1965 Buffalo Bills season

1965 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Lou Saban
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st AFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Won AFL Championship (Chargers, 23–0)

The 1965 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s sixth season in the American Football League. Though not as statistically dominant as the previous season, the Bills won a second consecutive league championship.

Although Buffalo's offense was in the middle of the pack in 1965, it was their dominant team defense that kept them atop the league's standings. Buffalo gave up only 226 points (16.1 per game), fewest in the AFL, and one point fewer than AFL Championship runner-up San Diego.^[1] The Bills' opportunistic defense led the league in interceptions, with 32, and gave up a league-low four rushing touchdowns all season. Between week 6 of the 1964 season, through week eight of the 1965 season, including two 1964 playoff games, the Bills' defense did not allow a touchdown by rushing, a Professional Football record that still stands.

The Bills, who had led the AFL in points, rushing yards and total yards the previous season, suffered significantly after losing star running back Cookie Gilchrist in the offseason. Statistically, the Bills dropped to 6th (out of 8) in rushing yards, and 7th in passing yards. Still, they managed to finish 3rd in the AFL in points scored, with 313 (22.3 per game).^[2]

The Bills' turnover ratio was +18, best in the AFL, and fourth best in AFL history.^[3] Buffalo's +87 point differential was second-best in the league in 1965.

Seven Bills made the 1965 AFL All-Star team: safety George Saimes, cornerback Butch Byrd, linebacker Mike Stratton, defensive tackle Tom Sestak, guard Billy Shaw, kicker Pete Gogolak, and quarterback Jack Kemp.^[4]

Personnel

Staff

1965 Buffalo Bills staff

Front Office

President – Ralph Wilson

Head Coaches

Head Coach – Lou Saban

Offensive Coaches

Running Backs/Wide Receivers – John Mazur
Offensive Line – Jerry Smith

Defensive Coaches

Linebackers/Defensive Backs – Joe Collier

Offseason

The Bills lost All-AFL running back Cookie Gilchrist to the Denver Broncos after the 1964 season. Bills running back Wray Carlton would take over as the Bills' lead back.

AFL Draft

Main article: 1965 American Football League draft

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills	10	3	1	.769	4–2	313	226	L1
New York Jets	5	8	1	.385	3–3	285	303	W1
Boston Patriots	4	8	2	.333	2–4	244	302	W3
Houston Oilers	4	10	0	.286	3–3	298	429	L7

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 11	Boston Patriots	W 24–7	45,502
2	September 19	at Denver Broncos	W 30–15	30,682
3	September 26	New York Jets	W 33–21	45,056
4	October 3	Oakland Raiders	W 17–12	41,256
5	October 10	San Diego Chargers	L 34–3	45,260
6	October 17	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 23–7	26,941
7	October 24	Denver Broncos	W 31–13	45,046
8	October 31	Houston Oilers	L 19–17	44,267
9	November 7	at Boston Patriots	W 23–7	24,415
10	November 14	at Oakland Raiders	W 17–14	19,352
11	November 21	Bye
12	November 25	at San Diego Chargers	T 20–20	27,473
13	December 5	at Houston Oilers	W 29–18	23,087
14	December 12	Kansas City Chiefs	W 34–25	40,298
15	December 19	at New York Jets	L 14–12	57,396

Roster

Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks

- Daryle Lamonica
15 Jack Kemp

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Player stats

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Yds	Completion %	TD	INT
Jack Kemp	179	391	2368	45.8	10	18
Daryle Lamonica	29	70	376	41.4	3	6

^[5]

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	Average	Long	TD
Wray Carlton	156	592	3.8	80	6

^[5]

Postseason

AFL Championship Game

Main article: 1965 American Football League Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	14	6	3	23
Chargers	0	0	0	0	0

Buffalo Bills 23, San Diego Chargers 0

December 26, 1965, at Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California
Attendance: 30,361

Scoring

BUF – Warlick 18 pass from Kemp (Gogolak kick)
BUF – Byrd 74 punt return (Gogolak kick)
BUF – Field goal Gogolak 11
BUF – Field goal Gogolak 39
BUF – Field goal Gogolak 32

AFL All-Star Game

Season	Date	Winner	Most Valuable Player(s)	Site
1965	January 15, 1966	AFL All-Stars 30, Buffalo Bills 19	Offense: Joe Namath, QB, Jets Defense: Frank Buncom, LB, Chargers	Rice Stadium, Houston

Awards and Records

Lou Saban, Coach of the Year

References

Buffalo Bills seasons

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

Buffalo Bills 1965 AFL champions

3 Pete Gogolak 12 Daryle Lamonica 15 Jack Kemp 20 Bobby Smith 22 Charley Warner 23 Gene Sykes 24 Booker Edgerson 26 George Saimes 27 Tom Janik 30 Wray Carlton 32 Donnie Stone 33 Billy Joe 40 Ed Rutkowski 42 Butch Byrd 43 Joe Auer 44 Elbert Dubenion 45 Hagood Clarke 46 Bo Roberson 48 Pete Mills 49 Floyd Hudlow 50 Al Bemiller 51 John Tracey 52 Bill Laskey 55 Paul Maguire 56 Marty Schottenheimer 58 Mike Stratton 60 Dave Behrman 64 Harry Jacobs 66 Billy Shaw 67 Joe O'Donnell 70 Tom Sestak 72 Ron McDole 73 George Flint 74 Tom Keating 75 Dudley Meredith 76 Henry Schmidt 77 Stew Barber 78 Jim Dunaway 79 Dick Hudson 80 Charley Ferguson 81 Bill Groman 82 Paul Costa 84 Ernie Warlick 85 Glenn Bass 88 Tom Day

Head Coach: Lou Saban

Assistant Coaches: Joe Collier John Mazur Jerry Smith

Buffalo Bills

Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York

Franchise	Franchise History Players Seasons List of Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl selections First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches Logos and uniforms NFL in Toronto Bills series

Stadiums	War Memorial Stadium New Era Field Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series) New Era Field II (proposed)

Culture	Buffalo sports curse Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson Second String "Shout" (The Isley Brothers song) Four Falls of Buffalo

Lore	AAFC Buffalo Bills Electric Company The Comeback Wide Right Music City Miracle

Rivalries	Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets

Division championships (10)	1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995

Conference championships (4)	1990 1991 1992 1993

League championships (2)	1964 1965

Wall of Fame	Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban

Media	Radio Radio network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities: John Murphy Van Miller Mark Kelso Steve Tasker

Owners	Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division

Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)

Seasons (56)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

American Football League seasons

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1965 AFL season

Eastern Division	Boston	Houston	Denver	Oakland	Western Division
Eastern Division	Buffalo	New York	Kansas City	San Diego	Western Division

Related: 1965 NFL season

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