1967 American Football League Championship Game

1967 American Football League championship game
DateDecember 31, 1967
StadiumOakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
FavoriteOakland by 10 points[1][2]
Attendance53,330
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersCurt Gowdy, Paul Christman[3]
Oakland is located in the United States
Oakland
Oakland
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Location in the United States
Oakland is located in California
Oakland
Oakland
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Location in California

The 1967 AFL Championship Game was the eighth American Football League championship game, played on December 31 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California.[4][5][6][7]

It matched the Western Division champion Oakland Raiders (13–1) and the Eastern Division champion Houston Oilers (9–4–1) to decide the American Football League (AFL) champion for the 1967 season.

Quarterback Daryle Lamonica, traded from the Buffalo Bills 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 (3–11) to first in 1967,[8] beating out the New York Jets 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) 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.[4][8][9] This was Houston's fourth and final appearance (1960, 1961, 1962) in the title game and Oakland's first.

In contrast to the frigid conditions earlier in the day at the NFL championship game in Green Bay, the temperature for the AFL title game in northern California was 47 °F (8 °C).[5] The host Raiders were ten-point favorites.[1][2]

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.[5][6][10]

The attendance of 53,330 was a new record for the AFL title game, passing the 42,080 of the previous year at Buffalo.[2]

  1. ^ a b "Oakland gets 10 pt. bulge over Houston". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. December 31, 1967. p. 3, section 4.
  2. ^ a b c "Oakland rips Houston, captures AFL crown". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. January 1, 1968. p. 26.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1967 NFL-AFL Commentator Crews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "Oakland, Houston accent defense in AFL title tilt". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. December 31, 1967.
  5. ^ a b c Bock, Hal (January 1, 1968). "Oakland romps past Houston, 40-7; meets Packers in Super Bowl Jan. 14". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 55.
  6. ^ a b "Raiders humble Oilers, 40 to 7". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. January 1, 1968. p. 1, part 2.
  7. ^ Shrake, Edwin (January 8, 1968). "Another old pro kicks for sixteen". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  8. ^ a b Gildea, William (December 31, 1967). "Something new in AFL: finalists play defense". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). T-P. p. B3.
  9. ^ "Raiders clinch Western division title, 19-7". Spartanburg Herald. (South Carolina). Associated Press. December 11, 1967. p. 9.
  10. ^ Markus, Robert. "Oakland takes AFL title, 40-7". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 3.