# 1964 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 45th year with the National Football League (NFL) and the fifth season in St. Louis.
The Cardinals (9–3–2) were the runner-up in the Eastern Conference, finishing a half game behind the Cleveland Browns (10–3–1), who won the NFL championship game on December 27. The Cardinals tied the Browns in Cleveland in September and defeated them in St. Louis in December.
As the conference runner-up, the Cardinals played the Green Bay Packers of the Western Conference in the third place Playoff Bowl in Miami, Florida. Held on January 3 at the Orange Bowl, St. Louis won in an upset, 24–17. It was the Cardinals' only postseason appearance between 1948 and 1974.

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 16–6 | 1–0 | Cotton Bowl | 36,605 |
| 2 | September 20 | at Cleveland Browns | T 33–33 | 1–0–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 76,954 |
| 3 | September 27 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 23–13 | 2–0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 30,969 |
| 4 | October 4 | at Washington Redskins | W 23–17 | 3–0–1 | D.C. Stadium | 49,219 |
| 5 | October 12 | at Baltimore Colts^ | L 27–47 | 3–1–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,213 |
| 6 | October 18 | Washington Redskins | W 38–24 | 4–1–1 | Busch Stadium | 23,748 |
| 7 | October 25 | Dallas Cowboys | L 13–31 | 4–2–1 | Busch Stadium | 28,253 |
| 8 | November 1 | at New York Giants | L 17–34 | 4–3–1 | Yankee Stadium | 63,072 |
| 9 | November 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 34–30 | 5–3–1 | Busch Stadium | 28,245 |
| 10 | November 15 | New York Giants | T 10–10 | 5–3–2 | Busch Stadium | 29,608 |
| 11 | November 22 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 38–13 | 6–3–2 | Franklin Field | 60,671 |
| 12 | November 29 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 21–20 | 7–3–2 | Pitt Stadium | 27,807 |
| 13 | December 6 | Cleveland Browns | W 28–19 | 8–3–2 | Busch Stadium | 31,585 |
| 14 | December 13 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 36–34 | 9–3–2 | Busch Stadium | 24,636 |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. |||||||
^ The game with the Baltimore Colts on October 12 was originally scheduled for St. Louis, but was moved to Baltimore due to the baseball Cardinals' participation in the World Series.

### Game summaries
#### Week 2: at Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 10 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 33 |
| Browns | 6 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 33 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: September 20
* Game time: 12:30 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), relative humidity 87%, wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
* Game attendance: 76,954
* Referee: Tom Bell
* TV announcers (CBS): Jack Drees (STL) (second half) and Ken Coleman (CLE) (first half) (play-by-play), Bill Fischer (STL) (second half) and Warren Lahr (CLE) (first half) (color commentators)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First Quarter
STL - John David Crow 22 yard pass from Charley Johnson - (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 7-0
CLE - Lou Groza 32 yard field goal - Cardinals 7-3
CLE - Lou Groza 12 yard field goal - Cardinals 7-6
STL - Jim Bakken 30 yard field goal - Cardinals 10-6
Second Quarter
CLE - Lou Groza 37 yard field goal - Cardinals 10-9
STL - Jim Bakken 51 yard field goal - Cardinals 13-9
CLE - Paul Warfield 40 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 16-13
Third Quarter
STL - Sonny Randle 38 yard pass from Charley Johnson - (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 20-16
STL - Jim Bakken 44 yard field goal - Cardinals 23-16
CLE - Gary Collins 7 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Tied 23-23
Fourth Quarter
STL - Sonny Randle 50 yard pass from Charley Johnson - (Jim Bakken kick)Cardinals 30-23
CLE - Lou Groza 25 yard field goal - Cardinals 30-26
CLE - Jim Brown 1 yard rush - (Lou Groza kick) Browns 33-30
STL - Jim Bakken 28 yard field goal - Tied 33-33
Cardinals
Browns :

#### Week 13: vs. Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 19 |
| Cardinals | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
at Busch Stadium I, St. Louis, Missouri
* Date: December 6
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: 18 °F (−8 °C), relative humidity 98%, wind 7.8 mph (13 km/h), wind chill 8 °F (−13 °C)
* Game attendance: 31,585
* TV announcers (CBS): Ken Coleman (CLE) (second half) and Jack Drees (STL) (first half) (play-by-play), Warren Lahr (CLE) (second half) and Bill Fischer (STL) (first half) (color commentators)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First Quarter
CLE - Lou Groza 22 yard field goal - Browns 3-0
Second Quarter
STL - Joe Childress 46 yard pass from Charley Johnson - (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 7-3
STL - Charley Johnson 1 yard run - (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 14-3
STL - Bobby Joe Conrad 8 yard pass from Charley Johnson - (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 21-3
CLE - Lou Groza 39 yard field goal - Cardinals 21-6
Third Quarter
CLE - Lou Groza 17 yard field goal - Cardinals 21-9
STL - Charley Johnson 1 yard run - (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 28-9
Fourth Quarter
CLE - Lou Groza 36 yard field goal - Cardinals 28-12
CLE - Ernie Green 30 yard pass from Frank Ryan - (Lou Groza kick) Cardinals 28-19
Browns
Cardinals :

## Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 9–2–1 | 415 | 293 | W1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 9 | 3 | 2 | .750 | 8–2–2 | 357 | 331 | W4 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 6–6 | 312 | 313 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 5–7 | 307 | 305 | L2 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 4–7–1 | 250 | 289 | W1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 253 | 315 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 2 | 10 | 2 | .167 | 2–8–2 | 241 | 399 | L4 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Baltimore Colts | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 10–2 | 428 | 225 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 6–5–1 | 342 | 245 | T1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 6–5–1 | 355 | 296 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 6–4–2 | 280 | 260 | W2 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 3–7–2 | 283 | 339 | T1 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 260 | 379 | L2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–9 | 236 | 330 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
* ↑ Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

## Postseason
### Playoff Bowl

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| Playoff Bowl | January 3, 1965 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–17 | Orange Bowl | 56,218 |
Source: