# 1961 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1961 St. Louis Cardinals season marked the team's 42nd year in the National Football League (NFL) and their second in St. Louis. The team improved on their previous year's 6–5–1 record, winning seven games. Despite the improvement, they finished fourth in the seven-team Eastern Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs (NFL title game) for the thirteenth consecutive season. The Cardinals were led by fourth-year head coach Pop Ivy, who was replaced after a 5–7 start by the trio of Chuck Drulis, Ray Prochaska, and Ray Willsey.
This was the final season of ownership by Violet Bidwill Wolfner, who died in January 1962 at age 62.

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | at New York Giants | W 21–10 | 1–0 | Yankee Stadium | 58,059 |
| 2 | September 24 | at Cleveland Browns | L 17–20 | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 50,443 |
| 3 | October 1 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 30–27 | 2–1 | Franklin Field | 59,399 |
| 4 | October 8 | New York Giants | L 9–24 | 2–2 | Busch Stadium | 23,713 |
| 5 | October 15 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–20 | 2–3 | Busch Stadium | 20,262 |
| 6 | October 22 | at Washington Redskins | W 24–0 | 3–3 | D.C. Stadium | 28,037 |
| 7 | October 29 | Cleveland Browns | L 10–21 | 3–4 | Busch Stadium | 26,696 |
| 8 | November 5 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 31–17 | 4–4 | Cotton Bowl | 20,500 |
| 9 | November 12 | Detroit Lions | L 14–45 | 4–5 | Busch Stadium | 20,320 |
| 10 | November 19 | at Baltimore Colts | L 0–16 | 4–6 | Memorial Stadium | 56,112 |
| 11 | November 26 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 27–30 | 4–7 | Forbes Field | 17,090 |
| 12 | December 3 | Washington Redskins | W 38–24 | 5–7 | Busch Stadium | 16,204 |
| 13 | December 10 | Dallas Cowboys | W 31–13 | 6–7 | Busch Stadium | 15,384 |
| 14 | December 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 20–0 | 7–7 | Busch Stadium | 16,298 |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 1 at NY Giants

the Cardinals, supposedly crippled beyond repair, came roaring through with a fine display of offensive firepower to upset the New York Giants. The Cards razzle-dazzle offense was on display despite losing John David Crow and Joe Childress. But Sam Etcheverry, another cripple, cranked up Frank Ivy's offense and sent fullback Mal Hammack on a 28-yard touchdown run that overcame a 10-7 Giants lead, then fired a five-yard screen pass to another fullback Frank Mestnik, for another score. The Cards defense also was effective. The Giants' "new look" offense was badly frustrated and surrendered the first St. Louis Cardinals touchdown when halfback Bob Gaiters fumbled in the end zone and Willie West recovered for a touchdown. The Giants only scoring was a 44-yard field goal by Pat Summerall and a Larry Hayes return of a block punt for a touchdown.

## Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Giants | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 9–2–1 | 368 | 220 | T1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 8–4 | 361 | 297 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 8–3–1 | 319 | 270 | T1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 7–5 | 279 | 267 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 5–7 | 295 | 287 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 2–9–1 | 236 | 380 | L4 |
| Washington Redskins | 1 | 12 | 1 | .077 | 1–10–1 | 174 | 392 | W1 |
       Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.