Super Bowl III

The game

New York entered the game with their wide receiver Don Maynard playing injured. But his 112-yard, two touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game made the Colts defense so wary of him that Namath took advantage of the single coverage on other receivers. Meanwhile, the Jets defense shut down the Colts offense for most of the game.

Related Topics:
Don Maynard - Oakland Raiders

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The Jets took the opening kickoff but had to punt. Then on the Colts' first drive, they advanced the ball to the Jets' 19-yard line, but after two incomplete passes and a sack, they had to settle for a field goal attempt. But defensive lineman/kicker Lou Michael's 27-yard kick went wide right.

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With less than 20 seconds left in the period, split end George Sauer caught a pass from Namath but fumbled the ball and the Colts recovered at New York's 12-yard line. However, on third down (the second play of the second half) Baltimore quarterback Earl Morrall's pass was intercepted by Jets cornerback Randy Beverly in the end zone for a touchback. Starting from their own 20-yard line, Jets running back Matt Snell rushed on the next 4 plays, advancing the ball 26 yards. Namath later completed 3 consecutive passes, moving the ball to the Colts 23-yard line. Running back Emerson Boozer gained just 2 yards on the next play, but Snell followed it up by catching a 12-yard pass to the 9-yard line, a 5-yard run to the 4-yard line, and capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. The score gave the Jets a 7-0 lead, and marked the first time in that an AFL team led in the Super Bowl.

Related Topics:
Earl Morrall - Matt Snell - Emerson Boozer

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Later in the second period, Baltimore reached New York's 16-yard line, aided by a Super Bowl record 58-yard run by running back Tom Matte. But with 2 minutes left in the half, Morrall was intercepted by cornerback Johnny Sample at the 2-yard line. The Jets then were forced to punt on their ensuing drive, and the Colts threatened to score again with a flea flicker play. Matte took the handoff, ran up to the line, and then pitched the ball back to Morrall. The play fooled the Jets defense and receiver Jimmy Orr was wide open in the end zone. But Morall did not see him and instead threw a pass intended for running back Jerry Hill that was intercepted by Jets safety Jim Hudson as time expired, maintaining the Jets' 7-0 lead at halftime.

Related Topics:
Tom Matte - Flea flicker play - Jimmy Orr - Jerry Hill - Jim Hudson

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Matte then lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, which led to Jim Turner's 32-yard field to increase the Jets' lead, 10-0. Then after forcing the Colts to punt again, Turner kicked another field goal to make the score 13-0. On that drive, Namath temporarily went out of the game after injuring his right thumb, and was replaced by backup quarterback Babe Parilli for a few plays.

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After Turner's second field goal, Colts head coach Don Shula took Morrall out of the game and put in the sore armed Unitas to see if he could provide a spark to Baltimore's offense. But Unitas could not get the Colts offense moving on their next drive and they were forced to punt again.

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Turner kicked his third field goal early in the final period to make the score 16-0. The Colts finally scored late in the fourth quarter, on an 80 yard, 14 play drive, ending with Hill's 1-yard touchdown run, cutting the lead 16-7. And Baltimore was able to recover the ensuing onside kick, and march to New York's 19-yard line. But Unitas' pass on fourth down fell incomplete, and the Jets were able to eat most of the rest of the clock.

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Snell rushed for 121 yards while Sauer caught eight passes for 133 yards.

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Scoring Summary

• NYJ - Snell 4 run (J. Turner kick)
• NYJ - FG J. Turner 32
• NYJ - FG J. Turner 30
• NYJ - FG J. Turner 9
• BAL - Hill 1 run (Michaels kick)