By Anthony Holden
CBS SportsLine Historian

During the first four years of its existence, the AFL had become known as a wide-open, offensive-minded freak show. Teams such as the 1961 Oilers who scored a pro football record 513 points and the 1963 Chargers who scored 399 with a remarkable array of talent did most of the winning as defenses struggled mightily to catch up.

Buffalo defensive tackle Ron McDole anchored the league's best unit. (AP)

But in 1964, things began to change thanks to the Buffalo Bills. Lou Saban had begun turning this team around when he came to town in 1962, and after the disappointing playoff loss to Boston in 1963, the Bills were primed to grab the AFL by its throat and literally strangle it in 1964.

The Bills set a pro football record by allowing just 913 yards rushing, an average of 65 per game. They led the AFL in points allowed (242), first downs allowed (206), sacks (50) and interceptions (34).

"They were a good, smart defense," said Boston's Gino Cappelletti. "They were systemized. They always had people in the right positions."

The Bills had a dominating defensive line that included ends Ron McDole and Tom Day and tackles Tom Sestak and Jim Dunaway. Mike Stratton and Harry Jacobs keyed the linebacking corps, cornerbacks Butch Byrd and Booker Edgerson were marvelous man-to-man cover guys and safety George Saimes could lay the wood whenever someone got loose in the secondary.

The Bills were also the first AFL team that excelled on offense without filling the air with footballs. They relied on the bruising running style of 250-pound fullback Cookie Gilchrist behind a powerful offensive line guided by Billy Shaw, Al Bemiller and Stew Barber, the intellectual quarterbacking of Jack Kemp and the big-play capability of receiver Elbert Dubenion. Despite this grinding style, the Bills still led the league with 400 points.

Buffalo won its first nine games of the season before a 36-28 loss to Boston. In that game, the season nearly came unglued when Gilchrist created a major flap by refusing to go back into the game when ordered by Saban. Two days after the game, Saban cut Gilchrist for the insubordination, and only after his players pleaded with him to reconsider did Saban take Gilchrist back.

A 24-14 winner-take-all victory in a Fenway Park snowstorm gave the Bills their first division crown and a spot opposite San Diego in the championship game.

Boston went 10-3-1 thanks mainly to a superb season by Babe Parilli who led the league with 3,465 yards passing and 31 TD passes.

In New York, the Jets moved into Shea Stadium and their game with Buffalo drew an AFL record crowd of 60,300. In the final year pre-Joe Namath, the Jets went 5-8-1 as rookie Matt Snell gained 948 yards rushing and caught 56 passes for another 393 yards.

The Oilers, the league's best team during its first three years, fell on hard times with a last-place 4-10 record as George Blanda's age began to show in 27 interceptions. Despite the losing, receiver Charley Hennigan set a pro football record with 101 receptions for a league-high 1,546 yards.

In the West, San Diego won the division for the fourth time in five years, but with an 8-5-1 record, it was not an easy task. The team that had been so fabulous in winning the 1963 title struggled to match those heights. John Hadl took over the primary quarterbacking duties from Tobin Rote and fired 18 TD passes, but the running game struggled all year as Keith Lincoln and Paul Lowe never really got on track.

Unlike 1963 when the offense was a machine, the Chargers turned to their defense to make the big plays as Ernie Ladd and Earl Faison devoured opposing ballcarriers and quarterbacks and safety Dick Westmoreland intercepted six passes.

Kansas City began the year 2-4 and fought back into contention, but by the time they demolished San Diego, 49-6, in Week 13, it was too late to overtake the Chargers. The Chiefs finished a disappointing 7-7 despite Len Dawson's 30 touchdown passes and league-best 56 percent completion rate.

Oakland's turnaround stalled as the Raiders lost their first five games and finished 5-7-2. Art Powell had another great year with 76 catches for 1,361 yards and 11 touchdowns, but the defense allowed 350 points and had a league-low 26 interceptions.

In Denver, the nightmares continued as a second straight 2-11-1 season saw the Broncos yield 438 points while the offense scored only 240, both worst in the league.