1959 Baltimore Colts season

The 1959 Baltimore Colts season was the seventh season for the team in the National Football League. The defending champion Baltimore Colts finished the NFL's 40th season with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses and finished first in the Western Conference, and defeated the New York Giants, 31–16 in the NFL championship game, which was the rematch of the previous season's classic title game, for their second consecutive NFL title.

1959 Baltimore Colts season
Head coachWeeb Ewbank
OwnerCarroll Rosenbloom
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record9–3
Division place1st NFL Western
Playoff finishWon NFL Championship (Giants, 31–16)

Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas had one of the great seasons by a passer in NFL history. Says Cold Hard Football Facts, "[Unitas's] 32 scoring strikes was an NFL record –- he was the first and only to top 30 [touchdowns] in the NFL's first 40 years –- and remains the standard for a 12-game season. He was in the midst of his record 47-game streak with a touchdown pass, and connected on at least one in every game of 1959."[1]

Cold Hard Football Facts also notes that the 1959 Colts were the only team in NFL history to lead the league in both offensive and defensive (i.e. opponents') passer rating for two consecutive seasons (1958–1959).[2] Every other team to had ever led the league in both has won an NFL championship.

The Colts defeated the Green Bay Packers twice this season in Vince Lombardi's first year as head coach. Baltimore did not win the Western title again until 1964 and their next NFL title came in 1968.

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance
1 September 27 Detroit Lions W 21–9 1–0 Memorial Stadium
55,588
2 October 3 Chicago Bears L 21–26 1–1 Memorial Stadium
57,557
3 October 11 at Detroit Lions W 31–24 2–1 Tiger Stadium
54,197
4 October 18 at Chicago Bears W 21–7 3–1 Wrigley Field
48,430
5 October 25 Green Bay Packers W 38–21 4–1 Memorial Stadium
57,557
6 November 1 Cleveland Browns L 31–38 4–2 Memorial Stadium
57,557
7 November 8 at Washington Redskins L 24–27 4–3 Griffith Stadium
32,773
8 November 15 at Green Bay Packers W 28–24 5–3 Milwaukee County Stadium
25,521
9 November 22 San Francisco 49ers W 45–14 6–3 Memorial Stadium
57,557
10 November 29 Los Angeles Rams W 35–21 7–3 Memorial Stadium
57,557
11 December 5 at San Francisco 49ers W 34–14 8–3 Kezar Stadium
59,075
12 December 12 at Los Angeles Rams W 45–26 9–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
65,528

Standings
NFL Western Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts 9 3 0 .750 9–1 374 251 W5
Chicago Bears 8 4 0 .667 6–4 252 196 W7
San Francisco 49ers 7 5 0 .583 5–5 255 237 L2
Green Bay Packers 7 5 0 .583 6–4 248 246 W4
Detroit Lions 3 8 1 .273 2–8 203 275 L1
Los Angeles Rams 2 10 0 .167 2–8 242 315 L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason
Main article: 1959 NFL Championship Game

The 1959 NFL championship game was played on December 27 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The game was a rematch of the previous year's title game that went into overtime. The 1959 game was the 27th annual NFL championship game. The Colts beat the Giants 31–16, earning their second consecutive NFL championship over the Giants.

Playoff Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Championship December 27, 1959 New York Giants W 31–16 Memorial Stadium
57,545

Awards and honors

See also

References
  1. "Cold Hard Football Facts: The Dandy Dozen: 12 best passing seasons in history". Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  2. "Cold Hard Football Facts: 40 and Fabulous: in praise of passer rating". Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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