1964 American Football League Championship Game

The 1964 American Football League Championship Game was the fifth championship game in the history of the 1960 incarnation of the American Football League. It is notable for being the last professional American football championship game to have been played in the city of Buffalo, New York, and the only one in the modern era. It was the only AFL championship game not played on a Sunday.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the San Diego Chargers by a score of 20 to 7 for their first league championship; combined with the next season, they are the only two championships to have ever been won by a major league team based in the city of Buffalo. One of the game's most iconic plays was one known as the "hit heard 'round the world," when Bills linebacker Mike Stratton laid a particularly hard hit on Chargers wide receiver Keith Lincoln that injured Lincoln and forced him out of the game.

This was the last American Football League game to broadcast on ABC; television rights were sold to NBC beginning in 1965. With the exception of the 1966 Continental Football League championship, ABC would not carry professional football again until after the AFL-NFL merger and the subsequent creation of Monday Night Football.

Game summary

Buffalo Bills 20, San Diego Chargers 7

Saturday December 26, 1964 at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York

Scoring

• SD – Kocourek 26 pass from Rote (Lincoln kick) 7-0 SD
• BUF – Field goal Gogolak 12 7-3 SD
• BUF – Carlton 4 run (Gogolak kick) 10-7 BUF
• BUF – Field goal Gogolak 17 13-7 BUF
• BUF – Kemp 1 run (Gogolak kick) 20-7 BUF

See also

• 1964 AFL season