I love the "Fact or Fiction?" nuggets that the Pro Football Hall of Fame routinely presents. A recent one asked if a team has gone an entire game without attempting a pass. With the dominance of the passing game today it's difficult to imagine a day when the run was the preferred manner in which to advance the football. It is, of course, a fact that a team has played an entire NFL game without attempting a single pass. I was actually a little surprised that it's only happened on five occasions. The most recent was more than six decades ago but it was a significant statement.
The Cleveland Browns joined the NFL in 1950 after four dominating seasons in the rival All-America Football Conference. The NFL has had a storied history of frowning on the football accomplishments made in other leagues. They certainly brushed aside this strong Browns team. The Philadelphia Eagles were two-time defending NFL champions in 1950. Some were even so bold as to consider this Eagles team the best in league history. The Browns first NFL game was against this Eagles team. Paul Brown's Browns were playing an innovative kind of football. The Eagles, and the NFL, assumed that this offense couldn't compete with the brutes of the NFL. The Browns took apart the Eagles in that season-opening game, 35-10. Quarterback Otto Graham threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns as the Browns announced their presence with authority. For whatever reason, pride?, the win was somewhat discredited by the Eagles and others in the NFL. As the 1950 season winded down, the Browns and Eagles played again. Paul Brown made an even greater statement in the rematch. He'd already shown that his team could beat the Eagles through the air. He wanted to show that he could beat the Eagles on the ground. A big storm hit Cleveland and the steady rain made for a muddy field. This only encouraged the decision to run the ball. The Browns beat the Eagles in the rematch, 13-7, without officially throwing a pass. Graham had completed a 10-yard pass but the play was negated by a man in motion penalty. The Browns were for real. Incredibly, they played in the NFL Championship game from 1950-55, winning in '50, '54, and '55.
Here are the other four games in which a team never attempted a pass.
On Oct. 8, 1933, the Green Bay Packers shutout the visiting Portsmouth Spartans (today's Detroit Lions) 17-0. Weather made handling the ball difficult. The Packers two touchdowns were set up by a blocked punt and an interception. The Packers did put the ball in the air once but that was for the PAT after a fourth quarter touchdown run.
On Sep. 10, 1937, the Detroit Lions didn't throw a pass in a 28-0 defeat of the Cleveland Rams, who were making their NFL debut. Half of the Lions points came off of defensive scores.
On Nov. 16, 1941, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 14-7. A newspaper account of the game described the Steelers' no pass attempts in the game as "almost gridiron heresy in the wide-open pro game." Can you imagine what people would say if a team threw no passes in a game today?
On Nov. 13, 1949, a muddy field again encouraged a team to abandon the pass. The Pittsburgh Steelers were an extreme underdog to the Los Angeles Rams on this day. The Steelers threw no passes. A late Rams touchdown prevented a very embarrassing loss. Instead they had a somewhat embarrassing 7-7 tie.
You can never say never in the NFL but it's real difficult to imagine a team going an entire game without throwing the football. Weather could force a team to abandon the run. Usually, it's rain, snow and/or mud. Sometimes it's fog. In the late '80s, the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears played in fog so thick that seeing anything beyond five yards was nearly impossible. Even these adverse playing conditions have yet to prevent a team from throwing a pass since the 1940s. Injuries could force a team to a run-only offense. Like Paul Brown's statement game in the 1950 rematch with the Eagles, I wouldn't be too surprised if a coach like Bill Belichick went into a game with a similar statement in mind. Until we see otherwise, no passes is a thing of the past.
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