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Old School - OLD SCHOOL: The worst day in Patriots' history
New England may have an old score to settle on Sunday v. Chargers
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Posted On: 1/18/08
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The New England Patriots were known as the Boston Patriots from 1960 to 1970. They changed their name to New England when they moved their home field from Harvard Stadium to a new park in Foxboro, Massachusetts for the 1971 season.
As everyone knows, the Patriots are on the verge of football history. If they can beat the Chargers which the experts say they can do with ease and then win the Super Bowl they will of course join the 1972 Dolphins and 1948 Browns as the only teams to go undefeated, untied, and win their league championship.
This would be their fourth championship since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick joined forces in 2001. While they certainly have been the best team in the NFL since 2001, this franchise did not always have a tremendous amount of success.
Before 2001 they had not won a Super Bowl and in the forty years before that won just 2 AFL-AFC championships, in 1985 and 1996. They lost in both Super Bowls after those championships, 35-21 to the Packers in Super XXXI and before that to the Bears in Super Bowl XX, 46-10.
Their loss to the 1985 Bears in that game is probably the most embarrassing moment that most NFL fans of today remember about this franchise. They were dominated from start to finish and had to endure a William “The Refrigerator” Perry touchdown in the third quarter to add insult to injury.
That was a long day in front of a world wide television audience. But the Patriots had even a worse day in a championship game, the 1963 AFL title game against the San Diego Chargers.
Old School Patriots’ fans have waited 44 years to get a chance to get back at the Chargers for what they did to the Patriots that day. The Patriots players and coaches claimed the Chargers ran the score up during the game. Everything points to them getting their revenge this Sunday.
To fully appreciate the magnitude of that Patriot loss let’s turn the clock back to 1963.
1963
The San Diego Chargers were coached by Hall of Famer Sid Gillman, the father of the West Coast offense. The AFL began play in 1960, with 8 teams playing in 2 divisions, East and West. The Chargers won the West division in 1960 and 1961 but lost the in the Championship game both years to the Houston Oilers. They missed the playoffs in 1962, mainly due to key players being injured.
Everyone was healthy in 1963. The Chargers added veteran NFL signal caller Tobin Rote to quarterback them that season. They finished with an 11-3 record, scored the most points, allowed the least, and gained the most yards. They were the AFL’s best team.
Rote had future Hall of Fame receiver Lance Alworth to throw to. Alworth caught 61 passes for 1,205 yards and 11 touchdowns and won AFL Player of the Year honors. The running game averaged 5.6 yards a carry and was paced by 1,000 yard rusher Paul Lowe and Keith Lincoln who rushed for 826 yards and had 325 yards receiving on the year while scoring 8 touchdowns. The offensive line was anchored by their tackles another future Hall of Famer Ron Mix and All AFL tackle Ernie Wright.
While the Chargers lost their offensive coordinator, Al Davis who left to take over the head coaching job of the Raiders in 1963 they did not skip a beat.
The Chargers had the best defense as well. Defensive coordinator Chuck Noll had the best pass rushers in the AFL in Earl Faison and Ernie Ladd. Linebacker Chuck Allen was one of best defenders in the AFL and defensive back Dick Harris led the secondary with 8 interceptions.
The Boston Patriots had finished second to the Oilers in 1961 and 1962. They were considered favorites to win the East in 1963 but their best running back Ron Burton was lost for the year with a back injury.
The Patriots still had veteran quarterback Babe Parilli and All AFL kicker and wide receiver Gino Cappelletti, but they barely stayed above .500 and finished 7-6-1. Not a record that usually gets you to the post season
What kept the Patriots going that year was a stingy defense led by defensive lineman Houston Antwine and Larry Eisenhauer and a second year linebacker named Nick Buoniconti. Head coach Mike Holovak did not have the offense, but his defense could keep him in games.
As it turned out 7-6-1 was good enough to get the Patriots to the post season. The Oilers finished 6-8, and the New York Jets 5-8-1. The Buffalo Bills also came in at 7-6-1, forcing a divisional playoff to see who would get to meet the Chargers for the title.
At War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo on December 28, 1963, Parilli threw 2 touchdown passes to running back Larry Garron and Cappelletti kicked 4 field goals as the Patriots won the East by beating the Bills 26-8. The Chargers were waiting for them.
January 5, 1964 Balboa Stadium, San Diego
On a beautiful San Diego afternoon 30,127 fans would witness one of the greatest single performances by a player and a team in professional football history.
Keith Lincoln took a Rote handoff on the game’s second play and raced for a 56 yard gain. Seven plays later Rote scored on a 2 yard run. After the Patriots had to punt, Lincoln scampered sixty seven yards on his next carry for a touchdown. Lincoln gained one hundred twenty three yards on his first 2 carries. The Chargers led 14-0.
Parilli got the Patriots on the board with a touchdown drive that ended with Garron’s 7 yard run, Chargers 14 Patriots 7. After San Diego received the kickoff, Rote moved the Chargers to near midfield. Not to be outdone by his backfield mate, Paul Lowe scored on a fifty eight touchdown run, the third long run of the first quarter. The first quarter ended with the Chargers leading 21-7.
Rote then led the Chargers downfield again. Buoniconti’s defense held and George Blair kicked an 11 yard field goal. The Patriots then moved down the field and Cappelletti kicked a fifteen yard field goal to cut the Charger lead to 24-10. Before halftime the Chargers began to move again and scored when Rote found wide receiver Don Norton for a 14 yard touchdown pass, the half ended, San Diego 31 Boston 10.
Babe Parilli tried to bring the Patriots back but he had to throw and give up on the run. He was pressured by Ladd and Faison and they had to give the ball back. Rote went right to work and drilled a forty eight yard touchdown pass to Alworth, Chargers 38 Patriots 10.
Parilli was replaced by Tom Yewcic but he could do no better. The Patriots were finished, but not San Diego. Gillman did replace Rote with second year quarterback John Hadl but Lincoln and Lowe stayed in the game. Hadl drove the Chargers down the field early in the fourth quarter and led them to another touchdown. Hadl threw a twenty five yard touchdown pass to Lincoln, they missed the extra point and led 44-10.
By this time the Patriots were running and throwing short because of the Charger pass rush. They punted on fourth down instead of going for the first down. They had given up, but when they punted, Hadl went back to work driving the Chargers to the Boston goal line again. With less than 2 minutes remaining, instead of sitting on the ball Gillman had Hadl run in another touchdown from the one yard line. The game mercifully ended soon thereafter, final score San Diego Chargers 51 Boston Patriots 10.
Sid Gillman had his championship while the humiliated Patriots felt that the Chargers had run up the score. Throwing the football in the fourth quarter and leaving in their starting running backs after the Patriots had begun themselves to try and run out the clock.
After the statisticians were finished, the true dominance of the Charger victory was revealed. Keith Lincoln set a post season record by totaling 349 combined yards. He gained 206 yards rushing on thirteen carries, 15.8 yards a carry and had one hundred twenty three yards on 7 receptions. He even completed a pass for 20 yards. He scored a rushing and a receiving touchdown. His record would stand to Christmas day 1971 when Ed Podolak of the Chiefs totaled 350 yards in an overtime playoff loss to the Dolphins.
Lincoln’s yardage record was broken, but one record that has not been broken was the yardage total the Chargers amassed that day, 610 total yards – the most gained by any professional football team in a post season game.
It was a record day for the champion Chargers and the worst single day in Patriots football history.
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