1965 Buffalo Bills season

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.

1965 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Lou Saban
Home stadium	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st AFL Eastern
Playoffs	Won AFL Championship (at Chargers) 23–0
← 1964 Bills seasons 1966 →

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

Coaches/Staff

1965 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office President/owner – Ralph Wilson Vice-president/minority owner – Pat McGroder 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

Final roster

1965 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks 15 Jack Kemp 12 Daryle Lamonica Running backs 43 Joe Auer 30 Wray Carlton 34 Cookie Gilchrist FB 33 Billy Joe HB 20 Bobby Smith HB 32 Donnie Stone Wide receivers 85 Glenn Bass 44 Elbert Dubenion 81 Bill Groman 48 Pete Mills 46 Bo Roberson LB/P 40 Ed Rutkowski QB/RB/SE/KR Tight ends 82 Paul Costa 80 Charley Ferguson 84 Ernie Warlick		Offensive linemen 77 Stew Barber T 60 Dave Behrman C 50 Al Bemiller G 73 George Flint G 79 Dick Hudson T 67 Joe O'Donnell T/G 66 Billy Shaw G Defensive linemen 88 Tom Day DE 78 Jim Dunaway DT 74 Tom Keating DT 72 Ron McDole DE 75 Dudley Meredith DT 76 Henry Schmidt DT 70 Tom Sestak DT		Linebackers 64 Harry Jacobs MLB 52 Bill Laskey 55 Paul Maguire LB/P 56 Marty Schottenheimer MLB 58 Mike Stratton OLB 51 John Tracey OLB Defensive backs 42 Butch Byrd CB 45 Hagood Clarke SS 24 Booker Edgerson CB 49 Floyd Hudlow CB 26 George Saimes FS 23 Eugene Sykes FS 22 Charley Warner CB Special teams  3 Pete Gogolak K 27 Tom Janik SS/P
Note: rookies in italics

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

Regular season

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	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 in the AFL.

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 11	Boston Patriots	W 24–7	1–0	War Memorial Stadium	45,502	Recap
2	September 19	at Denver Broncos	W 30–15	2–0	Bears Stadium	30,682	Recap
3	September 26	New York Jets	W 33–21	3–0	War Memorial Stadium	45,056	Recap
4	October 3	Oakland Raiders	W 17–12	4–0	War Memorial Stadium	41,256	Recap
5	October 10	San Diego Chargers	L 3–34	4–1	War Memorial Stadium	45,260	Recap
6	October 17	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 23–7	5–1	Municipal Stadium	26,941	Recap
7	October 24	Denver Broncos	W 31–13	6–1	War Memorial Stadium	45,046	Recap
8	October 31	Houston Oilers	L 17–19	6–2	War Memorial Stadium	44,267	Recap
9	November 7	at Boston Patriots	W 23–7	7–2	Fenway Park	24,415	Recap
10	November 14	at Oakland Raiders	W 17–14	8–2	Frank Youell Field	19,352	Recap
11	Bye
12	November 25	at San Diego Chargers	T 20–20	8–2–1	Balboa Stadium	27,473	Recap
13	December 5	at Houston Oilers	W 29–18	9–2–1	Rice Stadium	23,087	Recap
14	December 12	Kansas City Chiefs	W 34–25	10–2–1	War Memorial Stadium	40,298	Recap
15	December 19	at New York Jets	L 12–14	10–3–1	Shea Stadium	57,396	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	Recap
Championship	December 26	at San Diego Chargers	W 23–0	Balboa Stadium	30,361	Recap

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

Bills and in 1966 finished 9-4-1.

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