Led by league MVP Tittle, who passed for over 3,000 yards and 36 touchdowns, the Giants had an 11–3 record in 1963. They set what remains the NFL's record for most points in a 14-game season by scoring 448. They advanced to face the Chicago Bears in the NFL championship game. On an icy field, New York's defense played well, but Chicago's newly invented zone defense intercepted Tittle five times (including one returned for a score) and injured Tittle in the first half (though he finished the game). Several Giants players including linebacker Huff pleaded with Sherman to replace the hobbled Tittle, who the players felt was pressing and committing too many turnovers, from playing the second half. Sherman however, had little alternative. "The old man kept saying 'I can do it. I feel a little better'" Sherman recalled. "We had a young quarterback (Glynn Griffing), he had gone to get married a couple of weeks earlier but failed to come back in the days he said he would. We couldn't use him." The Giants defense, led by Hall of Famer Huff, held the Bears in check, but they lost 14–10, their third straight NFL Championship Game defeat. New York had a chance to take a 14–0 lead in the first quarter but wide receiver Del Shofner dropped a potential touchdown in the end zone, a drop he said in 2010, that he feels would have won the Giants the game. "I was alone in the end zone—ball right into my hands, nobody around me—and I dropped the ball...as good a defense as we had that year, I don't think the Berar would have ever come back from being down 14–0." On the next play, Tittle threw an interception to Chicago linebacker Larry Morris, which he returned to the New York five-yard line. Two plays later, the Bears tied the game.