The 1961 American Football League season was the second regular season of the AFL. It consisted of 8 franchises split into two divisions: the East Division (

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, Houston Oilers,

Titans of New York The history of the New York Jets American football team began in 1959 with the founding of the Titans of New York, an original member of the American Football League (AFL); they began actual play the following year. The team had little success i ...

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

) and the West Division (

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans,

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

). After having spent its inaugural season in Los Angeles, the Chargers moved to San Diego, California for this AFL season; 56 years later, the franchise returned to their original home. 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 a tie in the standings at the top of either division, a one-game playoff would be held to determine the division winner. 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 Titans of New York 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.

Regular season

Results

Standings

Playoffs

Awards

*AP AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers *UPI AFL Player of The Year: George Blanda, Houston Oilers

Stadium changes

* The relocated

moved from

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

to Balboa Stadium * The

continued to play in San Francisco, playing all their home games at Candlestick Park

Coaching changes

;Offseason :''None'' ;In-season *

: Lou Saban was fired after five games. Assistant coach Mike Holovak took over the head coaching duties. * Houston Oilers: Lou Rymkus was fired after five games. Assistant coach Wally Lemm took over the head coaching duties. *

: Eddie Erdelatz was fired after two games. Marty Feldman took over.

External links

Football Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 American Football League Season American Football League seasons