10/20 — This is the fourth in a series of Radar entries on the 16 games of the Jets' 1968 Super Bowl III season:

Saturday, Oct. 5, 1968    

Shea Stadium, New York (63,786)

The Jets' home opener drew the largest crowd in AFL history. The Green & White handed San Diego its first loss with a touchdown plunge by Emerson Boozer with 1:47 to play and a timely interception by John Sample at the Jets 5-yard line in the last 30 seconds. The victory and the Patriots' loss enabled New York to move into sole possession of first place in the East, a position they never lost the rest of the season. (Rookie in CAPS below.)

Game Trivia 

■ DE Gerry Philbin and company held Gene Foster, San Diego's leading rusher, to 25 yards on seven carries and the Chargers to 28 yards — the lowest rushing total by an opponent all season.

■ Namath threw no touchdown passes for the first time all season, starting an odd streak of six-plus games during which the Jets scored 15 offensive TDs, all on running plays — and two of those by Namath.

■ Gary Garrison's second TD catch from John Hadl gave the Chargers a 20-16 lead, which the Jets overcame on Boozer's late score. It was the first — and the largest — of five fourth-quarter deficits the Green & White overcame on their way to the Super Bowl.

Quotes Now

RLB Larry Grantham: “That '68 defense was as good as any I’d ever played on. We had guys that could tackle, we had guys that knew their assignments, we didn’t blow assignments and everybody fit together real well. We worked as a team. It was just one of the best defenses I’d ever been around."

LT Winston Hill: “That year the Raiders had a good team, Kansas City had a good team and San Diego had a good team. And the three of them probably could have beaten Baltimore.”