Most football fans have experienced memorable moments, games, championships, and even bitter losses in the postseason over the last 89 years. But, many people only remember the champion or the runner-up in the last game of the NFL season, the NFL championship or Super Bowl. The December 18, 1932 playoff game featuring the Portsmouth Spartans (now known as the Detroit Lions) and the Chicago Bears was a memorable event as the NFL’s first postseason game with the Bears winning 9-0. In this special series, I will analyze each NFL team’s best championship season and the one season where they finished just short of claiming the NFL’s ultimate prize. The next team to be analyzed is… the HOUSTON OILERS!
The 1961 Oilers: George Blanda’s MVP Season
When George Blanda arrived at the Houston Oilers’ inaugural training camp in 1960, Blanda was entering his 11th season in professional football after playing his first ten years with the Chicago Bears under Hall of Fame head coach George Halas before retiring after the 1958 NFL season due to his lack of playing time as Chicago’s backup quarterback and placekicker.
After sitting out the entire 1959 NFL season, George Blanda would receive another opportunity to play football due to the emergence of the American Football League and would sign a contract with the Houston Oilers under owner Bud Adams as well as general manager Don Suman. During the 1960 offseason, Bud Adams and Don Suman would acquire other “NFL Rejects” including former Pro Bowl tight end John Carson, former Pro Bowl linebacker Fred Wallner, and other outcasts from the National Football League to build up their roster.
But, after acquiring 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon through a court ruling to decide a contract dispute between the Oilers and the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, George Blanda was ready for a breakout season in his career despite some doubts about his reputation as a starting quarterback (Blanda only started 23 games during his 10 years with the Bears and had not been a consistent starter since the 1953-1954 NFL seasons when he threw just over 4,000 yards over those two seasons with 29 passing TD’s as well as 40 interceptions in 19 starts).
After not starting a game in five years, George Blanda led the Oilers to a 10-4 record and a division title in the AFL’s inaugural season while piloting the AFL’s #1 passing attack to the AFL Championship Game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Playing in his first championship game since backing up Pro Bowl quarterback Ed Brown in the 1956 NFL Championship Game (a 47-7 blowout loss to the New York Giants), Blanda led Houston to an AFL title with a 24-16 victory, in which Blanda threw for 301 yards and three TD passes including a game-sealing 88 yard TD pass to Billy Cannon as the Oilers emerged as the AFL’s dominant team in the league’s inaugural season.
During the following offseason, general manager Don Suman added several key players to the Oilers roster to contend for a second straight AFL Championship including Bob Schmidt (who was a backup center on the 1959 NY Giants that represented the NFL’s Eastern Division in the NFL Championship), Ed Husmann (who was a full time starter on the Cowboys expansion team in 1960 after he was selected in Dallas’ expansion draft) as well as George Blanda’s former teammate, Willard Dewveall, before drafting tight end Bob McLeod in the 12th round of the 1961 AFL Draft from Abilene Christian.
With big expectations to win the AFL’s Eastern Division again, the Oilers opened up the 1961 AFL season with a 55-0 blowout win at home against the Raiders before losing three straight games including two road losses to the Chargers and the Dallas Texans. But, after losing their only divisional game of the season to archrival, Buffalo, George Blanda’s backup quarterback, Jacky Lee, passed for a career high 457 yards in a 31-31 tie against the Boston Patriots before owner Bud Adams made a compelling move by firing head coach Lou Rymkus and promoting defensive assistant Wally Lemm as the Oilers interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Entering a Week 7 rematch against the Texans, Wally Lemm decided to start George Blanda at quarterback after missing the last two games despite throwing two costly interceptions in their 26-21 loss to Dallas in Week 4. In a game that would define the rest of the Oilers’ season, Blanda would lead Houston to a dominant 38-7 victory over the Texans before throwing for a career high 464 yards in a 28-16 revenge win over the Bills in Week 8.
Entering their Week 9 matchup against the Broncos with a 3-3-1 record, the Oilers would overpower Denver’s defense with a 55-14 victory before returning home and winning a crucial Week 10 rematch versus the Patriots as Houston won their fourth straight game under Wally Lemm by the score of 27-15.
But, in Week 11, George Blanda would bring the American Football League into the spotlight by becoming the second quarterback to throw for seven TD passes in a game in a 49-13 blowout win over the New York Titans (no other QB in the 10-year history of the AFL would throw for 7 TD’s in a game). In the Oilers’ next home game versus Denver, Houston would overcome six offensive turnovers and dominate the Broncos with a season high eight takeaways in a 45-14 victory to improve their record to 7-3-1.
Entering the month of December with a critical Week 13 rematch at home against the Chargers, Wally Lemm’s defense would neutralize San Diego’s offense as the Oilers allowed a season low 35 rushing yards while George Blanda led Houston’s offense to a 33-13 win before Billy Cannon would set an AFL record with 373 all purpose yards in a 48-21 blowout victory over the NY Titans in Week 14 for their eighth straight win heading into their season finale against Oakland (Cannon’s all-purpose yardage record would remain an AFL record until the AFL-NFL merger in 1970).
With a one-game lead over the Boston Patriots in the AFL’s Eastern Division, the Oilers faced a must win situation in Oakland to avoid an additional playoff game before the AFL Championship Game, but George Blanda would lead Houston to their eighth blowout win of the season in a 47-16 victory over the Raiders as the Oilers captured their second straight division title and advanced to the AFL Championship Game for a rematch against the San Diego Chargers.
After beating the Chargers on New Year’s Day earlier in the year to claim the AFL’s first championship crown, George Blanda and the Oilers offense would overcome seven offensive turnovers while forcing six takeaways in a surprising 10-3 win on Christmas Eve to capture back-to-back AFL Championship titles. With George Blanda and Billy Cannon teaming up for a game-sealing 35 yard TD pass in the 3rd quarter, Blanda would lead Houston to their 10th straight victory while sealing his MVP season as well as his status as one of the AFL’s first superstar players.
1961 OILERS OFFENSE
AFL All-Star Selections: QB/K George Blanda (AFL MVP, AFL All-Pro), HB Billy Cannon (AFL All-Pro), FB Charley Tolar, WR Charley Hennigan (AFL All-Pro), WR Bill Groman (only AFL All-Pro), TE Bob McLeod, LT Al Jamison (AFL All-Pro), C Bob Schmidt
Strengths: Balanced offense as well as the receiving duo of Bill Groman and Charley Hennigan. After finishing with the AFL’s #1 passing offense in 1960, George Blanda, along with his All-Pro teammates, piloted the AFL’s #1 ranked offense in 1961 with the league’s #1 ranked passing attack and the league’s 2nd ranked rushing attack.
While setting an AFL record with a +271 point differential (the next highest point differential in AFL history would be the 1967 Raiders, with a +235 point differential), George Blanda and his backup quarterback, Jacky Lee, shattered the professional football record for the most passing TD’s in a season with 48 combined passing TD’s (the 1961 Philadelphia Eagles had 34 passing TD’s that broke their previous NFL record that they held since 1954 when they passed for 33 TD’s).
In addition to an AFL rushing title from Billy Cannon, fullback Charley Tolar also contributed in the Oilers backfield with five offensive TD’s along with 796 scrimmage yards while Cannon had a career year with over 1,500 scrimmage yards as well as 15 offensive TD’s as Houston averaged 4.2 yards/carry (3rd in the AFL) and led the AFL with 452 rushing attempts.
With an All-Star backfield to complement their high-octane passing attack, the Oilers also had two All-Pro wide receivers in Bill Groman and Charley Hennigan. Nicknamed the “Long-Distance Twins” by local newspapers, Groman led the AFL in receiving yards in 1960 before leading the AFL with 17 receiving TD’s in 1961 while Hennigan led the AFL in receiving yards in 1961 while scoring 12 receiving TD’s (Hennigan’s 1,746 receiving yards in 1961 would remain an AFL record until the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 along with Groman’s record of 17 receiving TD’s in a 14-game season).
Weaknesses: Interceptions and penalties. Despite their offensive success in 1961 (the 61’ Oilers also were the first professional football team to score over 500 points in a season; averaged 36.6 points/game), the Oilers offense struggled with some discipline issues with 83 penalties (6th in the AFL) during the regular season and averaged at least two turnovers in 11 of their 15 games (Houston had at least five turnovers in four of those 11 games including the AFL Championship Game).
Along with the Oilers discipline issues, George Blanda and Jacky Lee combined to throw 29 interceptions during the regular season (6th in the AFL) along with Blanda’s five interceptions in the AFL Championship Game despite leading the AFL with a quarterback rating of 90.7. Despite three AFL All-Star selections on their offensive line (All-Pro left tackle Al Jamison, center Bob Schmidt, as well as tight end Bob McLeod), Blanda and Lee at least threw two interceptions in nine of their 15 games including the AFL Championship Game.
1961 OILERS DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
AFL All-Star Selections: DT Ed Husmann, DE Don Floyd, MLB Dennit Morris, CB Tony Banfield (AFL All-Pro), CB Mark Johnston
Strengths: Passing defense and takeaways. After finishing with the AFL’s worst passing defense in 1960 under defensive assistant Wally Lemm, the 1961 Oilers improved their passing defense the following season and finished with the AFL’s 2nd ranked passing defense in 1961 while allowing 17.3 points/game (2nd in the AFL).
In addition to a significant improvement under Lemm’s defensive schemes in 1961, the Oilers defense was very disciplined during the regular season with only 57 penalties committed (2nd in the AFL) while allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 43% of their passes (best in the AFL) and allowed a quarterback rating of 42.1 (2nd in the AFL) due to their 48 takeaways during the regular season (2nd in the AFL; 33 interceptions, 15 fumble recoveries).
With defensive linemen Ed Husmann and Don Floyd leading Houston’s pass rush with 41 combined sacks on the Oilers defense (3rd in the AFL), All-Pro cornerback Tony Banfield led the Oilers secondary unit with a career high eight interceptions while AFL All-Star Mark Johnston recorded four interceptions during the 1961 AFL season after earning All-Pro honors in 1960 (five players on Houston’s secondary unit in 1961 had at least two interceptions during the regular season).
Weaknesses: Rushing defense and overall special teams. After finishing with the AFL’s 2nd ranked rushing defense in 1960, Wally Lemm’s defense took a step back in 1961 by finishing with the league’s 6th ranked rushing defense despite holding eight opponents under 100 rushing yards during the regular season and the AFL Championship Game.
Despite an All-Star selection from linebacker Dennit Morris (a “NFL Reject” from the San Francisco 49ers), Lemm’s defense allowed a 4.5 yards/carry average in 1961 (6th in the AFL) and allowed an AFL record 398 rushing yards in their Week 4 loss to the Dallas Texans (the only other AFL team to allow more than 350 rushing yards in a game during the 10 year history of the league was the Denver Broncos in 1966 when they allowed 380 rushing yards to the Kansas City Chiefs).
But, despite his impressive MVP campaign on Houston’s offense, George Blanda also was one of the bright spots on the Oilers’ special teams unit by leading the AFL with a 61.5% field goal percentage (16 of 26 FG’s) as well as making 64 of 65 XP’s (led the AFL in XP’s made and attempted) and made a career long 55-yard field goal in Houston’s Week 13 victory over the Chargers.
However, punter Jim Norton, who had a career year as a defensive back with nine interceptions, replaced Charlie Milstead’s duties as Houston’s primary punter, but only averaged 40.7 yards/punt in 1961 (5th in the AFL) and Billy Cannon replaced former NFL reject Ken Hall as the Oilers’ primary return specialist, but only returned nine punts and 18 kickoffs with an average of 24.4 yards/kick return (3rd in the AFL).
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