1963 AFL season
| 1963 American Football League season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | |
| Duration | September 7 – December 22, 1963 |
| Playoffs | |
| Date | December 28, 1963 – January 5, 1964 |
| Eastern Champion | Boston Patriots (playoff) |
| Western Champion | San Diego Chargers |
| Site | Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California |
| Champion | San Diego Chargers |
The 1963 American Football League season was the fourth regular season of the American Football League (AFL).
The season ended when the San Diego Chargers defeated the Boston Patriots in the AFL championship game – to this date the only major league championship won by the Chargers and the city of San Diego.
The original eight franchises of 1960 remained, but two underwent name changes, with one relocating. The New York Titans changed their team colors and were renamed the New York Jets; the defending AFL champion Dallas Texans moved north to Missouri and became the Kansas City Chiefs.
As with the previous three seasons, the AFL had 8 teams, split into two divisions. Every team played two games against the others for a total of 14 games, and the division winners met in the AFL championship game. If there was tie in the standings, a playoff was held to determine the division winner. San Diego led the Western Division for the entire season, with the Oakland Raiders following one game behind from Week Eight onward. The Raiders had started at 2–0, then lost four straight, then began a winning streak. Starting from a 2–4 handicap was insurmountable, and although Oakland beat San Diego twice (34–33 on October 27, and 41–27 on December 8), they were unable to catch up.
The Eastern race changed in Week Seven, after the Jets lost to Oakland, 49–26, and the Patriots and Houston Oilers tied at 4–3–0 for the lead. Houston, winner of the first three Eastern titles, pulled ahead the next week, and Boston beat them 45–3 the week after that; the next week, Boston lost 7–6 to San Diego, while Houston beat the Jets 31–27 to pull ahead again. Two weeks later (Week Twelve), San Diego beat Houston 27–0, while Boston led again after a 17–7 win over the Buffalo Bills. In Week Thirteen, Boston was at 7–5–1, and Buffalo and Houston right behind. In the final week, spoiler San Diego took out Houston, 20–14. Buffalo won 19–10 over the Jets, while Boston lost 35–3 at Kansas City, giving the Bills and Pats records of 7–6–1 and forcing a playoff.
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