1963 Buffalo Bills season

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.[1][2] The Patriots and Bills had split their season series, each team winning at home, and the Bills were slight favorites as playoff hosts.[2]

1963 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachLou Saban
Home fieldWar Memorial Stadium
Results
Record7–6–1
Division place2nd AFL Eastern (playoff)
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Patriots) 8–26

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.[3][4]

Personnel

Staff
1963 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

Head coach

Offensive coaches

  

Defensive coaches

Season summary

The Bills were favored by many to win the AFL's Eastern division before the season,[5] 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.[6] 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,[6] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[1][2]

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.[3][4] (Boston was demolished by San Diego, 51–10).

Offseason

AFL draft
Main article: 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
15 December 22 Bye week, (originally December 1)

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings
AFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Boston Patriots 761.5384–2327257L1
Buffalo Bills 761.5383–3304291W2
Houston Oilers 680.4293–3302372L4
New York Jets 581.3852–4249399L3

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

Postseason
Main article: 1963 American Football League playoffs
Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Game
recap
Division December 28 Boston Patriots L 8–26 War Memorial Stadium 33,044 Recap

Final roster
1963 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

*Note: rookies in italics

Awards and Records

References
  1. "AFL has title tie, may get another". Milwaukee Journal. UPI. December 16, 1963. p. 17, part 2.
  2. "Bills, Patriots play for title". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. December 28, 1963. p. 7.
  3. "Boston beats Bills for division crown". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. December 29, 1963. p. 1, sports.
  4. "Parilli passes Patriots past Buffalo, 26-8". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. December 29, 1963. p. 1, section 4.
  5. [Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, page 66, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
  6. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1963 Buffalo Bills
  7. Neft 1994
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