Editor’s Note: The games for the Legends of the American Football League simulation are played on computer with Action! PC Football. The contests are played with the “coaching” by a human as well as computer simulation. One season per franchise was selected for league play with the 10 teams that merged with the National Football League competing for the championship. Stories from the action will appear on Press Room Pass each Sunday until the completion of the 14-week regular season and playoffs.
Joe Namath had the New York Jets flying away early, but comeback was needed to post a 28-27 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
With the results of the other American Football League contests, the East Division is jammed packed at the top as the Jets, Bills, Boston Patriots and Houston Oilers are all tied for first at 5-2.
New York’s offense and defense were responsible for the Jets 14-0 advantage in the opening period.
Namath tossed a 19-yard pass to Pete Lammons for a score at the 4:38 mark.
Two plays later on Buffalo’s next possession, New York’s Randy Beverly picked off a pass from quarterback Jack Kemp and raced 25 yards for a touchdown and it was 14-0 Jets.
Buffalo’s offense found some rythym in the second quarter as Kemp tossed a pair of touchdowns to Glenn Bass (11 yards) and Ernie Warlick (27 yards).
Namath and Don Maynard hooked up for a 22-yard score as the Jets were able to hold on to the lead.
The Bills closed out the first half with a 27-yard field goal from Pete Gogolak to cut Buffalo’s deficit to 21-17.
In the third quarter, the Bills scored 10 straight points to go on top 27-21 before the Jets responded.
Kemp hit Cookie Gilchrist with a 21-yard scoring strike and Gogolak booted a 28-yard field goal.
On a third and eight from the 42-yard line, Namath fended off the blitz and found George Sauer for what looked to be a first down.
However, Buffalo defensive back Butch Byrd missed the tackle and Sauer weaved his way through the Bills defense for a 42-yard touchdown pass to tie it at 27-27.
The PAT kick by New York’s Jim Turner proved to be the difference as the two teams cranked up their defenses in the final stanza and neither offense could score.
68 New York 28, 64 Buffalo 27
Scoring Summary
1 4:38 68 New York TD Namath 19 pass to Lammons (Turner,J) (8-70-3:48) 7-0
1 3:33 68 New York TD Beverly 25 interception return (Turner,J) 14-0
2 10:56 64 Buffalo TD Kemp 11 pass to Bass (Gogolak) (13-77-7:19) 14-7
2 5:45 68 New York TD Namath 22 pass to Maynard (Turner,J) (1-22-0:12) 21-7
2 3:36 64 Buffalo TD Kemp 27 pass to Warlick (Gogolak) (3-61-1:57) 21-14
2 0:57 64 Buffalo FG Gogolak 27 (7-36-1:53) 21-17
3 12:54 64 Buffalo TD Kemp 21 pass to Gilchrist (Gogolak) (4-65-1:56) 21-24
3 5:01 64 Buffalo FG Gogolak 28 (10-36-5:57) 21-27
3 2:52 68 New York TD Namath 42 pass to Sauer (Turner,J) (4-55-2:00) 28-27
Passing
NYA: Namath 29/12 203 Yds 3 TDs
Buf: Kemp 21/14 208 Yds 3 TDs 3 Int
Rushing
NYA: Snell 8/21, Boozer 9/16
Buf: Smith 18/93, Gilchrist 23/55, Kemp 4/10, Auer 2/9
Receiving
NYA: Maynard 5/76 TD, Sauer 5/82 TD, Lammons 2/45 TD
Buf: Bass 4/53 TD, Gilchrist 3/47 TD, Warlick 3/48 TD, Dubenion 2/36, Smith 2/24
Defense
NYA: Beverly Int(TD) FF 4-Tk, Atkinson 13-Tk, Baker FF 8-Tk, Biggs Sk 5-Tk
Buf: NA
Here’s a look at the rest of the week seven box scores
64 Boston 31, 68 Miami 0
Scoring Summary
1 8:19 64 Boston FG Cappelletti 41 (7-47-4:02) 0-3
1 6:13 64 Boston TD Parilli 13 pass to Graham (Cappellett) (2-17-0:53) 0-10
2 1:45 64 Boston TD Parilli 35 pass to Graham (Cappellett) (6-78-2:14) 0-17
3 8:39 64 Boston TD Parilli 13 run (Cappellett) (10-66-6:11) 0-24
4 7:08 64 Boston TD Parilli 10 pass to Graham (Cappellett) (4-49-2:35) 0-31
Passing
Mia: Griese 16/6 69 Yds Int
Bos: Parilli 27/21 290 Yds 3 TDs
Rushing
Mia: Csonka 6/31, Kiick 8/28, Griese 1/6
Bos: Garron 16/61, Burton 8/47, Garrett 11/21, Parilli 1/13 TD
Receiving
Mia: Noonan 3/38, Kiick 1/17, Csonka 1/2, Twilley 1/12
Bos: Graham 10/165 3 TDs, Garron 5/39, Garrett 2/17, Romeo 2/33, Burton 1/16
Defense
Mia: Edmunds 12-Tk, Jacobs Sk 3-Tk, Bramlett 8-Tk
Bos: Addison 2-Sks 5-Tk, Dee Int Sk Tk, Rudolph Sk 4-Tk, Richardson Sk 3-Tk
67 Oakland 58, 69 Cincinnati 6
Scoring Summary
1 10:34 69 Cincinnati FG Muhlmann 47 (7-31-4:14) 0-3
1 6:10 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 30 pass to Biletnikoff (Blanda) (7-94-4:14) 7-3
2 14:45 67 Oakland TD Daniels 11 run (Blanda) (6-77-3:34) 14-3
2 8:55 69 Cincinnati FG Muhlmann 26 (10-56-5:34) 14-6
2 4:50 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 34 pass to Miller (Blanda) (6-70-3:55) 21-6
2 1:51 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 6 pass to Miller (no good) (2-8-0:33) 27-6
3 12:15 67 Oakland TD Daniels 8 pass to Miller (Blanda) (5-68-2:28) 34-6
3 7:23 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 13 pass to Miller (Blanda) (9-74-3:28) 41-6
4 9:23 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 18 pass to Biletnikoff (Blanda) (8-98-5:26) 48-6
4 3:00 67 Oakland FG Blanda 40 (8-29-5:12) 51-6
4 1:22 67 Oakland TD Oats 49 yd fumble recovery (Blanda) 58-6
Passing
Oak: Lamonica 28/21 419 Yds 5 TDs, Blanda 3/3 22 Yds
Cin: Cook 14/11 175 Yds
Rushing
Oak: Daniels 9/53 TD, Dixon 7/33, Banks 3/7
Cin: Robinson 15/61, Phillips 8/24, Cook 2/13
Receiving
Oak: Miller 11/194 4 TDs, Biletnikoff 7/153 2 TDs, Dixon 4/80, Hagberg 2/11
Cin: Robinson 4/49, Trumpy 4/81, Crabtree 3/45
Defense
Oak: Davidson 2-Sks FF 6-Tk, Oats 2-Sks 2-FF 3-Tk, Keating 2-Sks 4-Tk, Otto 2-Sks
Cin: Riley 8-Tk, Smith 8-Tk
63 San Diego 37, 62 Denver 14
Scoring Summary
1 10:09 63 San Diego TD Rote 28 pass to Kocourek (no good) (7-74-4:33) 6-0
1 4:37 63 San Diego TD Lowe 7 run (Blair) (7-51-3:40) 13-0
1 2:31 63 San Diego TD Faison blk punt ret 0 (Blair) 20-0
2 7:35 62 Denver TD Tripucka 8 pass to Prebola (Fraser) (15-97-8:15) 20-7
2 3:22 63 San Diego FG Blair 22 (6-64-3:58) 23-7
2 0:23 63 San Diego TD Lowe 4 run (Blair) (8-60-1:27) 30-7
3 0:38 63 San Diego TD Rote 45 pass to Alworth (Blair) (5-68-3:25) 37-7
4 6:11 62 Denver TD Tripucka 26 pass to Frazier (Fraser) (4-46-2:01) 37-14
Passing
SD: Rote 28/21 324 Yds 2 TDs Int
Den: Tripucka 49/22 272 Yds 2 TDs Int
Rushing
SD: Lowe 17/53 2 TDs, Lincoln 3/33, Alworth 1/15, Jackson 6/8, McDougall 1/2
Den: Dickinson 2/21, Mingo 3/7, Stone 3/6
Receiving
SD: Lowe 6/44, Alworth 5/133 TD, Kocourek 4/68 TD, Jackson 3/26, Norton 2/38
Den: Prebola 7/89 TD, Dickinson 5/32, Frazier 4/84 TD, Taylor 4/57, Stone 2/10
Defense
SD: Mitinger Int 4-Tk, Harris FF 6-Tk, Karas Sk 4-Tk
Den: Zeman Int 7-Tk, McDaniel 10-Tk, Fraser 9-Tk, Roehnelt 9-Tk
69 Kansas City 20, 60 Houston 16
Scoring Summary
1 4:50 69 Kansas City TD Dawson 7 pass to Taylor (Stenerud) (15-80-10:10) 7-0
2 13:16 60 Houston TD Blanda 38 pass to Groman (no good) (1-38-0:12) 7-6
2 1:07 69 Kansas City TD Dawson 60 pass to Pitts (Stenerud) (1-60-0:16) 14-6
3 6:24 60 Houston FG Blanda 20 (6-12-3:06) 14-9
4 6:33 69 Kansas City FG Stenerud 44 (15-59-9:29) 17-9
4 3:35 69 Kansas City FG Stenerud 39 (4-8-1:49) 20-9
4 2:14 60 Houston TD Blanda 40 pass to Hennigan (Blanda) (5-53-0:57) 20-16
Passing
KC: Dawson 22/14 202 Yds 2 TDs
Hou: Blanda 18/10 192 Yds 2 TDs Int
Rushing
KC: McVea 20/41, Garrett 10/26, Holmes 5/18, Hayes 4/3, Pitts 1/1
Hou: Smith 14/35, Cannon 8/24
Receiving
KC: Taylor 6/77 TD, Holmes 2/18, McVea 2/20, Pitts 2/69 TD, Arbanas 1/12, Hayes 1/6
Hou: Groman 3/62 TD, Carson 2/28, Hennigan 2/51 TD, Smith 2/43, Cannon 1/8
Defense
KC: Robinson Int 3-Tk
Hou: Floyd Sk 8-Tk, Morris 12-Tk, Helluin Sk 6-Tk
Legends of the AFL Standings
East Division
1960 Houston Oilers (5-2)
1964 Boston Patriots (5-2)
1964 Buffalo Bills (5-2)
1968 New York Jets (5-2)
1968 Miami Dolphins (1-6)
West Division
1963 San Diego Chargers (7-0)
1969 Kansas City Chiefs (4-3)
1967 Oakland Raiders (2-5)
1962 Denver Broncos (1-6)
1969 Cincinnati Bengals (0-7)
Week Eight Schedule
68 New York @ 64 Boston
60 Houston @ 64 Buffalo
63 San Diego @ 69 Cincinnati
69 Kansas City @ 62 Denver
68 Miami @ 67 Oakland
Week Seven Results
64 Boston 31, 68 Miami 0
68 New York 28, 64 Buffalo 27
67 Oakland 58, 69 Cincinnati 6
63 San Diego 37, 62 Denver 14
69 Kansas City 20, 60 Houston 16