# 1963 Boston Patriots season

The 1963 Boston Patriots season was the franchise's 4th season in the American Football League.
In their first season at Fenway Park, switching from Nickerson Field, the Patriots hovered around the .500 mark all season, and were in position to win the Eastern Division title outright with a victory on their final game. The 35–3 road loss to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs allowed the Buffalo Bills catch up and both finished at 7–6–1, which required a divisional playoff game, the AFL's first. Both teams had a bye the following week, postponed from the Sunday after the assassination of President Kennedy; the tiebreaker playoff was scheduled for Saturday, December 28, at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. The teams split their two games during the regular season, with the home team winning, and the host Bills were slight favorites.
The visiting Patriots won the playoff game 26–8 on a snowy field, with quarterback Babe Parilli throwing two touchdown passes to fullback Larry Garron, and four field goals were added by end Gino Cappelletti. With the win, Boston became Eastern Division champions, while the Western champion San Diego Chargers (11–3) were idle. The AFL championship game was played the next week in southern California on January 5, where San Diego routed the Patriots 51–10 at Balboa Stadium.
This was Boston's only postseason appearance during the AFL's ten years; the Patriots' next playoff game was in 1976 (as a wild card) and the next division title came in 1978.

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 8 | New York Jets | W 38–14 | 1–0 | Alumni Stadium | 24,120 | Recap |
| 2 | September 14 | at San Diego Chargers | L 13–17 | 1–1 | Balboa Stadium | 26,097 | Recap |
| 3 | September 22 | at Oakland Raiders | W 20–14 | 2–1 | Frank Youell Field | 17,131 | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | at Denver Broncos | L 10–14 | 2–2 | Bears Stadium | 18,636 | Recap |
| 5 | October 5 | at New York Jets | L 24–31 | 2–3 | Polo Grounds | 16,769 | Recap |
| 6 | October 11 | Oakland Raiders | W 20–14 | 3–3 | Fenway Park | 26,494 | Recap |
| 7 | October 18 | Denver Broncos | W 40–21 | 4–3 | Fenway Park | 25,418 | Recap |
| 8 | October 26 | at Buffalo Bills | L 21–28 | 4–4 | War Memorial Stadium | 29,243 | Recap |
| 9 | November 1 | Houston Oilers | W 45–3 | 5–4 | Fenway Park | 31,185 | Recap |
| 10 | November 10 | San Diego Chargers | L 6–7 | 5–5 | Fenway Park | 28,402 | Recap |
| 11 | November 17 | Kansas City Chiefs | T 24–24 | 5–5–1 | Fenway Park | 17,200 | Recap |
| | November 24 | AFL games postponed to December 22 | AFL games postponed to December 22 | AFL games postponed to December 22 | AFL games postponed to December 22 | AFL games postponed to December 22 | AFL games postponed to December 22 |
| 12 | December 1 | Buffalo Bills | W 17–7 | 6–5–1 | Fenway Park | 16,981 | Recap |
| 13 | December 7 | at Houston Oilers | W 46–28 | 7–5–1 | Jeppesen Stadium | 23,462 | Recap |
| 14 | December 14 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 3–35 | 7–6–1 | Municipal Stadium | 12,598 | Recap |
| 15 | December 22 | Bye week, (originally December 1) | Bye week, (originally December 1) | Bye week, (originally December 1) | Bye week, (originally December 1) | Bye week, (originally December 1) | Bye week, (originally December 1) |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

## Standings

AFL Eastern Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Boston Patriots | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 4–2 | 327 | 257 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 3–3 | 304 | 291 | W2 |
| Houston Oilers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 3–3 | 302 | 372 | L4 |
| New York Jets | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 2–4 | 249 | 399 | L3 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance | Game recap |
| Division | December 28 | at Buffalo Bills | W 26–8 | War Memorial Stadium | 33,044 | Recap |
| Championship | January 5, 1964 | at San Diego Chargers | L 10–51 | Balboa Stadium | 30,127 | Recap |