1961 American Football League season

1961 AFL season
Regular season
Duration	September 9 – December 17, 1961
Playoffs
Date	December 24, 1961
Eastern champion	Houston Oilers
Western champion	San Diego Chargers
Site	Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California
Champion	Houston Oilers

The 1961 American Football League season was the second regular season of the American Football League. The Los Angeles Chargers moved to San Diego, California following the 1960 season, retaining the Chargers name.

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 tie in the standings, a playoff would be held to determine the division winner.

Relocated from Los Angeles, 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 New York Titans 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, NYT)	1–0–0	Tie (Den, SD)	1–0–0
2	Houston	1–0–0	San Diego	2–0–0
3	Tie (Bos, NYT)	2–1–0	San Diego	3–0–0
4	N.Y. Titans	3–1–0	San Diego	4–0–0
5	N.Y. Titans	3–1–0	San Diego	5–0–0
6	N.Y. Titans	3–2–0	San Diego	6–0–0
7	Tie (Bos, NYT)	3–3–1	San Diego	7–0–0
8	Tie (Bos, NYT)	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
	New York Titans	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

AFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Houston Oilers	10	3	1	.769	4–1–1	513	242	W9
Boston Patriots	9	4	1	.692	2–3–1	413	313	W4
New York Titans	7	7	0	.500	3–3	301	390	L2
Buffalo Bills	6	8	0	.429	2–4	294	342	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

AFL Western Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
San Diego Chargers	12	2	0	.857	6–0	396	219	L1
Dallas Texans	6	8	0	.429	4–2	334	343	W2
Denver Broncos	3	11	0	.214	1–5	251	432	L7
Oakland Raiders	2	12	0	.143	1–5	237	458	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

Playoffs

Main article: 1961 American Football League Championship Game

	AFL Championship Game
	December 24, 1961 – Balboa Stadium
	Houston (11-3-1)	10
	San Diego (12-3)	3

Awards

• AP AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers
• UPI AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers

See also

• 1961 NFL season

External links

• Football Database