1963 Buffalo Bills season

4th season in franchise history November 2013 February 2026 Buffalo Bills 1963 7–6–1 2nd AFL Eastern (playoff) Lou Saban Ralph Wilson War Memorial Stadium Lost Divisional Playoffs(vs. Patriots) 8–26 Bills seasons The 1963 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s fourth season in the American Football League. Winless after their first four games, Buffalo won seven of the final ten games, including the final two over the New York Jets, to finish with their second-consecutive 7–6–1 record, tied with the Boston Patriots atop the Eastern division. In this era, this required a tiebreaker playoff, the AFL's first.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F-AjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TScEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7250%2C3532364 Milwaukee Journal UPI AFL has title tie, may get another December 16, 1963 17, part 2 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zMAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_U4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2089%2C2761850 Pittsburgh Press UPI Bills, Patriots play for title December 28, 1963 7 The Patriots and Bills had split their season series, each team winning at home, and the Bills were slight favorites as playoff hosts. The playoff game on December 28 was played on a snowy field at War Memorial Stadium and Boston won 26–8, ending Buffalo's season.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uVcaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TicEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4974%2C2583947 Milwaukee Journal Associated Press Boston beats Bills for division crown December 29, 1963 1, sportshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zcAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_U4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6411%2C3065560 Pittsburgh Press UPI Parilli passes Patriots past Buffalo, 26-8 December 29, 1963 1, section 4 Personnel Staff 1963 Buffalo Bills staffFront office President/Majority Owner – Ralph Wilson Vice-president/minority owner – Pat McGroder Head coach Head coach – Lou Saban Offensive coaches Running backs/wide receivers – John Mazur Offensive line – Herman Ball Defensive coaches Defensive line – Jerry Smith Linebackers/Defensive Backs – Joe Collier Season summary The Bills were favored by many to win the AFL's Eastern division before the season,[Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, page 66, Martin's Press, August 1994, 0-312-11073-1 but for the second consecutive season, the Bills had a terrible start to the year, winless in their first four games, with an 0–3–1 record. The Bills rallied to win five of their next six games before going 2–2 in the final four weeks. Quarterback Jack Kemp was the opening day starter for the first time after an abbreviated 1962 season. By Week Four, however, he was splitting time with rookie Daryle Lamonica.Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1963 Buffalo Bills During the middle of the Bills' season (other than two Lamonica starts in Weeks 13 and 14), Kemp established himself as the team's leader and full-time passer. Kemp was conservative, but effective, with only 5.2% of his passes being intercepted. Wide receivers Elbert Dubenion (53 catches for 959 yards) and Bill Miller (69 for 860) were Kemp's biggest targets in 1963, with Cookie Gilchrist leading the team with 979 rushing yards, third in the league. Gilchrist's 12 rushing touchdowns led the AFL, as did his 256 total touches. Gilchrist set a then-record for yards in a game, with 243 in a blowout win against the Jets in Week Fourteen. Halfback Wray Carlton was sidelined for most of the season with an injury, forcing Gilchrist to shoulder most of the load.Neft 1994 Going into the final week of the season, the Bills were 6–5–1, whereas the division-leading Patriots were 7–5–1: a Patriots win or a Bills loss would eliminate them. Instead, the Patriots were blown out 35–3 at defending champion Kansas City, and the Bills rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Jets in the final sporting event played at the Polo Grounds. The Bills and Patriots, now both 7–6–1, had to play a tiebreaker playoff to determine who would face the Western Division champion Chargers (11–3) in the AFL championship game. On a freezing day and snowy field in Buffalo, the Bills trailed 16–0 at halftime. Buffalo's only score was a 93-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica to Elbert Dubenion in the third quarter, with a successful two-point conversion to cut the lead in half. The Patriots tacked on another ten unanswered points to win 26–8, and advanced to the AFL championship game against the San Diego Chargers (11–3) of the Western division, who had the week off. (Boston was demolished by San Diego, 51–10). Offseason AFL draft 1963 American Football League draft Season schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 8 at San Diego Chargers L 10–14 0–1 Balboa Stadium 22,344 Recap 2 September 15 at Oakland Raiders L 17–35 0–2 Frank Youell Field 17,568 Recap 3 September 22 Kansas City Chiefs T 27–27 0–2–1 War Memorial Stadium 33,487 Recap 4 September 28 Houston Oilers L 20–31 0–3–1 War Memorial Stadium 32,340 Recap 5 October 5 Oakland Raiders W 12–0 1–3–1 War Memorial Stadium 24,486 Recap 6 October 13 at Kansas City Chiefs W 35–26 2–3–1 Municipal Stadium 25,519 Recap 7 October 20 at Houston Oilers L 14–28 2–4–1 Jeppesen Stadium 23,948 Recap 8 October 26 Boston Patriots W 28–21 3–4–1 War Memorial Stadium 27,243 Recap 9 November 3 at Denver Broncos W 30–28 4–4–1 Bears Stadium 19,424 Recap 10 November 9 Denver Broncos W 27–17 5–4–1 War Memorial Stadium 30,989 Recap 11 November 17 San Diego Chargers L 13–23 5–5–1 War Memorial Stadium 38,592 Recap November 24 AFL games postponed to December 22 12 December 1 at Boston Patriots L 7–17 5–6–1 Fenway Park 16,981 Recap 13 December 8 New York Jets W 45–14 6–6–1 War Memorial Stadium 20,222 Recap 14 December 14 at New York Jets W 19–10 7–6–1 Polo Grounds 6,526 Recap 15December 22 Bye week, (originally December 1) Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Postseason 1963 American Football League playoffs Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Gamerecap Division December 28 Boston Patriots L 8–26 War Memorial Stadium 33,044 Recap Final roster 1963 Buffalo Bills roster Quarterbacks 15 Jack Kemp 12 Daryle Lamonica P Running backs 27 Glenn Bass 34 Cookie Gilchrist 25 Jesse Murdock 40 Ed Rutkowski Wide receivers 44 Elbert Dubenion 80 Charley Ferguson 81 Bill Miller Tight ends 84 Ernie Warlick Offensive linemen 77 Stew Barber T 51 Dave Behrman T/C 60 Al Bemiller C 60 Tom Day G 75 Ken Rice T/DE 66 Billy Shaw G Defensive linemen 78 Jim Dunaway DT 72 Ron McDole DE 70 Tom Sestak DT 82 Mack Yoho DE/K 76 Sid Youngelman DE/DT Linebackers 54 Harry Jacobs MLB 55 Marv Matuszak MLB/OLB 57 Herb Paterra OLB 58 Mike Stratton OLB 85 John Tracey OLB Defensive backs 46 Ray Abruzzese SS 43 Carl Charon FS 24 Booker Edgerson CB 20 Hank Rivera CB 26 George Saimes FS/RB 23 Gene Sykes SS 47 Willie West CB Reserve list 30 Wray Carlton RB (IR) 7px 73 George Flint G (IR) 7px 79 Dick Hudson T (IR) 7px 45 Roger Kochman RB (IR) 7px*Note: rookies in italics References 35em Further reading Jeffrey J. Miller, Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2007. Jeffrey J. Miller and Greg D. Tranter, Relics: The History of The Buffalo Bills in Objects and Memorabilia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press, 2021. Sal Maiorana, Buffalo Bills: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2010. Buffalo Bills Category:Buffalo Bills seasons Category:1963 in sports in New York (state)