 Cleveland climbed back to the top of the Eastern Conference in 1964 with a 10 – 3 – 1 record behind Jim Brown 's league @-@ leading 1 @,@ 446 yards of rushing and reached the championship game against the Baltimore Colts . Most sportswriters predicted an easy win for the Colts , who led the league in scoring behind quarterback Johnny Unitas and halfback Lenny Moore . The Browns ' defense , moreover , was suspect . The team gave up 20 more first downs than any other in the league . The teams , however , had not faced each other for three years . Before the game , Collier and Colts coach Don Shula agreed to give each other full access to video of regular @-@ season games . Ever the student , Collier took full advantage of the opportunity . The Browns had run what was dubbed a " rubber band " pass defense , allowing short throws while trying to prevent big plays . The Colts ' top receivers , however , Raymond Berry and Jimmy Orr , were not fast . They tended to pick apart defenses with short , tactical completions , which led Collier to institute a man @-@ to @-@ man pass defense for the game . This , he figured , would buy more time for the defensive line and force Unitas to scramble — not his forte . 
