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1960 American Football League season

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1960 AFL season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 9, 1960 – December 18, 1960
Playoffs
DateJanuary 1, 1961
Eastern championHouston Oilers
Western championLos Angeles Chargers
SiteJeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas
ChampionHouston Oilers

The 1960 American Football League 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, New York Titans, 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, a 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 New York Titans' 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 New York Titans, 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, NYT) 1–0–0 Tie (Den, LAC) 1–0–0
2 Houston Oilers 2–0–0 Denver Broncos 2–0–0
3 Tie (Hou, NYT) 2–0–0 Tie (DalT, Den) 2–1–0
4 New York Titans 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 6–3–0 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
15 Houston Oilers 10–4–0 L.A. Chargers 10–4–0

Regular season

Results

Home/Road Eastern Division Western Division
BOS BUF HOU NY DAL DEN LA OAK
Eastern Boston Patriots 0–13 10–24 38–21 42–14 10–13 16–45 34–28
Buffalo Bills 38–14 25–24 13–17 28–45 21–27 10–24 38–9
Houston Oilers 37–21 31–23 27–21 20–10 20–10 38–28 13–14
New York Titans 24–28 27–3 28–42 41–35 28–24 7–21 27–28
Western Dallas Texans 34–0 24–7 24–0 35–37 34–7 17–0 19–20
Denver Broncos 31–24 38–38 25–45 27–30 14–17 19–23 31–14
Los Angeles Chargers 0–35 3–32 24–21 50–43 21–20 41–33 52–28
Oakland Raiders 27–14 20–7 22–37 28–31 16–34 48–10 17–41

Standings

Playoffs

Main article: 1960 American Football League Championship Game
 
AFL Championship Game
 
  
 
January 1, 1961 – Jeppesen Stadium
 
 
Los Angeles (10-5)16
 
 
Houston (11-4)24
 

Statistics

Quarterback

Player Comp. Att. Comp% Yards TD's INT's
Frank Tripucka (DEN) 248 478 51.8 3038 24 34
Jack Kemp (LA) 211 406 52 3018 20 25
Al Dorow (NYT) 201 396 50.8 2748 26 26
Butch Songin (BOS) 187 392 47.7 2476 22 15
Cotton Davidson (DAL) 179 379 47.2 2474 15 16
George Blanda (HOU) 169 363 46.6 2413 24 22
Tom Flores (OAK) 136 252 54 1738 12 12
Johnny Green (BUF) 89 228 39 1267 10 10
Babe Parilli (OAK) 87 187 46.5 1003 5 11
Tommy O'Connell (BUF) 65 145 44.8 1033 7 13
Dick Jamieson (NYT) 35 70 50 586 6 2

Awards

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