American Football Database
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1961 American Football League season
Regular season September 9, 1961 - December 17, 1961
Champions Houston Oilers
All-Star game January 7, 1962

The 1961 American Football League season was the second regular season of the American Football League. The Los Angeles Chargers moved to San Diego, California following the 1960 season, retaining the Chargers name.

The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship game.

Division Races[]

The AFL had 8 teams, grouped into two divisions. Each team would play a home-and-away game against the other 7 teams in the league for a total of 14 games, and the best team in the Eastern Division would play against the best in the Western Division in a championship game. If there was tie in the standings, a playoff would be held to determine the division winner.

Relocated from Los Angeles, the San Diego Chargers won their first eleven games, clinching the Western Division on November 12, with four games left. When San Diego reached 10-0, it had twice the wins of any other team in the AFL. In the Eastern Division, the New York Titans lost 27-10 to Denver, while Boston beat Buffalo 52-21, in Week Seven, for a tie in the race, with the Pats at 3-3-1 and the Titans at 3-3-0. The Titans lost, 48-13 to San Diego, in Week Nine. The following week, though (November 12), Houston beat Boston, 27-15, to take a half-game lead, and won the division by a full game.

Week EASTERN WESTERN
1 Tie (Hou, NYT) 1-0-0 Tie (Den, SD) 1-0-0
2 HOUSTON 1-0-0 SAN DIEGO 2-0-0
3 Tie (Bos, NYT) 2-1-0 SAN DIEGO 3-0-0
4 N.Y. TITANS 3-1-0 SAN DIEGO 4-0-0
5 N.Y. TITANS 3-1-0 SAN DIEGO 5-0-0
6 N.Y. TITANS 3-2-0 SAN DIEGO 6-0-0
7 Tie (Bos, NYT) 3-3-1 SAN DIEGO 7-0-0
8 Tie (Bos, NYT) 4-3-1 SAN DIEGO 8-0-0
9 BOSTON 5-3-1 SAN DIEGO 9-0-0
10 HOUSTON 5-3-1 SAN DIEGO 10-0-0
11 HOUSTON 6-3-1 SAN DIEGO 11-0-0
12 HOUSTON 7-3-1 SAN DIEGO 11-0-0
13 HOUSTON 8-3-1 SAN DIEGO 11-1-0
14 HOUSTON 9-3-1 SAN DIEGO 12-1-0
15 HOUSTON 10-3-1 SAN DIEGO 12-2-0

Standings [1][]

Eastern Division
Team W L T PCT PF PA
*Houston Oilers 10 3 1 .769 513 242
Boston Patriots 9 4 1 .692 413 313
New York Titans 7 7 0 .500 301 390
Buffalo Bills 6 8 0 .429 294 342
Western Division
Team W L T PCT PF PA
*San Diego Chargers 12 2 0 .857 396 219
Dallas Texans 6 8 0 .429 334 343
Denver Broncos 3 11 0 .214 251 432
Oakland Raiders 2 12 0 .143 237 458


* — Qualified for Championship Game.

Playoffs[]

External links[]

Eastern Division Western Division
Boston Dallas Texans
Buffalo Denver
Houston Oakland
New York Titans San Diego
1961 AFL Draft1961 AFL Championship Game1961 AFL All-Star game
Related: 1961 NFL Season
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