1960 American Football League season

The 1960 American Football League season was the inaugural regular season of the American Football League (AFL). It consisted of 8 franchises split into two divisions: the East Division (Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Titans of New York, Boston Patriots) and the West Division (Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders).

1960 American Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 9 – December 18, 1960
Playoffs
DateJanuary 1, 1961
Eastern ChampionHouston Oilers
Western ChampionLos Angeles Chargers
SiteJeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas
ChampionHouston Oilers

The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24–16 in the inaugural 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, a playoff would be held to determine the division winner.

The Denver Broncos, who would not have a winning season until they went 7–5–2 in 1973, were the Western Division leaders halfway through 1960. They won the AFL's first game, played on Friday night, September 9, 1960, beating the Boston Patriots 13–10. The Patriots' Gino Cappelletti scored the AFL's first points with a 35-yard field goal. Other results in Week One were the Los Angeles Chargers 21–20 win over the Dallas Texans, the Houston Oilers 37–22 win over the Oakland Raiders, and the Titans of New York 27–3 win over the Buffalo Bills. In the Raiders game, J.D. Smith caught a pass from Tom Flores to score the first two-point conversion in pro football history.

In Week Eight (October 30), Denver lost to the visiting Texans, 17–14, and did not win any of their last eight games, finishing with the AFL's worst record at 4–9–1. The Chargers, still in Los Angeles, pulled ahead the next week with a Friday night win over the Titans of New York, 21–7, and finished at 10–4–0. The Eastern Division lead was held by Houston, except for a setback from a 14–13 loss to Oakland on September 25. In Week Five, the Oilers beat the visiting Titans, 27–21 and led the rest of the way.

Week Eastern Western
1 Tie (Hou, TNY) 1–0–0 Tie (Den, LAC) 1–0–0
2 Houston Oilers 2–0–0 Denver Broncos 2–0–0
3 Tie (Hou, TNY) 2–1–0 Tie (DalT, Den) 2–1–0
4 Titans of New York 3–1–0 Denver Broncos 3–1–0
5 Houston Oilers 3–1–0 Denver Broncos 3–1–0
6 Houston Oilers 4–1–0 Denver Broncos 3–2–0
7 Houston Oilers 5–1–0 Denver Broncos 4–2–0
8 Houston Oilers 5–2–0 Tie (Den, LAC) 4–3–0
9 Houston Oilers 6–2–0 L.A. Chargers 5–3–0
10 Houston Oilers 6–3–0 L.A. Chargers 6–3–0
11 Houston Oilers 7–3–0 L.A. Chargers 6–4–0
12 Houston Oilers 6–3–0 L.A. Chargers 7–4–0
13 Houston Oilers 8–4–0 L.A. Chargers 8–4–0
14 Houston Oilers 9–4–0 L.A. Chargers 9–4–0
15 Houston Oilers 10–4–0 L.A. Chargers 10–4–0

Regular season

Results
Home/Road Eastern Division Western Division
BOS BUF HOU NY DAL DEN LA OAK
Eastern Boston Patriots 0–13 10–24 38–21 42–14 10–13 16–45 34–28
Buffalo Bills 38–14 25–24 13–17 28–45 21–27 10–24 38–9
Houston Oilers 37–21 31–23 27–21 20–10 20–10 38–28 13–14
Titans of New York 24–28 27–3 28–42 41–35 28–24 7–21 27–28
Western Dallas Texans 34–0 24–7 24–0 35–37 34–7 17–0 19–20
Denver Broncos 31–24 38–38 25–45 27–30 14–17 19–23 31–14
Los Angeles Chargers 0–35 3–32 24–21 50–43 21–20 41–33 52–28
Oakland Raiders 27–14 20–7 22–37 28–31 16–34 48–10 17–41

Standings

Playoffs
Main article: 1960 American Football League Championship Game
 
AFL Championship Game
 
  
 
January 1, 1961 – Jeppesen Stadium
 
 
Los Angeles Chargers16
 
 
Houston Oilers24
 

Statistics

Quarterback
Player Comp. Att. Comp% Yards TD's INT's
Frank Tripucka (DEN)24847851.830382434
Jack Kemp (LA)2114065230182025
Al Dorow (NYT)20139650.827482626
Butch Songin (BOS)18739247.724762215
Cotton Davidson (DAL)17937947.224741516
George Blanda (HOU)16936346.624132422
Tom Flores (OAK)1362525417381212
Johnny Green (BUF)892283912671010
Babe Parilli (OAK)8718746.51003511
Tommy O'Connell (BUF)6514544.81033713
Dick Jamieson (TNY)35705058662

Awards

Stadiums

The AFL began play with the following stadiums:

Coaches

The AFL began play with the following head coaches:

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