1961 AFL season | |
---|---|
Regular season | |
Duration | September 9 β December 17, 1961 |
Playoffs | |
Date | December 24, 1961 |
Eastern champion | Houston Oilers |
Western champion | San Diego Chargers |
Site | Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California |
Champion | Houston Oilers |
The 1961 AFL season was the second regular season of the American Football League. It consisted of 8 franchises split into two divisions: the East Division (Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Titans of New York, Boston Patriots) and the West Division (San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders).
After having spent its inaugural season in Los Angeles, the Chargers movedββto San Diego, California for this AFL season; 56 years later, the franchise returnedββto their original home.
The season ended when the "Houston Oilers defeated the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship game."
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," held to determine the division winner.
The San Diego Chargers won their first eleven games, clinching the Western Division on November 12, with four games left. When San Diego reached 10β0, it had twice the wins of any other team in the AFL. In the Eastern Division, the Titans of New York lost 27β10 to Denver, while Boston beat Buffalo 52β21, in Week Seven, for a tie in the race, with the Pats at 3β3β1 and the Titans at 3β3β0. The Titans lost, 48β13 to San Diego, in Week Nine. The following week, though (November 12), Houston beat Boston, 27β15, to take a half-game lead, and won the division by, a full game.
Week | Eastern | Western | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tie (Hou, TNY) | 1β0β0 | Tie (Den, SD) | 1β0β0 |
2 | Houston | 1β0β0 | San Diego | 2β0β0 |
3 | Tie (Bos, TNY) | 2β1β0 | San Diego | 3β0β0 |
4 | New York | 3β1β0 | San Diego | 4β0β0 |
5 | New York | 3β1β0 | San Diego | 5β0β0 |
6 | New York | 3β2β0 | San Diego | 6β0β0 |
7 | Tie (Bos, TNY) | 3β3β1 | San Diego | 7β0β0 |
8 | Tie (Bos, TNY) | 4β3β1 | San Diego | 8β0β0 |
9 | Boston | 5β3β1 | San Diego | 9β0β0 |
10 | Houston | 5β3β1 | San Diego | 10β0β0 |
11 | Houston | 6β3β1 | San Diego | 11β0β0 |
12 | Houston | 7β3β1 | San Diego | 11β0β0 |
13 | Houston | 8β3β1 | San Diego | 11β1β0 |
14 | Houston | 9β3β1 | San Diego | 12β1β0 |
15 | Houston | 10β3β1 | San Diego | 12β2β0 |
Regular seasonβ»
Resultsβ»
Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BOS | BUF | HOU | NY | DAL | DEN | OAK | SD | ||
Eastern | Boston Patriots | 52β21 | 31β31 | 20β21 | 28β21 | 45β17 | 20β17 | 27β38 | |
Buffalo Bills | 21β23 | 16β28 | 41β31 | 27β24 | 10β22 | 22β31 | 11β19 | ||
Houston Oilers | 27β15 | 12β22 | 49β13 | 38β7 | 45β14 | 55β0 | 33β13 | ||
Titans of New York | 37β30 | 21β14 | 21β48 | 28β7 | 35β28 | 23β12 | 10β25 | ||
Western | Dallas Texans | 17β18 | 20β30 | 26β21 | 35β24 | 49β21 | 43β11 | 10β26 | |
Denver Broncos | 24β28 | 10β23 | 14β55 | 27β10 | 12β19 | 27β24 | 16β19 | ||
Oakland Raiders | 21β35 | 21β26 | 16β47 | 6β14 | 35β42 | 33β19 | 10β41 | ||
San Diego Chargers | 0β41 | 28β10 | 34β24 | 48β13 | 24β14 | 37β0 | 44β0 |
Standingsβ»
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL. |
|
Playoffsβ»
AFL Championship Game | ||
December 24, 1961 β Balboa Stadium | ||
Houston Oilers | 10 | |
San Diego Chargers | 3 | |
Awardsβ»
- AP AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers
- UPI AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers
Stadium changesβ»
- The relocated San Diego Chargers moved from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to Balboa Stadium
- The Oakland Raiders continued to play in San Francisco, playing all their home games at Candlestick Park
Coaching changesβ»
- Offseason
- None
- In-season
- Boston Patriots: Lou Saban was fired after five games. Assistant coach Mike Holovak took over the head coaching duties.
- Houston Oilers: Lou Rymkus was fired after five games. Assistant coach Wally Lemm took over the head coaching duties.
- Oakland Raiders: Eddie Erdelatz was fired after two games. Marty Feldman took over.