page_title: Super Bowl III
section_title: Game summary
hierarchical_section_title: Super Bowl III / Game summary
caption_attribution_description: English: A football card from the 1986 Jeno's Pizza NFL football card stickers set of New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath running a play against the Baltimore Colts during Super Bowl III. The card is numbered #37 in the set. The back of the card reads: HELLO, WORLD, WELCOME TO THE AFL Joe Namath (12) directs the New York Jets' attack, as he and his teammates shock the the Baltimore Colts 16-7 to win Super Bowl III. Several days before the game, Namath, speaking at a dinner, said: "We're going to win Sunday, I'll guarantee you." The Colts were favored by three touchdowns to give the NFL its third consecutive victory over the AFL.
context_page_description: Super Bowl III was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Super Bowl". Played on January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, the game is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in both American football history and in the recorded history of sports. The 18-point underdog American Football League champion New York Jets defeated the National Football League champion Baltimore Colts by a score of 16–7.
  This was the first Super Bowl victory for the AFL. Before the game, most sports writers and fans believed that AFL teams were less talented than NFL clubs, and expected the Colts to defeat the Jets by a wide margin. Baltimore posted a 13–1 record in the regular season and shut out the Cleveland Browns 34–0 in the NFL Championship Game. The Jets were 11–3 in the regular season, and defeated the Oakland Raiders 27–23 in the AFL Championship Game.
  Jets quarterback Joe Namath famously made an appearance three days before the Super Bowl at the Miami Touchdown Club and personally guaranteed his team's victory.
context_section_description: New York entered the game with their primary deep threat, wide receiver Don Maynard, playing with a pulled hamstring. But his 112-yard, two touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game made the Colts defense pay special attention to him, not realizing he was injured. Using Maynard as a decoy—he had no receptions in the game—Joe Namath was able to take advantage of single coverage on wide receiver George Sauer Jr.. (After studying the Colts' zone defense, Ewbank had told his receivers, "Find the dead spots in the zone, hook up, and Joe will hit you.") The Jets had a conservative game plan, emphasizing the run as well as short high-percentage passes to minimize interceptions. Meanwhile, with the help of many fortunate plays, the Jets defense kept the Colts offense from scoring for most of the game. Also, Baltimore had a distinctly older group of players with 10+ years experience (Braase, Shinnick, Lyles, Boyd) on their defense's right side versus New York's younger, bigger left offensive side (Hill, Talamini, Schmitt, Sauer)--and back Snell when running left behind left tackle Hill, who thoroughly defeated defensive end Braase.
caption: Namath (center-left) running a play for the Jets in Super Bowl III
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