Pro Football: And Still Champions

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"That was the key play," Dawson said later. "I should never have thrown the ball." Considering the way the Packers methodically carried out Lombardi's instructions, the Chiefs should never even have come back to the field. Not once in the second half did they get past Green Bay's 45-yd. line—while Starr picked Kansas City's defense apart. Throwing mostly to Flanker McGee, a 34-year-old veteran who caught only four passes during the regular season but wound up with seven completions and two touchdowns last week, Starr hit 16 out of 23 attempts for 250 yds. Things were tough on the ground, too. Chiefs Cornerback Fred Williamson, who had bragged about what he was going to do to Packer ball carriers with his "hammer blow"—a kind of karate chop—was curiously quiet after he was knocked cold trying to tackle Halfback Donny Anderson with three minutes left on the clock. At the end it was the Packers 35-10, and only mathematicians would have been interested if it had gone on any longer.

All Right, O.K., You Win. Richer by $15,000 per man, the Packers were inclined to be gracious toward the Chiefs —who pocketed their losers' shares of $7,500 and promised to do better next time. "They're a real tough team," said Coach Lombardi. But that was not what the sportswriters came to hear. Crowding close, they badgered him until he blurted: "All right. Kansas City doesn't compare with the top teams in the National Football League. That's what you wanted me to say—and now I've said it." A.F.L. supporters were too chastened to say "wait till next year," but they might say "wait a few years." The whole American Football League, after all, has been in existence for only seven seasons—while the Packers have been playing in the N.F.L. since 1921.