| 1964 AFL Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | December 26, 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | War Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Buffalo, NY | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Buffalo (unknown point differential) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Bob Finley | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Bob Finley | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 40,242 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1964 American Football League Championship Game was the American Football League's fifth championship game, played at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, December 26.
The Buffalo Bills (12–2) of the Eastern Division hosted the defending AFL champion San Diego Chargers (8–5–1) of the Western Division. The two had met twice in the regular season and the Bills won both, most recently by three points in San Diego a month earlier on Thanksgiving Day. Hall of fame wide receiver Lance Alworth of the Chargers was injured in the final regular season game (left knee hyperextension) and did not play. The Chargers had lost three of their last four games to end the regular season, and the Bills were slight favorites to win the title at home; with Alworth out they became strong favorites.
San Diego opened the game with an 80-yard drive in four plays, but it was their only score as the Bills won 20–7 for their first league championship. Combined with the next season, the Bills' consecutive AFL titles are the only two championships ever won by a major league team based in Buffalo.
One of the game's most iconic plays was one known as the "hit heard 'round the world," when Bills linebacker Mike Stratton laid a particularly hard hit on Chargers running back Keith Lincoln that broke a rib and forced him out of the game midway through the first quarter. Lincoln had over 330 yards of offense in the previous year's title game and had already rushed for 47 yards, caught a pass for 11 yards, and kicked an extra point (as the reserve placekicker) in the first 6½ minutes. Without Lincoln and Alworth, the San Diego offensive attack was severely hindered.
Bills' fullback Cookie Gilchrist rushed for 122 yards on sixteen carries, while quarterback Jack Kemp completed ten of twenty passes for 188 yards and scored a fourth quarter touchdown on a sneak. Rookie kicker Pete Gogolak added two field goals in the first half. War Memorial Stadium was filled with a sellout attendance of 40,242.
This was the last AFL game on ABC television; rights were sold in January 1964 to NBC for $36 million over five years, beginning with the 1965 season. This infusion of cash helped spur a bidding war for talent with the NFL, which led to the AFL–NFL merger agreement in June 1966. With the exception of the 1966 Continental Football League championship, ABC did not carry pro football again until after the completion of the merger and the subsequent creation of Monday Night Football for the 1970 season.