Sunday, Sept. 26
War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo
Bills 33, Jets 21

By Anthony Holden
CBS SportsLine Historian
The most celebrated player in the history of the AFL, Joe Namath, made his pro starting debut on a gloriously sunny day at the old Rockpile in downtown Buffalo.

But the $400,000 rookie with the wobbly knees and the rocket arm paid a healthy sum of dues against the vicious defense of the defending champion Bills.

Veteran QB Jack Kemp led the Bills to victory over the Jets. (AP)

Namath completed 19 of 40 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, but he was no match for a stout Buffalo team that was led by veteran quarterback Jack Kemp, who was clearly enthralled by the challenge of playing Namath.

"Kemp was tremendous," Jets coach Weeb Ewbank said of the Bills quarterback opting not to glow over Namath's opening performance. "If Kemp were my quarterback, we'd never run."

Kemp completed 22 of 37 for 292 yards with no interceptions, one touchdown pass and one touchdown run.

"It was inconsequential," he said of his matchup against Namath. "But I was getting a little tired watching our guys pick up Namath after they had knocked him down. I told them none of their guys picked me up."

The Bills' defenders, the best group in the league, sacked Namath three times despite the absence of all-star defensive tackle Tom Sestak.

"He's going to be one of the greats, no question about it," said defensive end Tom Day, who picked off a deflected Namath pass to set up a fourth-quarter field goal that helped put the game away. "To me he's worth the $400,000. There are a lot of clubs in the league that would like to have him. I'm going to hate to see him when we get to Shea Stadium, he'll be well-seasoned by then."

Namath's debut was overshadowed by Buffalo's loss of star wide receiver Elbert Dubenion for the season due to a knee injury. Sadly, this injury robbed Dubenion of his legendary speed and he was never the same player who had thrilled Bills fans during his first five years in the league.

The Bills jumped to a 13-0 lead on Kemp's four-yard touchdown run and a pair of Pete Gogolak field goals. But the Jets rallied to within 13-10 by halftime. In the third quarter, Kemp completed 13 of 17 passes for 131 yards and led the Bills to 10 points as he fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dubenion and Gogolak kicked a 27-yard field goal.

Day's interception early in the fourth set up Gogolak's fourth field goal as the drive ended when Kemp was stopped short of a first down on a keeper, and was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

The Jets went 69 yards for a touchdown as Namath hit Del Mackey from nine yards out, then passed to Mackey for the two-point conversion, and when Jim Turner kicked a 23-yard field goal, New York was within 26-21 with 4:16 left to play.

Needing a big offensive series to put the game away, the Bills got it as backup quarterback Daryle Lamonica led a long march that ended when Wray Carlton bulled over from the 1 with 11 seconds left. Billy Joe, whom the Bills had acquired in a trade for Cookie Gilchrist before the season, had runs of 19 and 12 yards along the way.

"I told you before the game this was going to be a hell of a ballgame," said Bills coach Lou Saban. "We're the champions and every game is going to be like this (hard-hitting). I want to commend the quarterbacks. Daryle had to go in when Jack got hurt and he did an excellent job. Daryle made several excellent calls in crucial situations."