Template:Infobox AFL
The 1964 American Football League 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. Two years later, the AFL would join the NFL to form the AFL-NFL World Championship game, known today as the Super Bowl.
This was the final season of AFL telecasts on ABC before the games moved to NBC for the following season.
Division races[]
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 tie in the standings, a playoff would be held to determine the division winner.
The Buffalo Bills won their first nine games, before Boston beat them at home on November 15, 36-28. Buffalo came back from a 24-14 deficit at San Diego on Thanksgiving Day to eke out a 27-24 win. On December 6 at Oakland, the Raiders beat the Bills on the final play of the game, 16-13, and didn't bother to try for an extra point [1]. Boston won at Kansas City, 31-24, to take Buffalo's lead away. In Week Fourteen, Boston was idle, and Buffalo took a 1/2 game lead with a 30-19 win at Denver. As it turned out, the Eastern Division title would come down to the final game of the season, with Buffalo (11-2-0) traveling to Boston (10-2-1) on December 20, with the winner to take all. Jack Kemp led the Bills to three touchdowns for a 24-14 win to capture the title.
The Western Division race was less dramatic. In Week Six, the Chargers took a lead over the Chiefs during a six game winning streak, and held that lead for the rest of the season.
| Week | EASTERN | WESTERN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 teams: (Bos, Buf, NYJ) | 1-0-0 | San Diego | 1-0-0 |
| 2 | Tie: (Bos, Buf) | 1-1-0 | San Diego | 1-1-0 |
| 3 | Tie: (Bos, Buf) | 3-0-0 | Kansas City | 1-1-0 |
| 4 | Tie: (Bos, Buf) | 4-0-0 | Kansas City | 2-1-0 |
| 5 | Buffalo | 5-0-0 | Kansas City | 2-2-0 |
| 6 | Buffalo | 6-0-0 | San Diego | 3-2-1 |
| 7 | Buffalo | 7-0-0 | San Diego | 4-2-1 |
| 8 | Buffalo | 8-0-0 | San Diego | 5-2-1 |
| 9 | Buffalo | 9-0-0 | San Diego | 6-2-1 |
| 10 | Buffalo | 9-1-0 | San Diego | 7-2-1 |
| 11 | Buffalo | 9-1-0 | San Diego | 7-2-1 |
| 12 | Buffalo | 10-1-0 | San Diego | 7-3-1 |
| 13 | Boston | 10-2-1 | San Diego | 8-3-1 |
| 14 | Buffalo | 11-2-0 | San Diego | 8-4-1 |
| 15 | Buffalo | 12-2-0 | San Diego | 8-5-1 |
Standings [1][]
| Eastern Division | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Buffalo Bills | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 400 | 242 |
| Boston Patriots | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 365 | 297 |
| New York Jets | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 278 | 315 |
| Houston Oilers | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 310 | 355 |
| Western Division | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *San Diego Chargers | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 341 | 300 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 366 | 306 |
| Oakland Raiders | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 303 | 350 |
| Denver Broncos | 2 | 11 | 1 | .154 | 240 | 438 |
* — Qualified for Championship Game.
Playoffs[]
- Main article: 1964 American Football League Championship Game
- AFL Championship Game
- Buffalo Bills 20, San Diego Chargers 7, December 26, 1964, War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
References[]
- ↑ "Flores Flips Winner With 4 Seconds Left," The Fresno Bee, Dec. 7, 1964, p8-B
External links[]
Template:1964 AFL season by team
Template:NFL on ABC