The 1964 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s fifth season. Buffalo was 12–2 in the regular season and won the first of two consecutive championships in the American Football League.
The 1964 Bills' defense set an AFL record by giving up the fewest rushing yards in league history, with only 918, or 65.5 yards per game.Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by ascending opp Rushing Yds They also led the league in points allowed (242), total yards allowed (3,878), first downs surrendered (206), and rushing touchdowns allowed (four).Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1964 AFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics
Buffalo's offense also led the AFL in total yards (5,206), passing yards (2,040) and total points (400).Pro-Football-Reference: 1964 AFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
Offseason
AFL draft
Regular season Season schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 13 Kansas City Chiefs W 34–17 1–0 War Memorial Stadium 30,157 Recap 2 September 20 Denver Broncos W 30–13 2–0 War Memorial Stadium 28,501 Recap 3 September 26 San Diego Chargers W 30–3 3–0 War Memorial Stadium 40,167 Recap 4 October 3 Oakland Raiders W 23–20 4–0 War Memorial Stadium 36,461 Recap 5 October 11 at Houston Oilers W 48–17 5–0 Jeppesen Stadium 26,218 Recap 6 October 18 at Kansas City Chiefs W 35–22 6–0 Municipal Stadium 20,904 Recap 7 October 24 New York Jets W 34–24 7–0 War Memorial Stadium 39,621 Recap 8 November 1 Houston Oilers W 24–10 8–0 War Memorial Stadium 40,119 Recap 9 November 8 at New York Jets W 20–7 9–0 Shea Stadium 61,929 Recap 10 November 15 Boston Patriots L 28–36 9–1 War Memorial Stadium 42,308 Recap — Bye 11 November 26 at San Diego Chargers W 27–24 10–1 Balboa Stadium 34,865 Recap 12 December 6 at Oakland Raiders L 13–16 10–2 Frank Youell Field 18,134 Recap 13 December 13 at Denver Broncos W 30–19 11–2 Bears Stadium 14,431 Recap 14 December 20 at Boston Patriots W 24–14 12–2 Fenway Park 38,021 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-26.
Week 2
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-27.
Week 3
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-28.
Week 4
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-29.
Week 5
Jack Kemp 14/26, 378 Yds Elbert Dubenion 5 Rec, 183 Yds Glenn Bass 5 Rec, 147 Yds Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-12.
Standings
Postseason Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Recap Championship December 26 San Diego Chargers W 20–7 40,242 War Memorial Stadium Recap AFL Championship Game
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Personnel Staff 1964 Buffalo Bills staffFront office President/team 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
Roster 1964 Buffalo Bills roster Quarterbacks Jack Kemp Daryle Lamonica
Running backs Wray Carlton Cookie Gilchrist Willie Ross Bobby Smith
Wide receivers Glenn Bass Elbert Dubenion Bill Groman Ed Rutkowski
Tight ends Ernie Warlick Offensive linemen Stew Barber T Al Bemiller G Walt Cudzik C George Flint G Dick Hudson T Joe O'Donnell G Billy Shaw G
Defensive linemen Tom Day DE Jim Dunaway DT Dudley Meredith DT Ron McDole DE Tom Sestak DT Linebackers Harry Jacobs MLB Paul Maguire OLB/P Mike Stratton OLB John Tracey OLB
Defensive backs Butch Byrd CB Hagood Clarke SS Ollie Dobbins CB George Saimes FS Gene Sykes SS Charley Warner CB
Special teams Pete Gogolak K Taxi squad Joe Auer RB Bob Dugan T Charley Ferguson WR Mailon Kent QB
Reserve list Ray Abruzzese S (IR) Dave Behrman T/C (IR) Booker Edgerson CB (IR) Tom Keating DT (IR) Note: rookies in italics
Player stats Passing Player Comp Att Yds Completion % TD INT Jack Kemp 119269 2285 44.2 13 26 Daryle Lamonica 55128 1137 43.0 6 8
Rushing Player Att Yds Average Long TD Cookie Gilchrist 230981 4.3 67 6 B. Smith 62306 4.9 37 4 Daryle Lamonica 55289 5.3 18 6 Joe Auer 63191 3.0 21 2 Jack Kemp 37124 3.4 14 5 Wray Carlton 39114 2.9 111
Special teams
Kicking Player FG Att XP XP Att Pts Pete Gogolak 1929 45 46 102
Punting Player No. Yards Avg. Long Paul Maguire 652777 42.7 64
Awards and records Lou Saban, Coach of the Year
See also List of American Football League players
References
Further reading
Jeffrey J. Miller, Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2007. Jeffrey J. Miller and Greg D. Tranter, Relics: The History of The Buffalo Bills in Objects and Memorabilia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press, 2021. Sal Maiorana, Buffalo Bills: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2010.
External links 1964 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1964 Buffalo Bills at JT-SW.com 1964 AFL Champions