George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

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LeonardRachiele
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George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

Post by LeonardRachiele »

We are in Houston in  1965 with the Oilers playing the Kansas City Chiefs.  Coach Bones Taylor put George Blanda back in at quarterback after half time.  Blanda had a very sore knee and the coaches wanted to keep him on the bench.  However,  the Oilers fell behind 17 to 0 and second stringer quarterback Don Trull was awful.  38 year old George Blanda in the second  half put on a one man show.  Once again it was a face off between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks and NFL castoffs- Len Dawson for the Chiefs and George Blanda for the Oilers.

In the third quarter Blanda:

--threw a 64 yard touchdown pass to Charlie Frazier;
--threw a 49 yard touchdown pass to Ode Burrell;
--threw a 17 yard touchdown pass to Willie Frazier;
--threw a 9 yard touchdown pass to Willie Frazier.

The Oilers lead Kansas 28 to 17 after three periods.

Early in the fourth quarter, Chiefs' kicker Tommy Brooker popped one threw the uprights narrowing Houston's lead to 28 to 20.

George Blanda capped another drive with his fifth touchdown pass, a nine yard throw to Bob McLeod.  Unfortunately for Houston, their defense was bad.  Len Dawson threw touchdown passes  to Curtis MClinton and Otis Taylor.  This gave the Chiefs a 36 to 35 lead;  but  Blanda was not through yet.  The Houston went on another drive.  Blanda, with his sore knee, could not kick field goals.  Jack Spikes kicked an 18 yard field goal and Houston defeated Kansas City  38 to 36.

George Blanda for this two quarter performance was named AFL Player of the Week.  Donovan McNabb would tie Blanda's record of five touchdown in one half 29 years later.
RichardBak
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Re: George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

Post by RichardBak »

Off the top of my head, I can recall Daryle Lamonica (in '69 I believe) and Aaron Rodgers tossing 6 TD passes in a half.
Cali_Eagle
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Re: George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

Post by Cali_Eagle »

Lamonica's performance strikes a chord with me too, now that you remind me of it.*** I also recall Shaun Alexander scoring 5 TDs in the first 1/2 of a Monday night game, He could have easily played in the 2nd half & the way things were going for the Seahawks that evening, probably could have and would have easily been the 1st NFL player to score 7 TDs in a game. Also scoring 42 points and wiping both of Ernie Nevers's records off the books at one fell swoop. Had I been him, I would have gone for it... once in a lifetime chance.

EDIT: It was 9-29-2002 Alexander bags 5 TDs in 1st half. Score at the half Seattle 45 Minnesota 10. (Final Score 48-23, 2nd half was a snooze-a-palooza.) I totally get not embarrassing an opponent unnecessarily, but imagine the fans having a chance to see a once in a lifetime performance and instead sending them home on 30 minutes of going-through-the-motions pure garbage time. Bobby Bowden said it best: "If you don't want my team to score, play some defense!" (Paraphrase)

*** Re: Lamonica on 10-19-69 The Mad Bomber has 6 TD passes in the first half. Score Oakland 42 Buffalo 7 at the half. Dogs called off in 2nd half, Final Score Oakland 50 Buffalo 21. Wish Lamonica had gone for 8. Wonder if he wished he had too, later on...
RichardBak
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Re: George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

Post by RichardBak »

Lamonica had a second 6-TDP game in '69---that blowout of the Oilers in the divisional playoff. Of course they weren't all in the first half. But I remember rooting like hell for him to throw a 7th.

John Madden always struck me as the kind of old-school coach who didn't like to run up the score, figuring the tables might one day be turned on him. The coaching fraternity is kind of small and cozy no matter what the sport.
RRMarshall
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Re: George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

Post by RRMarshall »

Lamonica almost did throw a 7th TD pass but rookie WR Drew Buie stepped out of bounds inside the 1-yard line on the final play of the 1st half. You can see the play in the 1969 Raiders highlight film!
Last edited by RRMarshall on Fri May 26, 2023 6:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cali_Eagle
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Re: George Blanda-A record 5 TD Passes in the 1st Half

Post by Cali_Eagle »

RRMarshall wrote:Lamonica almost did throw a 7th TD pass but rookie WR Drew Buie but stepped out of bounds inside the 1-yard line on the final play of the 1st half. You can see the play in the 1969 Raiders highlight film!
He gets that one... I bet Madden sends him out in 2nd half, tells him "Get 8, then go take a shower, and be ready for the flood of media at the post-game press conference." lol.
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