The1963 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s fourth season in theAmerican Football League. Winless after their first four games, Buffalo won seven of the final ten games, including the final two over theNew York Jets, to finish with their second-consecutive 7–6–1 record, tied with theBoston Patriots atop the Eastern division. In this era, this required atiebreaker 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]

The playoff game on December 28 was played on a snowy field atWar Memorial Stadium and Boston won 26–8, ending Buffalo's season.^[3][4]

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.

QuarterbackJack Kemp was the opening day starter for the first time after an abbreviated1962 season. By Week Four, however, he was splitting time with rookieDaryle 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 receiversElbert Dubenion (53 catches for 959 yards) andBill Miller (69 for 860) were Kemp's biggest targets in 1963,^[6] withCookie 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.

HalfbackWray 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 championKansas City, and the Bills rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat theJets in the final sporting event played at thePolo Grounds. The Bills and Patriots, now both 7–6–1, had to play a tiebreaker playoff to determine who would face theWestern Division championChargers (11–3) in theAFL 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 successfultwo-point conversion to cut the lead in half. The Patriots tacked on another ten unanswered points to win 26–8, and advanced to theAFL championship game against theSan Diego Chargers (11–3) of the Western division, who had the week off.^[3][4] (Boston was demolished by San Diego, 51–10).

Note: Intra-division opponents are inbold text.

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

• Jeffrey J. Miller,Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2007.
• Jeffrey J. Miller and Greg D. Tranter,Relics: The History of The Buffalo Bills in Objects and Memorabilia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press, 2021.
• Sal Maiorana,Buffalo Bills: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2010.

• 1963 American Football League season by team
• Buffalo Bills seasons
• 1963 in sports in New York (state)

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from November 2013