Editor’s Note: The games for the Legends of the American Football League simulation are played on computer with Action! PC Football. The contests are played with the “coaching” by a human as well as computer simulation. One season per franchise was selected for league play with the 10 teams that merged with the National Football League competing for the championship. Stories from the action will appear on Press Room Pass each Sunday until the completion of the 14-week regular season and playoffs.
There were a lot of surprises during the 10th week of the Legends of the American Football League season.
Perhaps the biggest shocker was the Denver Broncos coming back to win 28-21 in San Diego over the previously unbeaten Chargers.
Denver is now 3-7 on the season as the Chargers fall to 9-1 with three games left to play in the final four weeks.
Despite the loss, San Diego clinched the West Division title as the Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-20 with three touchdowns in the final stanza. The Raiders and Chiefs are tied for second with 5-5 marks.
Trailing by two touchdowns at the intermission, Denver’s defense held the high-powered Chargers scoreless in the second half as the Broncos offense came to life in the fourth quarter.
Early in the third period, Bob Zeman picked off a pass by Chargers quarterback Tobin Rote and raced 39 yards for a touchdown to cut Denver’s deficit to 21-14 after the extra point by kicker Jim Fraser.
Although the play seemed to jumpstart Denver’s offense, the Broncos couldn’t find the end zone until Frank Tripucka tossed an 8-yard score to Lionel Taylor to tie the affair at 21-21.
Tripucka capped the winning 13-play, 77-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Bo Dickinson with 2:39 remaining. The Broncos had the ball for 7:19 when Dickinson caught the 14-yard scoring stike.
Chargers Build Early Lead
San Diego had its fans excited as the Chargers scored on their opening possession of the game as Gerry McDougall had an 8-yard run.
Also in the first quarter, Tripucka threw a 23-yard pass to Bob Scarpitto to tie the game at the initial stop.
The San Diego offense to a 21-7 advantage by halftime as the quarterback had a pair of long passes for touchdowns.
Rote hooked up with Lance Alworth from 34 yards and the Jerry Robinson from 43 that turned out to be the last score for the Chargers.
62 Denver 28, 63 San Diego 21
Scoring Summary
1 8:24 63 San Diego TD McDougall 8 run (Blair) (9-82-6:29) 0-7
1 1:29 62 Denver TD Tripucka 23 pass to Scarpitto (Fraser) (12-75-6:47) 7-7
2 13:58 63 San Diego TD Rote 34 pass to Alworth (Blair) (6-68-2:17) 7-14
2 2:06 63 San Diego TD Rote 43 pass to Robinson (Blair) (9-96-6:20) 7-21
3 9:06 62 Denver TD Zeman 39 interception return (Fraser) 14-21
4 14:02 62 Denver TD Tripucka 8 pass to Taylor (Fraser) (10-61-6:30) 21-21
4 2:39 62 Denver TD Tripucka 14 pass to Dickinson (Fraser) (13-77-7:19) 28-21
Passing
Den: Tripucka 36/25 281 Yds 3 TDs
SD: Rote 24/13 236 Yds 2 TDs 2 Int
Rushing
Den: Stone 9/32, Mingo 3/14, Dickinson 4/9, Olszewski 4/1
SD: Lowe 10/56, Lincoln 14/49, McDougall 1/8 TD
Receiving
Den: Scarpitto 7/119 TD, Taylor 7/67 TD, Dickinson 5/50 TD, Prebola 3/23, Stone 2/14
SD: Alworth 5/102 TD, Lowe 2/16, MacKinnon 2/25, Robinson 2/55 TD, Kocourek 1/21
Defense
Den: Zeman Int(TD) 5-Tk, Cash Sk 4-Tk, McGeever 8-Tk, McMillin FF 5-Tk
SD: Harris FF 8-Tk, Petrich Sk 4-Tk, Mitinger 8-Tk, Faison Sk 3-Tk
Here’s a look at the rest of the week 10 box scores
64 Boston 38, 68 New York 31
Scoring Summary
1 7:47 64 Boston FG Cappelletti 44 (15-71-6:37) 3-0
2 8:44 64 Boston TD Garrett 1 run (Cappellett) (6-15-2:44) 10-0
2 8:30 68 New York TD Turner 82 kick return (Turner,J) 10-7
2 2:55 68 New York TD Namath 18 pass to Sauer (Turner,J) (6-77-3:24) 10-14
2 0:12 68 New York FG Turner 51 (7-37-1:38) 10-17
3 7:27 64 Boston TD Parilli 9 pass to Cappelletti (Cappellett) (11-68-5:45 17-17
3 2:18 64 Boston TD Parilli 35 pass to Cappelletti (Cappellett) (9-54-3:10 24-17
3 0:13 68 New York TD Namath 37 pass to Maynard (Turner,J) (3-49-1:49) 24-24
4 10:16 64 Boston TD Parilli 4 pass to Garrett (Cappellett) (9-39-3:44) 31-24
4 7:31 68 New York TD Boozer 37 run (Turner,J) (5-72-2:34) 31-31
4 1:16 64 Boston TD Parilli 57 pass to Garron (Cappellett) (3-57-0:30) 38-31
Passing
Bos: Parilli 42/16 289 Yds 4 TDs
NYA: Namath 28/15 270 Yds 2 TDs 2 Int
Rushing
Bos: Garron 14/38, Garrett 11/34 TD, Burton 4/25, Yewcic 2/12
NYA: Boozer 13/60 TD, Snell 9/9
Receiving
Bos: Graham 6/92, Cappelletti 4/96 2 TDs, Garron 3/79 TD, Garrett 2/11 TD, Burton 1/11
NYA: Maynard 7/135 TD, Sauer 5/105 TD, Snell 2/22, Boozer 1/8
Defense
Bos: Addison 2-Int Tk, O’Hanley 8-Tk
NYA: Elliott 2-Sks 5-Tk, Atkinson Sk 6-Tk, Beverly 11-Tk, Rochester FF 5-Tk
60 Houston 56, 68 Miami 31
Scoring Summary
1 9:37 60 Houston TD Smith 4 run (Blanda) (9-63-5:11) 7-0
1 5:14 60 Houston TD Tolar 11 run (Blanda) (4-51-2:37) 14-0
2 14:44 60 Houston TD Blanda 45 pass to Carson (Blanda) (3-45-0:47) 21-0
2 9:39 60 Houston TD Blanda 78 pass to Hennigan (Blanda) (1-78-0:23) 28-0
2 6:52 60 Houston TD Blanda 16 pass to Hennigan (Blanda) (3-16-0:18) 35-0
2 3:49 68 Miami TD Griese 40 pass to Twilley (Keyes) (4-76-2:50) 35-7
2 0:50 60 Houston TD Blanda 7 pass to Groman (Blanda) (7-58-2:44) 42-7
3 10:05 68 Miami TD Kiick 1 run (Keyes) (10-80-4:55) 42-14
3 7:06 60 Houston TD Blanda 14 pass to Hennigan (Blanda) (7-63-2:48) 49-14
3 1:32 68 Miami FG Keyes 32 (12-69-5:22) 49-17
4 7:17 68 Miami TD Griese 23 pass to Twilley (Keyes) (9-69-6:08) 49-24
4 5:09 60 Houston TD Tolar 5 run (Blanda) (4-43-2:00) 56-24
4 1:06 68 Miami TD Griese 8 pass to Noonan (Keyes) (9-59-2:41) 56-31
Passing
Hou: Blanda 26/13 321 Yds 5 TDs
Mia: Griese 36/23 313 Yds 3 TDs Int
Rushing
Hou: Tolar 9/77 2 TDs, Cannon 5/33, Smith 5/28 TD, Blanda 3/1
Mia: Csonka 10/38, Griese 4/32, Kiick 9/29 TD
Receiving
Hou: Hennigan 5/150 3 TDs, Carson 4/87 TD, Groman 4/84 TD
Mia: Noonan 9/93 TD, Kiick 5/46, Twilley 5/107 2 TDs, Moreau 3/58, Csonka 1/9
Defense
Hou: Morris 2-Sks 5-Tk, Helluin Sk FF 2-Tk, Pitts Sk 4-Tk, Kendall Int 3-Tk
Mia: NA
67 Oakland 28, 69 Kansas City 20
Scoring Summary
1 9:22 69 Kansas City TD Livingston 23 pass to Taylor (Stenerud) (1-23-0:13) 7-0
1 1:30 69 Kansas City FG Stenerud 39 (4-4-1:08) 10-0
2 1:56 67 Oakland TD Dixon 8 run (Blanda) (13-87-5:56) 10-7
3 7:27 69 Kansas City FG Stenerud 34 (4-7-1:40) 13-7
3 3:10 69 Kansas City TD Garrett 1 run (Stenerud) (6-22-4:00) 20-7
4 11:56 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 20 pass to Cannon (Blanda) (11-84-6:02) 20-14
4 3:01 67 Oakland TD Banaszak 4 run (Blanda) (6-73-1:29) 20-21
4 1:31 67 Oakland TD Lamonica 5 pass to Banaszak (Blanda) (6-23-1:22) 20-28
Passing
KC: Livingston 23/8 93 Yds TD Int
Oak: Lamonica 33/18 230 Yds 2 TDs 3 Int
Rushing
KC: Garrett 12/57 TD, Holmes 13/47
Oak: Todd 12/45, Dixon 15/41 TD, Banaszak 5/20 TD, Lamonica 5/10
Receiving
KC: Garrett 3/24, Holmes 2/11, Taylor 1/23 TD, Arbanas 1/21, Pitts 1/14
Oak: Dixon 8/87, Cannon 3/49 TD, Banaszak 3/28 TD, Biletnikoff 2/40, Miller 1/16
Defense
KC: Lynch Int 13-Tk, Lanier 12-Tk, Brown FF 7-Tk, Bell 9-Tk, Buchanan Sk 3-Tk
Oak: Lassiter 2-Sks 5-Tk, Otto FF 6-Tk, Williamson FF 5-Tk
Injuries
KC: Dawson OUT
Legends of the AFL Standings
East Division
1968 New York Jets (7-3)
1960 Houston Oilers (7-3)
1964 Boston Patriots (7-3)
1964 Buffalo Bills (5-4)
1968 Miami Dolphins (1-9)
West Division
1963 San Diego Chargers (9-1)
1969 Kansas City Chiefs (5-5)
1967 Oakland Raiders (5-5)
1962 Denver Broncos (3-7)
1969 Cincinnati Bengals (0-9)
Week 11 Schedule
64 Buffalo @ 68 New York
64 Boston @ 60 Houston
69 Cincinnati @ 63 San Diego
62 Denver @ 69 Kansas City
67 Oakland, 68 Miami, bye week
Week 10 Results
64 Boston 38, 68 New York 31
60 Houston 56, 68 Miami 31
62 Denver 28, 63 San Diego 21
67 Oakland 28, 69 Kansas City 20
64 Buffalo, 69 Cincinnati, bye week