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1961 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

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1961 St. Louis Cardinals season
OwnerViolet Bidwill Wolfner
Head coachPop Ivy (first 12 games)
Chuck Drulis, Ray Prochaska,
and Ray Willsey
Home fieldBusch Stadium
Results
Record7–7
Division place4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1961 St. Louis Cardinals season marked the team's 42nd year in the National Football League (NFL) and their second in St. Louis. The team improved on their previous year's 6–5–1 record, winning seven games.[1] Despite the improvement, they finished fourth in the seven-team Eastern Conference and failed to qualify for the playoffs (NFL title game) for the thirteenth consecutive season. The Cardinals were led by fourth-year head coach Pop Ivy, who was replaced after a 5–7 start by the trio of Chuck Drulis, Ray Prochaska, and Ray Willsey.

This was the final season of ownership by Violet Bidwill Wolfner, who died in January 1962 at age 62.[2]

Roster

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1961 St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 17 at New York Giants W 21–10 1–0 Yankee Stadium 58,059
2 September 24 at Cleveland Browns L 17–20 1–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 50,443
3 October 1 at Philadelphia Eagles W 30–27 2–1 Franklin Field 59,399
4 October 8 New York Giants L 9–24 2–2 Busch Stadium 23,713
5 October 15 Philadelphia Eagles L 7–20 2–3 Busch Stadium 20,262
6 October 22 at Washington Redskins W 24–0 3–3 D.C. Stadium 28,037
7 October 29 Cleveland Browns L 10–21 3–4 Busch Stadium 26,696
8 November 5 at Dallas Cowboys W 31–17 4–4 Cotton Bowl 20,500
9 November 12 Detroit Lions L 14–45 4–5 Busch Stadium 20,320
10 November 19 at Baltimore Colts L 0–16 4–6 Memorial Stadium 56,112
11 November 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 27–30 4–7 Forbes Field 17,090
12 December 3 Washington Redskins W 38–24 5–7 Busch Stadium 16,204
13 December 10 Dallas Cowboys W 31–13 6–7 Busch Stadium 15,384
14 December 17 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–0 7–7 Busch Stadium 16,298
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 1 at NY Giants

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the Cardinals, supposedly crippled beyond repair, came roaring through with a fine display of offensive firepower to upset the New York Giants. The Cards razzle-dazzle offense was on display despite losing John David Crow and Joe Childress. But Sam Etcheverry, another cripple, cranked up Frank Ivy's offense and sent fullback Mal Hammack on a 28-yard touchdown run that overcame a 10-7 Giants lead, then fired a five-yard screen pass to another fullback Frank Mestnik, for another score. The Cards defense also was effective. The Giants' "new look" offense was badly frustrated and surrendered the first St. Louis Cardinals touchdown when halfback Bob Gaiters fumbled in the end zone and Willie West recovered for a touchdown. The Giants only scoring was a 44-yard field goal by Pat Summerall and a Larry Hayes return of a block punt for a touchdown.

Standings

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NFL Eastern Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
New York Giants 10 3 1 .769 9–2–1 368 220 T1
Philadelphia Eagles 10 4 0 .714 8–4 361 297 W1
Cleveland Browns 8 5 1 .615 8–3–1 319 270 T1
St. Louis Cardinals 7 7 0 .500 7–5 279 267 W3
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 8 0 .429 5–7 295 287 L1
Dallas Cowboys 4 9 1 .308 2–9–1 236 380 L4
Washington Redskins 1 12 1 .077 1–10–1 174 392 W1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

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  1. ^ 1961 St. Louis Cardinals
  2. ^ "Mrs. Wolfner, Cardinals' owner, dies". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. January 30, 1962. p. 1, part 3.
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