1961 American Football League season

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1961 American Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 9 – December 17, 1961
Playoffs
DateDecember 24, 1961
Eastern ChampionHouston Oilers
Western ChampionSan Diego Chargers
SiteBalboa Stadium, San Diego, California
ChampionHouston Oilers

The 1961 American Football League season was the second regular season of the AFL. 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 moved to San Diego, California for this AFL season; 56 years later, the franchise returned to their original home.

The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship game.

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 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 10–0, it had twice the wins of any other team in the AFL. In the Eastern Division, the Titans of New York lost 27–10 to Denver, while Boston beat Buffalo 52–21, in Week Seven, for a tie in the race, with the Pats at 3–3–1 and the Titans at 3–3–0. The Titans lost, 48–13 to San Diego, in Week Nine. The following week, though (November 12), Houston beat Boston, 27–15, to take a half-game lead, and won the division by a full game.

Week Eastern Western
1 Tie (Hou, TNY) 1–0–0 Tie (Den, SD) 1–0–0
2 Houston 1–0–0 San Diego 2–0–0
3 Tie (Bos, TNY) 2–1–0 San Diego 3–0–0
4 New York 3–1–0 San Diego 4–0–0
5 New York 3–1–0 San Diego 5–0–0
6 New York 3–2–0 San Diego 6–0–0
7 Tie (Bos, TNY) 3–3–1 San Diego 7–0–0
8 Tie (Bos, TNY) 4–3–1 San Diego 8–0–0
9 Boston 5–3–1 San Diego 9–0–0
10 Houston 5–3–1 San Diego 10–0–0
11 Houston 6–3–1 San Diego 11–0–0
12 Houston 7–3–1 San Diego 11–0–0
13 Houston 8–3–1 San Diego 11–1–0
14 Houston 9–3–1 San Diego 12–1–0
15 Houston 10–3–1 San Diego 12–2–0

Regular season[]

Results[]

Home/Road Eastern Division Western Division
BOS BUF HOU NY DAL DEN OAK SD
Eastern Boston Patriots 52–21 31–31 20–21 28–21 45–17 20–17 27–38
Buffalo Bills 21–23 16–28 41–31 27–24 10–22 22–31 11–19
Houston Oilers 27–15 12–22 49–13 38–7 45–14 55–0 33–13
Titans of New York 37–30 21–14 21–48 28–7 35–28 23–12 10–25
Western Dallas Texans 17–18 20–30 26–21 35–24 49–21 43–11 10–26
Denver Broncos 24–28 10–23 14–55 27–10 12–19 27–24 16–19
Oakland Raiders 21–35 21–26 16–47 6–14 35–42 33–19 10–41
San Diego Chargers 0–41 28–10 34–24 48–13 24–14 37–0 44–0

Standings[]

Playoffs[]

Main article: 1961 American Football League Championship Game
 
AFL Championship Game
 
  
 
December 24, 1961 – Balboa Stadium
 
 
Houston Oilers10
 
 
San Diego Chargers3
 

Awards[]

Stadium changes[]

Coaching changes[]

Offseason
None
In-season

See also[]

External links[]

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