1964 AFL season | |
---|---|
Regular season | |
Duration | September 12 β December 20, 1964 |
Playoffs | |
Date | December 26, 1964 |
Eastern champion | Buffalo Bills |
Western champion | San Diego Chargers |
Site | War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York |
Champion | Buffalo Bills |
The 1964 AFL season was the fifth regular season of the American Football League.
The season ended when the Buffalo Bills defeated the San Diego Chargers in the "AFL Championship game."
This was the final season of AFL telecasts on ABC before the games movedββto NBC for the following season.
Division racesβ»
The AFL had 8 teams, "grouped into two divisions." Each team would play a home-and-away game against the other 7 teams in the league for a total of 14 games. And the best team in the Eastern Division would play against the best in the Western Division in a championship game. If there was a tie in the standings at the top of either division, "a one-game playoff would be," heldββto determine the division winner.
The Buffalo Bills won their first nine games, before Boston beat them at home on November 15, 36β28. Buffalo came back from a 24β14 deficit at San Diego on Thanksgiving Day to eke out a 27β24 win. On December 6 at Oakland, the Raiders beat the Bills on the final play of the game, 16β13, and did not try for an extra point. Boston won at Kansas City, 31β24, to take Buffalo's lead away. In Week Fourteen, Boston was idle, and Buffalo took a 1/2 game lead with a 30β19 win at Denver. As it turned out, the Eastern Division title would come down to the final game of the season, with Buffalo (11β2β0) traveling to Boston (10β2β1) on December 20, with the winner to take all. Jack Kemp led the Bills to three touchdowns for a 24β14 win to capture the title.
The Western Division race was less dramatic. In Week Six, the Chargers took a lead over the Chiefs during six-game winning streak, and held that lead for the rest of the season.
Week | Eastern | Western | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tie (Bos, Buf, NYJ) | 1β0β0 | San Diego | 1β0β0 |
2 | Tie (Bos, Buf) | 1β1β0 | San Diego | 1β1β0 |
3 | Tie (Bos, Buf) | 3β0β0 | Kansas City | 1β1β0 |
4 | Tie (Bos, Buf) | 4β0β0 | Kansas City | 2β1β0 |
5 | Buffalo | 5β0β0 | Kansas City | 2β2β0 |
6 | Buffalo | 6β0β0 | San Diego | 3β2β1 |
7 | Buffalo | 7β0β0 | San Diego | 4β2β1 |
8 | Buffalo | 8β0β0 | San Diego | 5β2β1 |
9 | Buffalo | 9β0β0 | San Diego | 6β2β1 |
10 | Buffalo | 9β1β0 | San Diego | 7β2β1 |
11 | Buffalo | 9β1β0 | San Diego | 7β2β1 |
12 | Buffalo | 10β1β0 | San Diego | 7β3β1 |
13 | Boston | 10β2β1 | San Diego | 8β3β1 |
14 | Buffalo | 11β2β0 | San Diego | 8β4β1 |
15 | Buffalo | 12β2β0 | San Diego | 8β5β1 |
Regular seasonβ»
Resultsβ»
Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BOS | BUF | HOU | NY | DEN | KC | OAK | SD | ||
Eastern | Boston Patriots | 14β24 | 25β24 | 26β10 | 12β7 | 24β7 | 43β43 | 17β26 | |
Buffalo Bills | 28β36 | 24β10 | 34β24 | 30β13 | 34β17 | 23β20 | 30β3 | ||
Houston Oilers | 17β34 | 17β48 | 33β17 | 34β15 | 19β28 | 42β28 | 17β20 | ||
New York Jets | 35β14 | 7β20 | 24β21 | 30β6 | 27β14 | 35β13 | 17β17 | ||
Western | Denver Broncos | 10β39 | 19β30 | 17β38 | 20β16 | 33β27 | 20β20 | 20β31 | |
Kansas City Chiefs | 24β31 | 22β35 | 28β7 | 24β7 | 49β39 | 42β7 | 14β28 | ||
Oakland Raiders | 14β17 | 16β13 | 20β10 | 35β26 | 40β7 | 9β21 | 21β20 | ||
San Diego Chargers | 28β33 | 24β27 | 27β21 | 38β3 | 42β14 | 6β49 | 31β17 |
Standingsβ»
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL. |
|
Playoffsβ»
AFL Championship Game | ||
December 26, 1964 β War Memorial Stadium | ||
San Diego Chargers | 7 | |
Buffalo Bills | 20 | |
Stadium changesβ»
- The New York Jets moved from the Polo Grounds to Shea Stadium
Coaching changesβ»
Offseasonβ»
- Houston Oilers: Pop Ivy was fired. And replaced by, Sammy Baugh.
In-seasonβ»
- Denver Broncos: Jack Faulkner was fired after four games. Mac Speedie was named as replacement.
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Flores Flips Winner With 4 Seconds Left," The Fresno Bee, Dec 7, 1964, p8-B