They'll be told of heroics the like of which never had been seen. Even the 64, fans who were there, nerves twisted and frayed by the swift-changing tides of battle, aren't quite certain it all happened the way it did. There was less than five minutes to go. Three plays later, as Conerly whipped a sideline pass to Alex Webster for a first down on the 34, there was only four minutes left. And then came that fateful little line buck. It was third down and four yards to go at the Giant 40 and Gifford, the first-half goat but a ring-leader in the second-half uprising, took a handoff from Conerly and tunneled his way into the left side of the Baltimore line, disappearing from sight and then knifing into view.
So, on fourth down at their own 43, with left on the clock, the Giants were forced to punt although the odds, because of the time element, still lay heavily in their favor. Stopping Gifford and forcing the kick brought an aroused Colt offensive unit into action and it soared 73 yards on the wings of Unitas' deft tosses to set the stage for Myhra's score-tying field goal from the Unitas, who went all the way at quarterback to complete 26 of 40 passes for yards a championship record , missed two in a row at this point.
Then he hit right halfback Lenny Moore for a first down on the 25, missed another, and finally found the range with three straight connections to left end Ray Berry. Berry speared the first pitch for a yard gain to the 50; the second for 15 to the Giant 35; and the third for 22 to the 13, at which point, and seven seconds from the end of regulation playing time, Myhra toed the three-point when sent to battle into sudden-death. So, after the five-minute delay the two teams went at it all over again with the Giants winning the coin toss and getting first crack.
The Colts stopped them a yard short of a first down, forced the punt, and began their final depredations from their Dupre broke loose for 11 yards. Next it was a pass to Berry for 19, then Ameche up the middle for 23 and finally another flip to Berry who made his 12th catch of the game a new championship game record for pass catches for a first down on the Giant eight. With the guts of a burglar and to the amazement of everybody, Unitas pitched a pass out to ex-Notre Damer Jim Mutscheller on the right flank and the play carried to the one, from where Ameche, roaring through a huge hole at right tackle, brought home the full meaning of the phrase "sudden death" to the now silent multitude.
There was no attempt at the now meaningless extra-point and, in a moment, no goal posts over which to kick as some 15, Baltimore fans stormed the field and leveled the uprights at both ends.
