1967 American Football League Championship Game
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| Date | December 31, 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | John McDonough | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Oakland Raiders 40, Houston Oilers 7
- December 31, 1967 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
The Oakland Raiders were ten and a half point favorites over the Houston Oilers in the 1967 AFL Championship Game. Quarterback Daryle Lamonica, claimed on waivers 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 Eastern Conference in 1966 to first in '67, 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 Kansas City Chiefs) proved to be the spark that turned Houston's season around.
Oakland shredded the Oilers with 364 yards of offense, including 263 yards rushing, while holding them to just 146 total yards and 38 yards on the ground. The Raiders also forced three turnovers, while losing none themselves.
Oakland's Dave Grayson returned the opening kickoff 47 yards, sparking a drive into scoring range, but it ended with no points when George Blanda missed a 38-yard field goal attempt. Houston then mounted their own drive into Raiders territory, but they also came up empty as a result of a fumble by tight end Alvin Reed on the Oakland 30-yard line that was forced and recovered by linebacker Dan Conners. Following a three-and-out for each team, Roger Bird returned Jim Norton's 39-yard punt 9 yards to the Raiders 43-yard line, where they drove 28 yards to score on Blanda's 37-yard field goal with 3:06 left in the first quarter. Houston's next drive stalled on their own 44 and Norton had to punt again on the quarter's final play. Despite their 3-0 deficit, the Oilers seemed to be playing fairly well, having outgained Oakland in total yards, 93-52.
This quickly changed on the first play of the second quarter. Hewritt Dixon took a handoff from Lamonica, ran around the left end, and tookoff down the sidelines untouched for an AFL championship record 69-yard touchdown run, giving the Raiders a 10-0 lead. The rest of the game would be a desperate struggle for Houston's defense to keep the Raiders from adding more points, sometimes successful, but often not. Oakland defensive back Willie Brown intercepted a pass from Beathard on the Oilers next drive, though this only led to a missed 44-yard attempt by Blanda. After a punt, the Raiders drove to the Houston 36, but came up short again when Dixon was stuffed for no gain on 4th and 1. After another Norton punt, Oakland drove from their own 22-yard line to the Oilers 17. Faced with 4th and 1 again, the Raiders sent their field goal unit on to the field, but ran a fake field goal play with Lamonica (the holder on special teams) throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dave Kocourek. This gave Oakland a 17-0 lead with just 12 seconds left in the half.
Oakland completely took over the game in the second half. Houston defensive back Zeke Moore fumbled the opening kickoff when tackled by Duane Benson, and Ken Herock recovered the ball, returning it 6 yards to the Houston 29. Seven plays later, Lamonica made the score 24-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run. Then after a three-and-out, the Raiders drove 56 yards to go up 27-0 on Blanda's 40-yard field goal. The next Houston drive resulted in yet another three-and-out, and Norton's 33-yard punt gave Oakland the ball on their 46. Houston managed to force a punt of their own, but Mike Eischeid 44-yard kick pinned them back at their own 2-yard line. The next drive resulted in more of the same, another three-and-out and another Norton punt, which Bird returned 19 yards to the Oilers 31-yard line. Oakland then scored on a 7-play drive that ended on a 40-yard Blanda field goal, putting the team up by a score of 30-0.
This time, Houston managed to respond, driving 78 yards in 5 plays to score on Beathard's 5-yard touchdown pass to Charley Frazier, cutting the score to 30-7. But by this point, less than 13 minutes remained in the game. Meanwhile, Oakland struck back with a 36-yard field goal, and later finished off the scoring with a 7-play, 48-yard drive that ended on Lamonica's 12-yard touchdown pass to Bill Miller[2][3]
Neither quarterback had a particularly good day. Beathard completed just 15/35 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, with 1 interception. Frazier was the top receiver of the game with 7 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown. Bobby Jancik returned 4 kickoffs for 100 yards. Lamonica finished the day 10/24 for 111 yards and a two touchdowns, while also rushing for 22 yards and another score. Dixon rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown, and caught a pass for 8 yards. Banaszak rushed for 116 yards on just 15 carries, and caught a 4-yard pass. Blanda set an AFL championship record with 4 field goals on 6 attempts. Norton also had a busy day for Houston, punting the ball 11 times for 423 yards.
Scoring
- OAK – Field goal Blanda 37 3-0 OAK
- OAK – Dixon 69 run (Blanda kick) 10-0 OAK
- OAK – Kocourek 17 pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick) 17-0 OAK
- OAK – Lamonica 1 run (Blanda kick) 24-0 OAK
- OAK – Field goal Blanda 40 27-0 OAK
- OAK – Field goal Blanda 42 30-0 OAK
- HOU – Frazier 5 pass from Beathard (Wittenborn kick) 30-7 OAK
- OAK – Field goal Blanda 36 33-7 OAK
- OAK – Miller 12 pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick) 40-7 OAK
See also
References
| Preceded by | Oakland Raiders American Football League Champions 1967 |
Succeeded by New York Jets 1968 AFL Champions |
