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| Date | January 5, 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Balboa Stadium San Diego, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Keith Lincoln,running back | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 30,127[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Gowdy,Paul Christman[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
The1963 AFL Championship Game was the fourthAmerican Football League (AFL) title game. The Western Division championSan Diego Chargers won 51–10 over the Eastern Division championBoston Patriots. The Chargers'Keith Lincoln was named the game'smost valuable player (MVP).
At the end of the regular season, the Chargers (11–3) won the Western Division for the third time in the four-year existence of the AFL.[3] In the Eastern Division, the Patriots and theBuffalo Bills had identical 7–6–1 records, which required a tiebreaker playoff game on December 28 in Buffalo.[4][5]
In their final regular season games on Saturday, December 14, Boston lost and Buffalo won to draw even in the standings. Three-time division winnerHouston (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 theassassination of President Kennedy.
The game was played on Saturday, December 28, as the following day was the1963 NFL Championship Game. On a slippery field atWar Memorial Stadium in Buffalo with an inch of snow, visiting Boston led 16–0 at halftime and won 26–8. QuarterbackBabe Parilli threw a touchdown pass in each half to fullbackLarry Garron andGino 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. The AFL would not need a playoff to determine a division winner until1968.[4]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patriots | 10 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 26 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
atWar Memorial Stadium,Buffalo, New York
| Game information |
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Scoring
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Idle during the week of Eastern Division playoff, well-rested San Diego was a touchdown favorite at home to win the AFL.[6][3] FullbackKeith Lincoln performed tremendously and led the Chargers to a 51–10 rout of Boston.[7][8] Named the game's MVP,[9] he rushed for 206 yards on 13 carries, led the team with 123 yards in receiving, and completed a pass for 20 yards.[10][11][12]
The game was not a sellout; the attendance of 30,127 was several thousand under Balboa Stadium's capacity.[11]
The Chargers' championship win 62 years ago is noted for being the only major sports title for the city ofSan Diego, the longest drought for a major American city.[13][14] The Chargers played in San Diego through2016, then returned to Los Angeles in2017. The Patriots' first league championship came in the2001 season inSuper Bowl XXXVI.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patriots | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Chargers | 21 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 51 |
atBalboa Stadium,San Diego, California
| Game information | ||
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Hall of Fame inductee
| Statistics | Patriots | Chargers |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 14 | 21 |
| Rushing yards | 75 | 318 |
| Yards per carry | 4.6 | 9.9 |
| Passing yards | 228 | 305 |
| Sack Yds Lost | 6–42 | 2–13 |
| Total Yards | 261 | 610 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Penalties–Yards | 1–18 | 6–30 |
The attendance in San Diego was nearly 8,000 lower than theprevious year's game in Houston, but the players' shares were up slightly with increased television revenue. The winning Chargers players each made around $2,500, while the Patriots received about $1,700 each.[12] These shares were less than half of those for theNFL title game in 1963, at approximately $6,000 and $4,200 each.[15]
32°43′14″N117°09′02″W / 32.7205°N 117.1505°W /32.7205; -117.1505
| Preceded by | San Diego Chargers American Football League Champions 1963 | Succeeded by |
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