On Monday, November 2nd, 1964, the country was talking about Lyndon Baines Johnson and Barry Goldwater, as the upcoming presidential election was just one day away. The NFL world was talking about Jim Brown, who a day earlier had become the first player to rush for 10,000 yards, and the Baltimore Colts, who had just won their 7th straight game. Fans of the AFL were talking about the Buffalo Bills, who had won yet again to bring their 1964 record to a perfect 8-0.

But if you look closely, there was some attention being paid to old George Blanda, the Houston Oilers quarterback who set a new pro football record by throwing 68 passes in a losing effort against those Bills. You might be wondering how did a 37-year-old quarterback in 1964 get away with throwing 68 passes? At the time, the single-game record by pass attempts by a team or player was 60, set by Davey O’Brien with the Philadelphia Eagles back in 1940. In the ensuing 23-and-a-half seasons, no team had hit 60 pass attempts again, and then Blanda and the Oilers threw 68 times on November 1st, 1964. In the next 24 seasons, no quarterback threw more than 62 passes in a game.

So, what happened on November 1st 1964 in western New York?

Let’s begin with the opponent. Blanda had a lot of success against the Bills in 1963: in two wins, he completed 30 of 56 passes for 475 yards with 6 TDs and 1 interception, back when those numbers were truly outstanding.

But by 1964, things were different: the Bills routed the Oilers, 48-17, in an October matchup in Houston. Buffalo had a remarkable defense, highlighted by an outstanding rush defense. Led by tackle Tom Sestak (a finalist on the NFL’s All-Century team) and linebacker Mike Stratton (a three-time first-team All-Pro linebacker), Buffalo’s run defense was about to become legendary.

• We didn’t know it at the time, but Buffalo was just beginning a 17-game streak without allowing a rushing touchdown.  This game against the Oilers was just the second in that streak. How impressive is 17 straight games without allowing a rushing touchdown? Not only did it set a new record, but it remains today the longest streak in pro football history without allowing an opposing rushing touchdown.
• This Buffalo run defense did not allow a 100-yard rusher in the last 4 games of the 1963 season, and would go the entire 1964 season (15 games) without allowing one, either. The Bills would continue that streak for all 15 games in 1965, and the streak would wind up running for 35 games, including three playoff games. That also was a record for the time.
• The game against Houston would not be an outlier: the Oilers running backs finished the day with 35 rushing yards on 21 carries.

To make matters worse for the Oilers, the Bills had a great offense, too: Buffalo would finish the season leading the AFL in both points and yards, Jack Kemp led the league in yards per attempt, Elbert Dubenion was a remarkable deep threat (1,139 yards on a 27.1 yards per reception average), and TE Ernie Warlick made the Pro Bowl, and All-Pro fullback Cookie Gilchrist led the league in rushing. Buffalo would win the AFL championship that season, with Stratton making one of the defining plays of his era in that game.

So facing a 7-0 team with a dominant rushing defense and a great offense, on the road, that had already beaten you by 31 points in your home stadium, what is a coach to do?  That was the question facing Houston’s new head coach, Sammy Baugh.  Perhaps Baugh had some flashbacks to 24 years earlier, when he stood in Jack Kemp’s shoes,  as the starting quarterback for a dominant team expected to blow out its opponent, and he watched Davey O’Brien drop back to pass 60 times.

The Oilers had lost 4 straight games, and had little to lose as they took the field at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo on November 1st, 1964.  So on that day, Blanda threw, and threw, and threw some more.  It was a classic clash of styles: Buffalo’s dominant running game, led by Gilchrist, rushed 38 times for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of the few to notice the record-setting performance set by the losing team was Boston Globe writer Jerry Nason.

George (Burp Gun) Blanda hurled 68 forward passes, an all-time professional record, in a Sunday football game at Buffalo. Baseball games have been won with fewer pitches and you expected to find Blanda Monday wearing his throbbing arm in a sling…. Asked if Blanda’s arm had to be packed in ice Sunday night, Houston publicity hustler Jack Scott replied, “He can still comb his own hair.”

As the article continues, you get the sense that 1964 Nason would fit in well as a 2019 old school football commentator:

Blanda’s team lost, for instance, and all that airlift activity harvested only 10 points. Possibly it is pure coincidence, but the old pro record which he perforated Sunday had also been a dud in that respect.

When little Davey O’Brien of the Philadelphia Eagles threw the ball 60 times (33 completions) against Sammy Baugh and the Redskins on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 1, 1940, he was beaten, 13 to 6. Possibly that is why li’l Davey elected to quit pro ball and joined the FBI the following day. Mark me down as an oddball, but I enjoy the sight of chubby Charlie Tollar of the Houston cast running with the ball equally as much as that of “Burp Gun” throwing it and Hennigan catching it. That’s me out front of the line, carrying the sign reading, “Equal Time for Charlie Tollar!”

A couple of weeks later, the critics continued.  Eddie Mahan of Harvard was one of the all-time greats of the early 20th century.  No less an authority than Jim Thorpe named Mahan the best football player he’d ever seen.  Mahan was an All-American on dominant Crimson teams in 1913, 1914, and 1915.  And if you are wondering if Mahan thought this change in pro football towards the passing game was a good thing, you would be incorrect:

“Unrestricted use of the forward pass allowed by the rules makers has transformed football into outdoor basketball,” continued Eddie. “Look at what’s happened this Fall. George Blanda threw 68 passes in one American Football League game, yet they produced only 10 points and his team lost. Archie Roberts of Columbia has made countless tosses, but his Lions were slaughtered by Cornell, 57-20, and outscored by Rutgers, 38-35.

“What do they spell? Broken down defenses.”

Mahan blames the rules. “Just as baseball has done everything in its power to help the batter so football has moved heaven and earth to aid the passer. “Fortunately, defense is not neglected in all cases and it still pays dividends. This year’s Princeton team blanked opponents four weeks in a row and Notre Dame-was able to stop Pitt when the chips were down. “And once in a while you’ll find a quarterback who resists the temptation to go pass-crazy. Jerry Whelchel of UMass is one of them. Although a talented passer, he throws only about 15 a game.”

So what actually happened that day in Buffalo? Blanda came out throwing, early and often. The Oilers drove deep into Buffalo territory twice, once resulting in a missed Blanda field goal and the other in Houston’s first touchdown. In the second and third quarters, Blanda drove the Oilers down four times, but the drives ended with a fumble, an interception, and two more missed Blanda field goals. Another drive ended on a failed fourth down conversion with a drop at the goal line. In the first half, Blanda went 12 for 27 for 118 yards, with one touchdown and one interceptio.

Buffalo defensive back Booker Edgerson was the hidden star of the game. In the 4th quarter, as Blanda drove the Oilers down again, he intercepted a pass at the 1 yard line, returning in 91 yards. In all, Houston finished with just 10 points despite 27 first downs, the first time that had ever happened in NFL or AFL history. In the second half, Blanda went 25 for 41 for 275 yards with a pair of interceptions and no touchdowns, including 24 passes in the fourth quarter alone.

For the day, Blanda set a record with the 68 pass attempts, and also with 37 completions. It was a truly remarkable performance from a historical perspective, although it was not all that notable in terms of passing yards. Blanda averaged 5.78 yards per attempt that day, wholly unremarkable other than the fact that Blanda (as was his nature) did not take a single sack. That was actually slightly below the AFL average that season not just in yards per attempt (7.0) but also net yards per attempt (5.9). Blanda’s game was a remarkable outlier, but a sign of things to go: a high-volume, lower yards per completion game in an era when the passing game was just beginning to take off.