1961 American Football League season

American Football League season November 2013 1961 Houston Oilers San Diego Chargers Houston Oilers September 9 – December 17, 1961 December 24, 1961 Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California 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 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 3–2–0 San Diego 5–0–0 6 New York 3–3–0 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 15Houston 10–3–1San Diego 12–2–0 Regular season Results Home/Road Eastern Division Western Division BOS BUF HOU NY DAL DEN OAK SD EasternBoston Patriots52–2131–3120–2128–2145–1720–1727–38Buffalo Bills21–2316–2841–3127–2410–2222–3111–19Houston Oilers27–1512–2249–1338–745–1455–033–13Titans of New York37–3021–1421–4828–735–2823–1210–25WesternDallas Texans17–1820–3026–2135–2449–2143–1110–26Denver Broncos24–2810–2314–5527–1012–1927–2416–19Oakland Raiders21–3521–2616–476–1435–4233–1910–41San Diego Chargers0–4128–1034–2448–1324–1437–044–0 Standings y Playoffs 1961 American Football League Championship Game AFL Championship Game December 24, 1961 – Balboa Stadium Houston Oilers 10 San Diego Chargers 3 Awards AP AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers UPI AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers Stadium changes 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 changes 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. See also 1961 NFL season External links Football Database Category:American Football League seasons