HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1967 AFL Championship Game was the eighth
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
championship game, played on December 31 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
. It matched the Western Division champion
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 Ra ...
(13–1) and the Eastern Division champion
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...
(9–4–1) to decide the
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
(AFL) champion for the 1967 season. Quarterback
Daryle Lamonica Daryle Pasquale Lamonica (July 17, 1941 – April 21, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He spent ...
, traded from the
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 ...
in the offseason, led the Raiders to a 13–1 record, throwing 30 touchdown passes in the process. The Oilers went from last place in the East in
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...
(3–11) to first in 1967, beating out the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
by a game. Most of the Oilers' offense centered on big fullback Hoyle Granger, and a midseason quarterback trade for the shifty Pete Beathard (sending their own starter, Jacky Lee, to the defending champion
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
) proved to be the spark that turned Houston's season around. The teams had met once in the regular season, three weeks earlier in Houston, with Oakland winning 19–7 to clinch the Western division title. This was Houston's fourth and final appearance (
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
,
1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
,
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
) in the title game and Oakland's first. In contrast to the frigid conditions earlier in the day at the
NFL championship game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
in Green Bay, the temperature for the AFL title game in northern California was . The host Raiders were ten-point favorites. Oakland won 40–7 and shredded the Oilers with 364 yards of offense, including 263 yards rushing, while allowing just 146 total yards and 38 yards on the ground. The Raiders also forced three turnovers and lost none themselves. The attendance of 53,330 was a new record for the AFL title game, passing the 42,080 of the previous year at Buffalo.


Game summary

Shortly after 2 pm PST, Oakland's
Dave Grayson David Lee Grayson (June 6, 1939 – July 29, 2017) was an American football cornerback in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. He played colleg ...
returned the opening kickoff 47 yards, sparking a drive into scoring range, but it ended with no points when
George Blanda George Frederick Blanda (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was an American football placekicker and quarterback who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda played 26 seasons ...
missed a 38-yard field goal attempt. Houston then mounted their own drive into Raiders territory, but they also came up empty as a result of a fumble by tight end Alvin Reed on the Oakland 30-yard line that was forced and recovered by linebacker Dan Conners. Following a
three-and-out A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the f ...
for each team, Rodger Bird returned Jim Norton's 39-yard punt 9 yards to the Raiders 43-yard line, where they drove 28 yards to score on Blanda's 37-yard field goal with 3:06 left in the first quarter. Houston's next drive stalled on their own 44 and Norton had to punt again on the quarter's final play. Despite their 3–0 deficit, the Oilers seemed to be playing fairly well, having outgained Oakland in total yards, 93-52. This quickly changed on the first play of the second quarter. Hewritt Dixon took a handoff from Lamonica, ran around the left end, and took off down the sidelines untouched for an AFL championship record 69-yard touchdown run, giving the Raiders a 10–0 lead. The rest of the game would be a desperate struggle for Houston's defense to keep the Raiders from adding more points, sometimes successful, but often not. Oakland defensive back Willie Brown intercepted a pass from Beathard on the Oilers next drive, though this only led to a missed 44-yard attempt by Blanda. After a punt, the Raiders drove to the Houston 36, but came up short again when Dixon was stuffed for no gain on 4th and 1. After another Norton punt, Oakland drove from their own 22-yard line to the Oilers 17. Faced with 4th and 1 again, the Raiders sent their field goal unit on to the field, but ran a fake field goal play with Lamonica (the holder on special teams) throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dave Kocourek. This gave Oakland a 17–0 lead with just 12 seconds left in the half. Oakland completely took over the game in the second half. Houston defensive back Zeke Moore fumbled the opening kickoff when tackled by Duane Benson, and Ken Herock recovered the ball, returning it 6 yards to the Houston 29. Seven plays later, Lamonica made the score 24–0 with a 1-yard touchdown run. Then after a three-and-out, the Raiders drove 56 yards to go up 27-0 on Blanda's 40-yard field goal. The next Houston drive resulted in yet another three-and-out, and Norton's 33-yard punt gave Oakland the ball on their 46. Houston managed to force a punt of their own, but Mike Eischeid's 44-yard kick pinned them back at their own 2-yard line. The next drive resulted in more of the same, another three-and-out and another Norton punt, which Bird returned 19 yards to the Oilers 31-yard line. Oakland then scored on a 7-play drive that ended on a 40-yard Blanda field goal, putting the team up by a score of 30–0. This time, Houston managed to respond, driving 78 yards in 5 plays to score on Beathard's 5-yard touchdown pass to Charley Frazier, cutting the score to 30–7. But by this point, less than 13 minutes remained in the game. Meanwhile, Oakland struck back with a 36-yard field goal, and later finished off the scoring with a 7-play, 48-yard drive that ended on Lamonica's 12-yard touchdown pass to Bill Miller. Neither quarterback had a particularly good day. Beathard completed just 15 of 35 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, with 1 interception. Frazier was the top receiver of the game with 7 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Bobby Jancik Robert Lee Jancik, Jr. (February 9, 1940 – December 24, 2005), also known as Bobby Jancik, was an American college and professional football player, who played for the American Football League's Houston Oilers from 1962 through 1967. He died in ...
returned 4 kickoffs for 100 yards. Lamonica finished the day with 10 completions in 24 attempts for 111 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 22 yards and another score. Dixon rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown, and caught a pass for 8 yards. Banaszak rushed for 116 yards on just 15 carries, and caught a 4-yard pass. Blanda set an AFL championship record with four field goals on six attempts. Norton also had a busy day for Houston, punting 11 times for 423 yards.


Officials

*Referee: John McDonough *Umpire: George Young *Head Linesman: Al Sabato *Side Linesman: Harry Kessel *Back Judge:
Jack Reader John Kenneth Reader (November 11, 1925 in Lawrence, Massachusetts – November 10, 2008 in Hingham, Massachusetts) was an American football official. After graduation from the College of the Holy Cross in 1950, football star Reader became an on-fi ...
*Field Judge: Frank Kirland The AFL added a sixth game official, the side linesman, in the previous season; the NFL added its sixth official, the line judge, in . The seventh official, the side judge, was added in .


Players' shares

The winning Raiders earned about $6,500 each, while the Oilers received about $5,000 each. The upcoming
Super Bowl II The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Bay P ...
awarded an additional $15,000 per player for the winners and $7,500 each for the losing team.


See also

*
1967 AFL season Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular an ...
* AFL Championship Games *
Super Bowl II The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Bay P ...
* 1967 NFL Championship Game


Video


Raiders.com
- 1967 AFL Championship Game highlights


References

{{NFL on NBC 1967 Oakland Raiders postseason Houston Oilers postseason Championship Game American football in the San Francisco Bay Area December 1967 sports events in the United States 1967 in sports in California