Fifty-six years ago today, football fans witnessed one of the greatest mismatches and greatest offensive displays in NFL history.
Oct. 22, 1950
L.A. scored at least two touchdowns in every quarter, and the game stands as one of the great tributes to all-around team offense ever seen:
- Nine Rams scored touchdowns (wide receiver Bob Boyd scored twice).
- The Rams gained 535 yards of offense.
- No L.A. ballcarrier rushed for 100 yards.
- No L.A. pass catcher topped 100 yards receiving.
- Quarterbacks Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin, probably the greatest quarterbacking tandem in NFL history, combined to complete 16
of 24 passes for 301 yards and 4 TDs (2 each).
Former Army Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis launched the offensive assault when he tossed a 58-yard halfback option pass to Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch.
L.A.'s firepower wasn't limited to offense. Special teams and defense pitched in, too. Verda "Vitamin T" Smith scored on a 95-yard TD return and went on to set an NFL record with 3 kick returns for TDs that year. (Smith's record has since been tied by several players and surpassed by Green Bay's Travis Williams in 1967 and Chicago's Cecil Turner in 1970, who each returned four kicks for TDs.)
Woodley Lewis led the defense that day by picking off two passes. He went on to become the only rookie defensive back in Rams history to earn a Pro Bowl berth – which means that Dick "Night Train" Lane did not go to the Pro Bowl following his record-setting, 14-INT rookie campaign in 1952.
As the score indicated, it was one of the great mismatches in the history of the league. The Rams went 9-3 behind an offense that scored an amazing 466 points in 12 games that year, an NFL-record average of 38.8 PPG. The Colts went 1-11 behind a defense that surrendered 462 points, an average of 35.5 PPG.
The Colts franchise folded at the end of the season, before rejoining the NFL in 1953.
The 1950 L.A. Rams were noted for one other historical landmark: They were the first team to televise all of their home games. This led to a massive decline in attendance, so the franchise ended the practice the following year.
