| 1969 AFL season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | |
| Duration | September 14 – December 14, 1969 |
| Playoffs | |
| Date | December 20, 1969 |
| Eastern champion | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Western champion | Oakland Raiders |
| Site | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum,Oakland, California |
| Champion | Kansas City Chiefs |
The1969 AFL season was the tenth and finalregular season of theAmerican Football League. To honor the AFL's tenth season, a special anniversary logo was designed and eachKansas City Chiefs player wore a patch on his jersey with the logo duringSuper Bowl IV, the finalAFL-NFL World Championship Game prior to theAFL–NFL merger.
The Chiefs defeated theOakland Raiders in thefinal AFL Championship Game, then soundly defeated theNational Football League'sMinnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
In its final two years of existence, the AFL had ten teams, grouped into two divisions. Each team played a home-and-away game against the other four teams in its division, a home-and-away series against one of the five teams in opposite division, and one game each against the remaining four teams from the opposite division. Using that format, thedefending World ChampionNew York Jets went 10–0 against the five teams they played twice, but were 0–4 against the top four teams in the West.
For the 1969 season, a provision was made for afour-team playoff to determine the AFL champion, the league's representative in the Super Bowl, with the #1 team in the division hosting the #2 team in the opposite division. The NFL also had afour-team playoff, introduced in1967, matching the winners of the Capitol and Century divisions, and the Coastal and Central divisions.
The 1970 merger placed the ten AFL teams (along with three teams from the pre-1970 NFL) into the 13-teamAFC. The other NFL teams went into the 13-teamNFC.
| Week | Eastern #1 | Eastern #2 | Western #1 | Western #2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N.Y. Jets | 1–0–0 | Hou, Bos, Buf, Mia | 0–1–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 1–0–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Hou, NY | 1–1–0 | Hou, NY | 1–1–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 2–0–0 | Oak, KC, Den, Cin | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | Houston | 2–1–0 | NY, Buf | 1–2–0 | Oak, Cin | 3–0–0 | Oak, Cin | 3–0–0 |
| 4 | Houston | 3–1–0 | N.Y. Jets | 2–2–0 | Oakland | 3–0–1 | Kansas City | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | NY, Hou | 3–2–0 | NY, Hou | 3–2–0 | Oakland | 4–0–1 | Kansas City | 4–1–0 |
| 6 | N.Y. Jets | 4–2–0 | Houston | 3–3–0 | Oakland | 5–0–1 | Kansas City | 5–1–0 |
| 7 | N.Y. Jets | 5–2–0 | Houston | 4–3–0 | Oakland | 6–0–1 | Kansas City | 6–1–0 |
| 8 | N.Y. Jets | 6–2–0 | Houston | 4–4–0 | Kansas City | 7–1–0 | Oakland | 6–1–1 |
| 9 | N.Y. Jets | 7–2–0 | Houston | 4–4–1 | Kansas City | 8–1–0 | Oakland | 7–1–1 |
| 10 | N.Y. Jets | 7–3–0 | Houston | 4–4–2 | Kansas City | 9–1–0 | Oakland | 8–1–1 |
| 11 | N.Y. Jets | 8–3–0 | Houston | 5–4–2 | Oakland | 9–1–1 | Kansas City | 9–2–0 |
| 12 | N.Y. Jets | 8–4–0 | Houston | 5–5–2 | Oakland | 10–1–1 | Kansas City | 10–2–0 |
| 13 | N.Y. Jets | 9–4–0 | Houston | 5–6–2 | Oakland | 11–1–1 | Kansas City | 11–2–0 |
| 14 | N.Y. Jets | 10–4–0 | Houston | 6–6–2 | Oakland | 12–1–1 | Kansas City | 11–3–0 |
| Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | BUF | HOU | MIA | NY | CIN | DEN | KC | OAK | SD | ||
| Eastern | Boston Patriots | 35–21 | 24–0 | 16–17 | 14–23 | 0–31 | 23–38 | 10–13 | |||
| Buffalo Bills | 23–16 | 3–17 | 28–3 | 19–33 | 16–13 | 41–28 | 7–29 | ||||
| Houston Oilers | 27–23 | 28–14 | 22–10 | 26–34 | 31–31 | 24–21 | 17–21 | ||||
| Miami Dolphins | 23–38 | 24–6 | 7–32 | 9–27 | 27–24 | 20–20 | 14–21 | ||||
| New York Jets | 23–17 | 16–6 | 26–17 | 34–31 | 40–7 | 16–34 | 14–27 | ||||
| Western | Cincinnati Bengals | 14–25 | 27–21 | 7–21 | 23–30 | 24–19 | 31–17 | 34–20 | |||
| Denver Broncos | 35–7 | 20–20 | 21–19 | 27–16 | 13–26 | 14–24 | 13–0 | ||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 22–19 | 24–0 | 17–10 | 42–22 | 31–17 | 24–27 | 27–3 | ||||
| Oakland Raiders | 50–21 | 21–17 | 20–17 | 37–17 | 41–10 | 10–6 | 21–16 | ||||
| San Diego Chargers | 28–18 | 45–6 | 34–27 | 21–14 | 45–24 | 9–27 | 12–24 | ||||
For its tenth and final season before merging with the NFL, the AFL instituted afour team playoff tournament with the second place teams in each division also participating.
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings of the AFL. |
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| Divisional Playoff Games | AFL Championship Game | |||||
| December 20, 1969 –Shea Stadium | ||||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 13 | |||||
| January 4, 1970 – Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | ||||||
| New York Jets | 6 | |||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 17 | |||||
| December 21, 1969 – Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | ||||||
| Oakland Raiders | 7 | |||||
| Houston Oilers | 7 | |||||
| Oakland Raiders | 56 | |||||
TheKansas City Chiefs defeated theMinnesota Vikings 23–7 atTulane Stadium inNew Orleans,Louisiana, on January 11, 1970. TheSuper Bowl Most Valuable Player Award was given to Chiefs quarterbackLen Dawson[1]
| Referee | Umpire | Head Linesman | Line Judge | Back Judge | Field Judge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (#12)Ben Dreith | (#27)Al Conway | (#74) Ray Dodez | (#24)Bruce Alford | (#44) Dick Eichhorst | (#58) Bob Baur |
| (#14) Bob Finley | (#78)Art Demmas | (#34) Harry Kessel | (#62) Gerry Hart | (#45) John Fouch | (#52) Pat Mallette |
| (#18) Walt Fitzgerald | (#53) Frank Kirkland | (#32)Cal Lepore | (#67) Tommy Miller | (#70)Hugh Gamber | (#55) Charley Musser |
| (#11)John McDonough | (#25) Walt Parker | (#35) Leo Miles | (#61) John Steffen | (#49) Hunter Jackson | (#50) Tony Skover |
| (#42)Jack Reader | (#20)Frank Sinkovitz | (#50) Al Saboto | (#65) Aaron Wade | (#43) Bill Kestermeier | (#57) Bill Summers |
| (#15)Jack Vest | (#22) Paul Trepinski | (#36) Tony Veteri | (#68) Bill Wright | (#48) Bob Rice | (#54)Bob Wortman |
