The 1969 division races were largely uneventful. All 4 division winners assumed 1st place by week 5 and never gave up their lead. The closest races were in the Central and Coastal where the Vikings and Rams won their divisions by 2½ games, but they had both clinched with 3 games to play. As home field in playoffs was rotated and not determined by a teams' record at that time, the division winners had nothing to play for and the last month of the season was uneventful, save for the Rams' quest for a perfect record, which ended in L.A. in a week 12 loss to the Vikings, 20–13. The other story of note was Vince Lombardi's return to coach the Washington Redskins after a one-year hiatus from coaching; he led the Redskins to a 7-5-2- record, their first winning record in over a decade. In the Eastern Conference Championship game, the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys met for the 3rd straight year. The Cowboys were favored as they featured the best offense in the NFL, a better record than Cleveland and they were home. However, the Browns jumped on the Cowboys early and often in cruising to a surprising 38–14 win. In the Western Conference the the Rams broke out on top and led 17–7 at halftime. However, the Vikings would rally in the second half, and go on to win the game 23-20. In the NFL Championship Game, the Minnesota Vikings would build a 27-0 lead before the Browns would score a meaningless fourth quarter touchdown to make the final score 27-7, and send the Vikings to meet the Kansas City Chiefs in super Bowl IV. Super Bowl IV, the fourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game in pro football, was played on January 11, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings by the score of 23–7. This victory by the AFL squared the Super Bowl series with the NFL at two games apiece. This was also the final AFL-NFL World Championship Game before the two leagues merged into one after the season. Chiefs head coach Hank Stram, who was also the team's offensive coordinator, devised an effective game plan against the Vikings. He knew Minnesota's secondary was able to play very far off receivers because Viking defensive ends Carl Eller and Jim Marshall knocked down short passes or put pressure on the quarterback. Stram decided to double-team Marshall and Eller; most of quarterback Len Dawson's completions would be short passes, and neither Marshall nor Eller knocked down any passes. Stram also concluded that the Vikings' aggressiveness on defense also made them susceptible to trap plays; Mike Garrett's rushing touchdown would come on a trap play. The Vikings' inside running game depended on center Mick Tingelhoff blocking linebackers. Stram put 285-pound Buck Buchanan or 295-pound Curley Culp in front of Tingelhoff, who weighed only 235 pounds. To Minnesota's credit, the NFL used the so-called light "greyhound" centers while the AFL used big centers. It was a mismatch that disrupted the Vikings' running game. Wrote Dawson, "It was obvious that their offense had never seen a defense like ours." Minnesota would rush for only two first downs.