Dec. 2, 1963 - The St. Louis Cardinals, who were chiefly responsible for creating the close race in the NFL’s Eastern Conference by beating the Browns and Giants the last two Sundays, ran out of gas yesterday. A 24-10 defeat at the hands of the Browns before a disappointed Busch Stadium crowd of 32,531 all but wiped out St. Louis’s championship hopes. The Browns produced their best performance since they were shocked by the Giants in Cleveland Oct. 27. They had won their first six games under Blanton Collier, their new coach, including one in New York. The loss to the Giants was followed by losses to Pittsburgh and St. Louis and unimpressive victories over Philadelphia and Dallas, considered to be weak teams. This time, however, Cleveland simply overpowered the Cardinals on the running of Jim Brown, the effective passing of Frank Ryan, and the complete stifling of the St. Louis passing attack. The Browns gained more than twice as much yardage as the Cardinals, 403 to 198, and were in command, 21-3, at halftime. Brown gained 179 yards rushing, exactly the same amount the Cardinals amassed on the ground. In the process, Brown broke his own record for yardage gained in one season. His total is 1,677 yards in 250 attempts. He set the old record in 1958 with 1,527 yards in 257 attempts. Afterward, coach Collier had high praise for his four defensive linemen. “The pressure Paul Wiggin, Bob Gain, Frank Parker, and Bill Glass put on quarterback Charley Johnson was instrumental in the victory,” he explained. “By rushing Johnson, our line gave our linebackers and deep backs more time to bottle up the Cardinal receivers. Our secondary was able to do a better job of helping one another when they got in trouble.” In the second half, with a lead, the Browns switched their defense to “hard football,” Collier said. “St. Louis was doing a lot of blitzing in the second half, but we knew if we could hang on to the ball every time we got it, we would be able to hold that lead.”
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