yards for a touchdown. The stunned Packers trailed 14-3.
Detroit had one more big play in the first half. Plum connected with wideout Terry Barr for a 59-yard touchdown pass. The Packers trailed 21-3 at the break.
The Packers did make some changes at the half. They inserted Jerry Kramer into the lineup. “This was to get more speed in there to set up the protection for Bart,” Lombardi explained.
He also addressed the team and kept his message very simple. “I didn’t have any magic formula or any great changes for them at halftime,” Lombardi told reporters after the game. “I knew they were all pros and I simply gave them a little advice that went something like this: ‘You’re all Packers and you’ve got your pride. Stay in there and things will work out for you.’”
Bart Starr Leads the Packers to a Comeback Win over the Lions in 1965: The Pack Comes Back
In the second half, Starr opened things up on the offense. Lions defensive back Jimmy Hill left the game with an injury. “I guess we picked on his position after that,” Lombardi said.
Starr got the Packers into the end zone for the first time with a 62-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bob Long. Long credited fellow wide receiver Carroll Dale with a “terrific block” on his touchdown catch. That cut the deficit to 21-10.
Then, later in the third quarter, he found running back Tom Moore for a 31-yard touchdown pass. The Packers cut the Detroit lead to 21-17.
The Big Play
Starr’s next touchdown pass came on a typical Packers play. Facing 3rd-and-2 at their own 23, Starr called for a long bomb off a play-action pass. Starr faked the hand off and cooly found Dale open downfield after the Lions bit on the fake.
“It was just a gamble that paid off,” Starr said. I just hoped that the Lions would rush and they did.”
“I was just loping and then suddenly took off, running a split pattern down the field,” Dale told reporters. “It was a great call by Bart. The pass was perfect and anyone could have caught that one and gone all the way. All I had to do was catch it and run and hope my knee would hold that far.”
The Packers shut down the Lions in the fourth quarter. Detroit never crossed the Green Bay 43 after Dale’s touchdown.
Meanwhile, Starr engineered one more drive that ended with a four-yard scoring dash by the quarterback himself. The Lions helped by losing their cool. First Packers tight end Marv Fleming was hit after the whistle by Bruce Maher which resulted in a 15-yard penalty. Then Carl Taseff protested the call by running onto the field and received another 15-yard penalty. The game was delayed five full minutes as the fans booed so loudly the players couldn’t hear the signals.
Late in the game, George Izo replaced Plum. His first and only pass was intercepted by Willie Wood. That clinched the Packers 31-21 win.
Bart Starr Leads the Packers to a Comeback Win over the Lions in 1965: The Aftermath
The Packers showed a lot by coming back in this game. The Lions gained 208 yards in the first half but just 87 in the second.
Starr completed 15-of-23 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for a fourth. Both Dale and Long went over 100-yards receiving with Dale catching three passes for 108 yards and Long four for 106 yards.
“Football is a game of pride,” Starr said. “Our pride was tarnished quite a bit in the first half. Win, lose, or draw, we wanted to prove in the second half that we were a better football team than we had showed in the first half.”
“Starr had himself a great, great game. He got undue pressure in the first half but stayed right in there,” Lombardi said. “He deserves a lot of credit.”
“That second half was quite a change,” Caffey said. “Guess I’m a little to blame for not putting enough pressure on Plum during the first half.”
“We were quite disappointed in the first half, but we just shored up our offense a bit in the second half,” Starr said.
Defensive back Doug Hart added, “We were relaxed in that second half. We knew we had to win.”
The Packers finished the season 10-3-1 and won their third NFL title under Lombardi, beating the Browns in the NFL Championship Game. Detroit faltered after their quick start and finished the season 6-7-1. This win was a turning point for the Lions and a big boost for the Packers. The 1965 season would be the first of three straight championships for Lombardi’s team.
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