| 1965 American Football League season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | September 11, 1965 - December 19, 1965 |
| Champions | |
| All-Star game | |
The 1965 American Football League season was the sixth regular season of the American Football League.
The season also saw a change of television address as the games moved from ABC to NBC.
The season ended when the Buffalo Bills defeated the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship game. The next season, the AFL would join the NFL to form the AFL-NFL World Championship game, known today as the Super Bowl.
Contents |
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.
There was little drama in either of the AFL's division races in 1965. The Bills led the Eastern Division from start to finish, ending five games ahead of the 5-8-1 Jets. In the Western Division, San Diego had three potential wins cancelled out when they were tied by Kansas City (10-10), Boston (13-13) and Buffalo (20-20), but their 9-2-3 finish (.818) was well ahead of Oakland's 8-5-1 record (.615).
| Week | EASTERN | WESTERN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tie (Buf, Hou) | 1-0-0 | Tie (Oak, SD) | 1-0-0 |
| 2 | Tie (Buf, Hou) | 2-0-0 | SAN DIEGO | 2-0-0 |
| 3 | BUFFALO | 3-0-0 | SAN DIEGO | 2-0-1 |
| 4 | BUFFALO | 4-0-0 | SAN DIEGO | 3-0-1 |
| 5 | BUFFALO | 4-1-0 | SAN DIEGO | 4-0-1 |
| 6 | BUFFALO | 5-1-0 | SAN DIEGO | 4-0-2 |
| 7 | BUFFALO | 6-1-0 | SAN DIEGO | 5-0-2 |
| 8 | BUFFALO | 6-2-0 | SAN DIEGO | 5-1-2 |
| 9 | BUFFALO | 7-2-0 | SAN DIEGO | 6-1-2 |
| 10 | BUFFALO | 8-2-0 | SAN DIEGO | 6-2-2 |
| 11 | BUFFALO | 8-2-0 | SAN DIEGO | 6-2-2 |
| 12 | BUFFALO | 8-2-1 | SAN DIEGO | 6-2-3 |
| 13 | BUFFALO | 9-2-1 | SAN DIEGO | 7-2-3 |
| 14 | BUFFALO | 10-2-1 | SAN DIEGO | 8-2-3 |
| 15 | BUFFALO | 10-3-1 | SAN DIEGO | 9-2-3 |
| Eastern Division | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Buffalo Bills | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 313 | 226 |
| New York Jets | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 285 | 303 |
| Boston Patriots | 4 | 8 | 2 | .333 | 244 | 302 |
| Houston Oilers | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 298 | 429 |
| Western Division | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *San Diego Chargers | 9 | 2 | 3 | .818 | 340 | 227 |
| Oakland Raiders | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 298 | 239 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 322 | 285 |
| Denver Broncos | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 303 | 392 |
* — Qualified for Championship Game.
|
|
|||||
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
| Boston | Denver |
| Buffalo | Kansas City |
| Houston | Oakland |
| New York Jets | San Diego |
| 1965 AFL Draft • 1965 AFL Championship Game • 1965 AFL All-Star game Related: 1965 NFL Season |
|