1963 AFL Championship Game
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| Date | January 5, 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | San Diego (–7) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 30,127 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1963 American Football League Championship Game was the fourth AFL title game. At the end of the regular season, the San Diego Chargers (11–3) won the Western Division for the third time in the four-year existence of the AFL.
The Eastern Division Boston Patriots and Buffalo Bills had identical 7–6–1 records, which required a tiebreaker playoff game on December 28 in Buffalo.
In their final regular season games on Saturday, December 14, Boston lost and Buffalo won to draw even in the standings. Three-time division winner Houston (6–6) controlled their own destiny, but lost the next day and were eliminated. Buffalo and Boston had two weeks to prepare for the playoff, as their bye weeks were postponed from November 24 to December 22, due to the assassination of President Kennedy.
The game was played on Saturday, December 28, as the following day was the NFL championship game. On a slippery field at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo with an inch of snow, visiting Boston led 16–0 at halftime and won 26–8. Quarterback Babe Parilli threw a touchdown pass in each half to fullback Larry Garron and Gino Cappelletti made four field goals for the Patriots. The Bills' sole score was a 93-yard touchdown pass play in the third quarter with a two-point conversion, which cut the lead to eight points.
Surface: Natural grass
Idle during the week of Eastern Division playoff, well-rested San Diego was a touchdown favorite at home to win the AFL title. Fullback Keith Lincoln performed tremendously and led the Chargers to a 51–10 rout of Boston. Named the game's outstanding player, he rushed for 206 yards on 13 carries, led the team with 123 yards in receiving, and completed a pass for 20 yards.
The game was not a sellout; the attendance of 30,127 was several thousand under Balboa Stadium's capacity.
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