Leaders After 8 Weeks

League Leaders After 5 Weeks

MIN/DEN knot it up

Minnesota stalls on their opening drive and Denver forces a punt that is returned 82 yards by Abner Haynes for an early 7-0 lead. Fred Cox continues his poor performance missing a 25 yard FG but did hit from 11 yards out to make it 7-3 at the half. Minnesota was able to move the ball in the 3rd and took their first lead on a Bill Brown 3 yard run.Abner scored his 2nd TD with 3:55 remaining in the game on a  John McCormick 22 TD pass. Denver added a 22 yard FG with 2:32 remaining for the 17-10 lead. Minnesota mounted a late drive moving the ball to the Denver 9 yard line. Kapp dropped back to pass as time expired. Unable to find a receiver, he tucked the ball and ran 9 yards to tie the game as the clock expired. Minnesota had 92 yards in penalties vs. 6 for Denver. The tie brings Minnesota to 1-2-2 and hosts Chicago next week. Denver is 2-2-1 and Host Houston.

Thank you to Cela for a great game.

--submitted by Marvin Sik--

Jints are dragon slayers 2 weeks in a row

FOR THE SECOND WEEK IN A ROW THE GIANTS KNOCKED OFF A PREVIOUSLY UNDEFEATED TEAM. Y.A TITTLE HAD A GREAT GAME GOING 20-29 FOR 312 YARDS. 2 TDs AND A 127.4 RATING. THE GIANTS WERE HELPED BY THE RAMS BEING PENALIZED 11 TIMES FOR 103 YARDS. THANKS TO BILL FOR THE GAME.

--MARC BECKER--

Bills 27, Pats 13

The Buffalo Bills invaded Alumni Stadium and came away with the win to put them in sole possession of first place in the American Football League. Boston jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead early in the first quarter on a Gino Cappelletti field goal and a 29-yard interception return for a TD by Safety John Charles, but from the second quarter on it was all Buffalo as they outscored the Pats 27-3. The Bills defense held the Patriots to their lowest point total of the season and league-leading passer Mike Taliaferro was held in check throughout most of the game, finishing with a 62.1 rating. While Jack Kemp didn't fare much better, throwing 3 picks and being held to his lowest passer rating of the season as well, he made plays when it counted, connecting on 17 of 31 attempts for 360 yards and 2 TDs. Wayne Patrick bounced back with another 100-yard day after being held to 27 yards previously by the Miami Dolphins and Marlin Briscoe grabbed game MVP honors with 2 scores on 4 receptions and a 33.8 YPC average. Haven Moses stood out with 6 catches of his own and OJ Simpson contributed with 6 receptions as well as a 5-yard touchdown run. Next week will see the Bills travel to the west coast to face the KOGFL's league-leading, undefeated powerhouse Los Angeles Rams while the Pats will attempt to bounce back against the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

--submitted by Mohammad Hadi-Abdullah--

League Leaders After Week #4

NYG 24, BOS 21

The Pats headed south down I-95 for a matchup with the Jints in the House that Ruth Built.  The lead exchanged hands a number of times with the Pats thinking they locked the game up with 6:10 remaining on a Taliaferro to Sellers 26 yard strike.  Alas, that was not to be as the hometown Jints rallied to go 80 yards in 13 plays culminating with a 1 Alex "the Chief" Webster TD plunge.  Athough sacked 4 times, Y.A. Tittle was able to turn the clock back with an incredible (20-36-373-2TD) performance.  Frank Gifford also sipped from the fountain of youth with a 7 grab day that amassed 152 yards and 1 TD.  Boston (3-1) falls from the ranks of the unbeatens as the G-men moved to 2-1-1.

64 Denver 42, 61 Oakland 38

64 Denver 42, 61 Oakland 38

What a wild game this was -- I needed a few hours to calm down when it was over.

Cela's high-octane Denver squad came to Cali to play Joe's Oakland group, with both teams known for offense and for an offensively bad defense. 

The game lived up to its billing, as both teams moved up and down the field like ants toward sugar, while the defense rested and looked to be on a tropical island somewhere other than at Candlestick Park. The game featured only five punts between the teams. Denver had 447 yards of net offense, while Oakland slightly trumped that with 452 years of offense.

Oakland asserted its game plan early, scoring a TD on the first drive with taking 7:13 to move up the field before star running back Wayne Crow (also the team punter) crossed the goal line. But Denver then matched it with a 6 minute, 12 play drive of its own, punctuated by a one yard run from its featured back, Cookie Gilchrist, at the end of the quarter.

Both teams again traded TDs in quarter two, Oakland's coming in unexpected fashion as Crow broke through the Denver line and ran for 70 yards. 14-14 at the half.

The action was revved up to racing speed in quarter three, with TDs apparently falling from trees. Oakland and Denver each had two touchdowns in the quarter, moving down the field like a marching band at halftime.  Oakland QB Tom Flores tossed two TD passes, Denver QB Jacky Lee had one of his own, and Gilchrist again smashed through the line to score. But at the end of the third quarter, Denver went ahead for the first time on its third touchdown of  the quarter, with Lee's seven yard pass to star receiver Lionel Taylor as time wound down.

Denver held the 35-28 lead until halfway through quarter four, with Flores tossed his third TD pass of the afternoon, finding Alan MIller in the end zone. With the game tied at 35, Oakland again moved downfield but had to settle for a field goal to take a 38-35 lead with 2:32 left in the game. But Denver proved its Rocky Mountain grit, as Cela's team went 83 yards in eight plays, before Lee hit Wendell Hayes in the back of the end zone to take at 42-38 lead with a little over a minute left.

Flores did his best to bring his troops downfield again, moving to Denver's 15 yard line with 30 seconds left. But then, disappointment hit as Flores throw his second INT of the day, as Griffin picked off the end zone pass. Denver wins an exhausting battle.

--submitted by Joe Pryweller--

Bills cash in in OT vs Fish

The Bills rely on the passing arm of Jack Kemp to eek out a 14-17 overtime win against the visiting Miami Dolphins and overtake them for the second place spot in the AFL. TE Larry Seiple had his usual great game, hooking up with Bob Griese for both of the Dolphin's scores. But it was Haven Moses who received game MVP honors with 2 TDs of his own while running wild through the Dolphin's secondary with 100 RAC yards. This game could've easily ended up in a tie but Bruce Alford was able to kick the game winner in OT with 1:16 left on the clock, redeeming himself from an earlier miss from 34 yards out. Both teams will meet again in Week 8 of the season.

--submitted by Mohammad--

League Leaders After 3 Weeks

Bills 38, Oilers 14

KOG Leading Rusher after 3 wks

The Bills return to War Memorial Stadium and get their second win of the season behind the running of Heisman Trophy winner OJ Simpson and KOGFL league leading rusher Wayne Patrick. The normally explosive Bills passing game was kept in check for most of the game by an Oiler secondary that pressured Jack Kemp into 2 interceptions and sacked him twice. Fortunately, for the Bills the running game came through as the team compiled 251 yards on 46 carries. OJ Simpson showed flashes of what has been expected of him all season, coming up just shy of 100 yards on the ground, while compiling a 41.5-yard average on 2 catches and scoring twice. Wayne Patrick added 134 yards on 19 attempts and ran for 2 touchdowns. "Houston may be 0-3 now, but they are not a team to be counted out. They're a very competitive bunch of guys and not to be slept on," said Coach Mohammad Hadi-Abdullah. Next week will see the Bills once again at War Memorial Stadium as host to Bob Griese and the Miami Dolphins while the Oilers will play host to the NFL division Chicago Bears.

--submitted by Mohammad Hadi-Abdullah--

21-17 late comeback win for Rams over Vikes

Los Angeles traveled to Minnesota to meet the Vikings in a battle of unbeaten teams. After each team was stopped on their opening drive, Zeke Bratkowski hit Ollie Matson for a 25 yard TD and a 7-0 lead. The Rams held the Vikings scoreless until the end of the 2nd quarter, Fred Cox put Minnesota on the board 7-3. LA topped off their opening drive of the 2nd half with a 46 yard Bratkowski to Arnett TD to extend the lead to 14-3. Minnesota came back on their next drive with Joe Kapp hitting Phillips for a 33 yard TD. After holding LA, Minnesota again drove down the field with a 3 yard Osborn TD to take their 1st lead of the game 17-14. Bratkowski brought out the offense on their own 11 with 5:53 left in the game and drove 89 yards with a 24 yard pass to Matson to take back the lead 21-17 with 48 seconds remaining for the win. Congratulations to Bill & the Rams on their 3-0 start.

--submitted by Marvin Sik--

Week #3: '69-BOS 45, '65-DEN 28

03-07-2016 Alumni Stadium  Temp:62 Wind:10-20 
MVP: Mike Taliaferro 
                                                                                                   
                  1   2   3   4   Tot
65 Denver (1-2)  14  14   0   0   28
69 Boston (3-0)   7   7   7  24   45
                                                                                                   
ScoringSummary                                                                                    
1 13:27  65 DEN TD Lee 12 pass to Hayes (Kroner) (3-8-1:12)                7-0            
1  9:59  69 BOS TD Taliaferro 37 pass to Rademacher (Cappellett) (6-64-3:  7-7            
1  2:14  65 DEN TD Gilchrist 1 run (Kroner) (12-81-7:36)                  14-7            
2  5:08  65 DEN TD Gilchrist 1 run (Kroner) (7-64-4:55)                   21-7            
2  1:31  65 DEN TD Lee 4 pass to Hayes (Kroner) (4-39-1:17)               28-7            
2  0:04  69 BOS TD Nance 1 run (Cappellett) (4-72-1:19)                   28-14           
3  5:12  69 BOS TD Taliaferro 35 pass to Sellers (Cappellett) (5-80-3:16) 28-21           
4  8:33  69 BOS FG Cappelletti 24 (7-48-3:54)                             28-24           
4  6:15  69 BOS TD Taliaferro 32 pass to Rademacher (Cappellett) (2-32-0: 28-31           
4  2:41  69 BOS TD Taliaferro 30 pass to Sellers (Cappellett) (1-30-0:11) 28-38           
4  2:10  69 BOS TD Nance 1 run (Cappellett) (1-0-0:06)                    28-45

Down 28-7 with 90 seconds to go in the first half, the Pats got the wake up call.  Driving 72 yards in 4 plays the Pats cut Denver's lead in half with a Jim Nance 1 yard plunge.  The second half was all Boston, as the Pats scored 31 unanswered points win big.  Don't let the final score fool you.  This was a 4 point game with 6:35 left until Mike Taliaferro struck deep for two 30 yard TD passes.  The first to Rademacher and the second one to sellers.  Nance applied the coup de grace with a second 1 yard plunge at the end of regulation (no kneel downs in the 60's).  Boston picked off Jack Lee twice with a big one coming late in the game to setup one of Taliaferro deep ball strikes.  Houston Antwine's star shined bright on defense as the big defensive lineman recorded 3 solo tackles and 3 huge sacks late in the game.

League Leaders after 2 Weeks of Play

Rams 21, Bears 7

This game was tied 7 to 7 at halftime...then it was all Rams. Bratkowski hit Phillips for a 49 yard TD on the third play of the second half.  Then on the Rams next possession Bratkowski found Dale for 17 yard TD.  Zeke Bratkowski had a 154.3 rating connecting on 17 of 21 for 242 yards and 3 TD's.  Phillips snagged 8 passes for 148 yards.  No really any highlights for the Bears outside of one drive and a TD reception by Gordon.

69 Chicago 7 61 Los Angeles 21

--submitted by Kurt Schaden--

'69-BOS 31, '64-OAK 24

Candlestick Park  Temp:69 Wind:5-15
MVP: Ron Sellers

                          1   2   3   4       Tot
69 Boston (2-0)           7   7  10   7        31
61 Oakland (0-2)          7   0   3  14        24

Scoring Summary                                                                                     
1  8:53  61 Oak  TD Crow 4 run (Fleming) (6-96-4:06)                        0-7             
1  3:37  69 Bos  TD Nance 10 run (Cappellett) (8-52-5:08)                   7-7             
2 12:23  69 Bos  TD Taliaferro 38 pass to Sellers (Cappellett) (5-67-2:26) 14-7             
3 11:59  69 Bos  TD Taliaferro 34 pass to Sellers (Cappellett) (3-45-1:40) 21-7             
3  7:30  69 Bos  FG Cappelletti 19 (5-46-2:18)                             24-7             
3  0:00  61 Oak  FG Fleming 30 (13-51-7:19)                                24-10            
4 12:17  61 Oak  TD Flores 19 pass to Coolbaugh (Fleming) (2-15-0:53)      24-17            
4  7:01  69 Bos  TD Garrett 9 run (Cappellett) (8-68-5:07)                 31-17            
4  1:30  61 Oak  TD Flores 16 pass to Smith (Fleming) (15-85-5:25)         31-24

'Da Raidas took just 6 plays to go 96 yards on their opening drive.  Tom Flores flipped the ball to Miller in the flat and watched the defense breakdown on a 72 yard play.  Crow would run it in from the 4 to give Oakland a 7-0 lead.  The Pats would then run off 24 unanswered points and look to put the game away, but their cautious play calling almost came back to bite them as Oakland rallied back to make it 24-17.  Carl Garrett's 9 yard run with 7 minutes left to play put the Pats back up by 2 TD's.  Boston once again was content to play conservatively.  With 1:30 left Tom Flores hit Smith for a 16 yard TD toss to make it a 7 point game.  The Pats recovered the ensuing onside kick, but had to punt.  Oakland had one last chance, but Flores, who had the ball on his own 15 threw an INT and the Patriots were able to run out the clock.  Patriots wide out Ron Seller s caught 4 balls for 131 yards and 2 TD's.  RB Jim Nance (20-99, 5.0ypc) was one yard shy of 100 on the ground.  Mike Taliaferro (10-17, 229, 2TD) had another outstanding game.  Tom Flores, who was playing from behind most of the day, was rock solid.  He distributed the ball to 8 different receivers.  The injury bug hit the Pats hard.  Jacobs and Outlaw are both out for 4 weeks and Witt is gone for 6.

WEEK #2 - Vikes and Jints settle for a 17-17 tie

In a battle of halves, Minnesota traveled to New York to meet the Giants. The Giants took the

opening Kickoff 62 yards for an early 7-0 lead as Tittle hit TE Aaron Thomas for the score. The Vikings then took their opening kickoff 101 yards but the TD was called back due to a holding call. The Giants jumped out to a 17-0 lead and held Minnesota to only 66 yards total offense until late in the 1st half when Joe Kapp drove the Vikings 51 yards down the field capped off by a Cox FG to go into half time trailing 17-3. Minnesota took the 2nd half KO 87 yards for the TD to bring the score to 17-10. Minnesota added another TD in the 4th to tie the game at 17. The Vikings defense held Tittle and the Giants to 60 yards and scoreless in the 2nd half. Minnesota was able to put together another late drive in the 4th. Moving the ball to the NY 8 yard line setting up Cox for a 15 yard FG with 0:03 left in the game. Unable to match the performance of last week, he missed the chip shot as time expired as the game ended in a 17-17 tie.

Week # 1 In Review

WEEK #1 - Completed 2/26/16

61 Oakland 10 69 Buffalo 38 - Blog Post
65 Denver 24 69 Miami 28  - Blog Post
64 New York (N) 12 69 Chicago 7 - Blog Post
61 Los Angeles 26 64 San Fran 21 - Blog Post
66 Houston 21 69 Boston 41 - Blog Post
63 Dallas 10 67 Minnesota 13 - Blog Post

WEEK #1 - Leaders

  AFL                W  L  T   Pct Pts  Ave Opp  Ave  Diff     Home      Div      Conf    Internet
  69 Buffalo         1  0  0 1.000  38 38.0  10 10.0  28.0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0
  69 Miami           1  0  0 1.000  28 28.0  24 24.0   4.0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0
  69 Boston          1  0  0 1.000  41 41.0  21 21.0  20.0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0
  61 Oakland         0  1  0  .000  10 10.0  38 38.0 -28.0   0  0  0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0
  65 Denver          0  1  0  .000  24 24.0  28 28.0  -4.0   0  0  0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0
  66 Houston         0  1  0  .000  21 21.0  41 41.0 -20.0   0  0  0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0

  NFL                W  L  T   Pct Pts  Ave Opp  Ave  Diff     Home      Div      Conf    Internet
  61 Los Angeles     1  0  0 1.000  26 26.0  21 21.0   5.0   0  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0
  64 New York (N)    1  0  0 1.000  12 12.0   7  7.0   5.0   0  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0
  67 Minnesota       1  0  0 1.000  13 13.0  10 10.0   3.0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  0
  63 Dallas          0  1  0  .000  10 10.0  13 13.0  -3.0   0  0  0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0
  64 San Fran        0  1  0  .000  21 21.0  26 26.0  -5.0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0
  69 Chicago         0  1  0  .000   7  7.0  12 12.0  -5.0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0   0  1  0

FINAL WEEK #1 GAME - '69 BUF 38, '61 OAK 10

Friday Night Football was on tap at War Memorial Stadium as the Buffalo Bills opened up their season with a 38-10 pounding of the Oakland Raiders. The Bills offense opened up early and often, scoring on each of their drives in the first half of the game. Big plays and penalties hurt a Raiders defense that was kept constantly off-balance. To their credit, the Raiders fought until the very end and their defense held the Bills scoreless in the second half of the game. However, the Bills defense remained stingy throughout, sacking Tom Flores 5 times and giving up only a dime and no quarter to the Raiders offensive efforts. The two teams will meet again later in the year and it is certain that Coach Pryweller will have the Candlestick on fire for the rematch at home.

Stat Note:  Wayne Patrick was an incredible 7-124 (17.7ypc) with 2 TD's and a big 79 yard ramble.

--submitted by Mohammad Hadi-Abdullah--

WEEK #1 - '69 MIA 28, '65 DEN 24

It was a warm, muggy, rainy night in South Florida as the Broncos came to town.  Denver opened the scoring near the end of the 1st quarter with a 10 play 67 yard drive culminating in a 5 yard Cookie Gilchrist scamper for 6.  Miami stormed right back down the field with Bob Griese hitting Larry Seiple from 21 yards out to tie the score at 7-7.  Denver scored a TD from Jacky Lee to Lionel Taylor but Miami struck right back again with Griese finding Jack Clancy for a 43 yard score.  14-14 at the Half.  Denver would strike first in the 2nd half with Gilchrist going in again from 4 yards.  Near the end of the 3rd quarter with Denver up 21-14, the Denver defense forces a punt by Miami on 4th down and 4.  The punt is caught by Odell Barry and taken back for a TD........but wait there is a flag down.  Denver was offside, not only costing the Broncos 6 but giving Miami a first down.  Miami cannot capitalize however because of a missed FG.   Denver drives down the field and makes it two score game with a 20 yard FG.  Miami will not lay down though and Griese hits Seiple for the 2nd time, this one from 24 yards, to cut the lead to 24-21.  The Dolphins are able to force a quick 3 and out and get the ball back with 2:14 left on the clock.  The Dolphins get a Pass Interference call to give them a first down and on the next play Griese hits Clancy for a 43 yard score to put the Fins up 28-24.  There is still 1:34 left on the clock though.  Denver quickly drives to the Miami 15 with passes to Taylor and Haynes.  Lee hits Haynes on 3rd down taking the Broncos to the 8 yard line with 24 seconds left but he is a couple yards short of the 1st.  4th and 2 from the 8 Lee drops back and throws a slant to Taylor but it falls incomplete and the Dolphins win. Griese ends the game with 280 yards and 4 TD passes to get the MVP.  Great game called by Cela.

--submitted by Andy Sexton--

WEEK #1 - '64-NYG 12, '69-CHI 7

Defensive battle as the teams combine for just 438 yards.  The Bears score the only TD on a short 1 yard pass from Concannon to Gordon, but the Giants kick four short FGs  (15,27,11, and 19). Frank Gifford snagged 5 passes for 105 yards and Andy Stynchula recorded 5 sacks for the Giants!  Not much went right for the Bears as Sayers was held to just 32 yards on 12 carriers; Concannon went 14 of 22 for 110 yards with one TD and on defense Joe Taylor picked Tittle off twice.

WEEK # 1 - '61 Rams 26, '64 49ers 21

"I think San Francisco has the worst kicker in the history of professional Football" - (Charlie Pester).  That about sums up the performance, if you can call it that, by Tommy Davis the 49ers K/P guy.  He was a perfect 30-30 on XP's, but he only hit 32% of this FG's, which can really affect the team in a close game like this one.  San Fran had a early 14-6 lead, but the Rams dominated the '9ers in the second half (20-7).  The '9ers scored late on a 66 yard TD strike from John Brodie to Stickles with :19 left on the clock.  Brodie (20-30, 323, 3TD, 1INT) had the numbers of a game winning QB, but that was not to be the case.  Zeke Bratkowski (13-25, 229, 1TD) was the efficient winner.  181 of those yards were thrown to Carroll Dale, who caught 6 passes (1TD) for an average of over 30 a grab.

WEEK #1 - '69 Patriots 41, '66 Oilers 21

'69 Patriots 41, '66 Oilers 21
Alumni Stadium - Boston

Don't let the final score fool you one bit.  This was a back and forth see saw battle until late in the fourth quarter when the Pats got all the breaks including a fumble recovery and a near pick 6.  Mike Taliaferro (9-10, 225) tossed 3 TD's and only threw one pick as the Pats were content to grind the ball out on the ground.  Carl Garrett (12-89) averaged 7.4 yards per carry.  The Pats ran the ball 39 times for 171 yards.  Sellers, Frazier and Whalen each had a TD grab.  Rademacher caught 4 for 112.  The Oilers started 'ole George Blanda (13-30, 198, 2TD, 2INT), but replaced him with Trull.  They were very effective running the ball, but only ran it 28 times.

WEEK #1 - MIN 13, DAL 10

In a divisional match-up the Dallas Cowboys travel to face the Minnesota Vikings. The game started out with a series of errors as Dallas fumbled the opening kickoff on their own 37. Minnesota drove to the 20 but Fred Cox missed a 20 yd. attempt. Dallas got the ball back only to fumble again on their own 37. The officials asked Minnesota to remove the trip wire from the 37 yard line. Minnesota then drove down only to throw a pick in the end zone. Dallas moved the ball down field and added a 23 yd. Baker FG to take an early 3-0 lead. Late in the 2nd quarter Minn. added a 31 yd FG to tie the game a 3-3. Dallas was not done yet as Dandy Don hit Billy Howton with 26 seconds left in the half to pull ahead 10-3. The 2nd half saw Minnesota take the opening KO and hold the ball for almost 8 minutes driving 63 yards and Dave Osborn punching it through from the 2 to tie the game at 10. The score remained tied until late in the 4th. The Viking Defense held Dallas scoreless in the 2nd half and stopped Dallas on their last drive forcing them to punt. Minnesota took over on their own 14 with 1:02 on the clock. Most of the fans began to leave expecting a tie but Joe Kapp hit Gene Washington for 81 yards before finally being stopped at the Dallas 5. Minnesota called a time out with 39 seconds left. They ran one more play before calling a timeout with 3 seconds left. Fred Cox hit the 12 FG with no time left for the win. Thanks to Douglas for a well coached, great game.

--submitted by Marvin Sik--

PRESEASON GAME - 64-SF 28, 69-BOS 24

San Fran 28, Boston 24

Keezar Stadium

The ‘9ers drove 78 yard in 4 plays to score the go ahead touchdown with 1:16 left to play.  Most of the yardage was eaten up with a 56 yard TD strike from John Brodie to Bernie Casey.  Brodie hit Parks for a 47 yard strike to start the scoring and a 21 yarder to Les Stickles as well.  At one point the 9ers were up 14-0 when Alexander returned a punt 85 yards to paydirt.  Boston rallied back as Mike Taliaferro hit Sellers and Nance for TD strikes.  Gino Cappelletti's 26 yard FG looked to be the game winner, until Casey caught the 56 yarder.

PRESEASON GAME - Boston 31, Dallas 19

Boston 31, Dallas 19

Alumni Stadium

Dallas go on the board first with a 15 yard FG from Baker to culminate a 10 play / 52 yard drive.  The Pats posted the next 3 scores with a pair of TD runs from Carl Garrett (7yd) and Jim Nance (1yd) plus a 18 yard TD toss from Taliaferro to Bill Rademacher.  Just before the end of the half Dallas made it 21-10 with a 5 yard run from Marsh.  The Cowboys added 10 more points to make it 21-19 midway through the 4th.  A missed 2 point conversion prevented the tie.  The Pats, who enjoyed good field position all day, went up 28-19 on a 22 yard aerial strike to Ron Sellers.  Needing two scores Dandy Don Meredith was forced to the air and a pick by John Charles with 4:50 left in the game pretty much sealed Dallas' fate.  A Geno Cappelletti 25 yard FG made it 31-19, which is how it ended.

STATS: Dandy Don threw for more yards (266 to 127) than Mike Taliaferro, but the latter had 2 TD tosses with no picks, while the former had 1 TD and 2 picks.  Dallas TE Lee Folkins (6-105-TD) had a great day.  Boston's two headed rushing attack combined for 160 yards and 2 scores.  Car Garrett (14-87) and Jim Nance (14-73) were virtually unstoppable.  Houston Antwine had 2 sacks of Merredith.

PRESEASON GAME - Purple People Eaters defeat Broncs

Minnesota jumped out to an early 14-0 lead but Denver comes back before the end of the half to cut the lead to 14-7. 3rd Qtr. was scoreless but a couple FG's in the 4th sealed the win. Thanks to Cela for a hard fought game.  The star of the game was the Defense, 5 sacks and 2 interceptions kept the Denver offense in check. Joe Kapp was the game MVP but Alan Page registered 3 of the 5 sacks including two late game sacks.

PRESEASON - 1961 Rams 21, 1961 Raiders 14

The Rams took full advantage of Tom Flores' INT's (2) to jump out to a 21-0 lead, which they held until the 4th quarter.  Flores found his touch and threw a pair of 30+ yard TD passes late in the 4th quarter to make the game look much closer than it truly was.  Dick Bass scored LA's first two TD's with a pair of nice red zone runs (8 and 7 yards).  LA's swarming defense sacked Flores 8 times and hurried him into INT's all day.  Bob Coolbaugh caught 4 passes for 118 yards.  Bass had 47 yards (2 TD's) on just 4 carries.  Rookie David "Deacon" Jones had 3 sacks and 2 near sacks of Flores.  The Raiders never found an answer for the 23 year old pass rushing phenom.

Worst of the 1960's NFL

If a picture tells a thousand words, this iconic photo of Y.A. Tittle sums up the true essence of bad football.  After dominating the NFL for almost a decade the New York Football Giants became ancient overnight.  After narrowly losing the championship game by 4 points the previous year the Giants bottomed out in 1964.  Tittle, who was the NFL's MVP the previous season was battered and bruised the following year.  Both he and future HOF pal Frank Gifford hung up their cleats and retired from the game rather than endure more pain and embarrassment.

The KOG will feature many teams with similar stories.  Some will be young teams trying to find their way, like the '63 Cowboys or the '68 Dolphins.  Others will feature teams mirered in a long spell of mediocrity like the '69 Bears or the '69 Patriots.

Along the way we'll see Al-Pro players and future HOF'ers at various stages of their careers.  We'll see the great Gayle Sayers in his prime fully recovered from a knee injury...not knowing another injury was going to come his way and end his meteoric career.  The '69 Bills feature a 22 year old O.J. Simpson trying to live up to his Heismann reputation with a Bills team that was destined to lose double digits and 3 years away from their hey day.

Whatever the case, these teams were flat out awful...but against each other a handful of them just might be pretty darn good.  In any case it will be a lot of fun trying to see how each coach can maximize each team's strength and minimize their weaknesses.

Let the games begin !!!