1960 American Football League season

NFL season November 2013 1960 Houston Oilers Los Angeles Chargers Houston Oilers September 9 – December 18, 1960 January 1, 1961 Jeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas The 1960 AFL season was the inaugural 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 (Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders). The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24–16 in the inaugural 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 Denver Broncos, who would not have a winning season until they went 7–5–2 in 1973, were the Western Division leaders halfway through 1960. They won the AFL's first game, played on Friday night, September 9, 1960, beating the Boston Patriots 13–10. The Patriots' Gino Cappelletti scored the AFL's first points with a 35-yard field goal. Other results in Week One were the Los Angeles Chargers 21–20 win over the Dallas Texans, the Houston Oilers 37–22 win over the Oakland Raiders, and the Titans of New York 27–3 win over the Buffalo Bills. In the Raiders game, J. D. Smith caught a pass from Tom Flores to score the first two-point conversion in pro football history. In Week Eight (October 30), Denver lost to the visiting Texans, 17–14, and did not win any of their last eight games, finishing with the AFL's worst record at 4–9–1. The Chargers, still in Los Angeles, pulled ahead the next week with a Friday night win over the Titans of New York, 21–7, and finished at 10–4–0. The Eastern Division lead was held by Houston, except for a setback from a 14–13 loss to Oakland on September 25. In Week Five, the Oilers beat the visiting Titans, 27–21 and led the rest of the way. Week Eastern Western 1 Tie (Hou, TNY) 1–0–0 Tie (Den, LAC) 1–0–0 2 Houston Oilers 2–0–0 Denver Broncos 2–0–0 3 Tie (Hou, TNY) 2–1–0 Tie (DalT, Den) 2–1–0 4 Titans of New York 3–1–0 Denver Broncos 3–1–0 5 Houston Oilers 3–1–0 Denver Broncos 3–1–0 6 Houston Oilers 4–1–0 Denver Broncos 3–2–0 7 Houston Oilers 5–1–0 Denver Broncos 4–2–0 8 Houston Oilers 5–2–0 Tie (Den, LAC) 4–3–0 9 Houston Oilers 6–2–0 L.A. Chargers 5–3–0 10 Houston Oilers 6–3–0 L.A. Chargers 6–3–0 11 Houston Oilers 7–3–0 L.A. Chargers 6–4–0 12 Houston Oilers 8–3–0 L.A. Chargers 7–4–0 13 Houston Oilers 8–4–0 L.A. Chargers 8–4–0 14 Houston Oilers 9–4–0 L.A. Chargers 9–4–0 15Houston Oilers 10–4–0L.A. Chargers 10–4–0 Regular season Results of the 1960 AFL season Home/Road Eastern Division Western Division BOS BUF HOU NY DAL DEN LA OAKEasternBoston Patriots0–1310–2438–2142–1410–1316–4534–28Buffalo Bills38–1425–2413–1728–4521–2710–2438–9Houston Oilers37–2131–2327–2120–1020–1038–2813–14Titans of New York24–2827–328–4241–3528–247–2127–28WesternDallas Texans34–024–724–035–3734–717–019–20Denver Broncos31–2438–3825–4527–3014–1719–2331–14Los Angeles Chargers0–353–3224–2150–4321–2041–3352–28Oakland Raiders27–1420–722–3728–3116–3448–1017–41 Standings y Playoffs 1960 American Football League Championship Game AFL Championship Game January 1, 1961 – Jeppesen Stadium Los Angeles Chargers 16 Houston Oilers 24 Statistics Quarterback Player Comp. Att. Comp% YardsTD's INT's Frank Tripucka (DEN)24847851.830382434 Jack Kemp (LA)2114065230182025 Al Dorow (NYT)20139650.827482626 Butch Songin (BOS)18739247.724762215 Cotton Davidson (DAL)17937947.224741516 George Blanda (HOU)16936346.624132422 Tom Flores (OAK)1362525417381212 Johnny Green (BUF)892283912671010 Babe Parilli (OAK)8718746.51003511 Tommy O'Connell (BUF)6514544.81033713 Dick Jamieson (TNY)35705058662 Awards AP AFL Player of The Year: Abner Haynes, Dallas Texans UPI AFL Player of The Year: Abner Haynes, Dallas Texans Stadiums The AFL began play with the following stadiums: AFL Eastern Division Boston: Nickerson Field Buffalo: War Memorial Stadium Houston: Jeppesen Stadium New York: Polo Grounds AFL Western Division Dallas: Cotton Bowl Denver: Bears Stadium Los Angeles: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Oakland: Kezar Stadium in San Francisco Coaches The AFL began play with the following head coaches: AFL Eastern Division Boston: Lou Saban Buffalo: Buster Ramsey Houston: Lou Rymkus New York: Sammy Baugh AFL Western Division Dallas: Hank Stram Denver: Frank Filchock Los Angeles: Sid Gillman Oakland: Eddie Erdelatz External links Football Database Category:American Football League seasons