10/26 — This is the 15th in a series of Radar entries on the 16 games of the Jets' 1968 Super Bowl III season:    

Sunday, Dec. 29, 1968

Shea Stadium, New York (62,627)

The New York Jets won their first American Football League title before 62,627, largest crowd ever to see an AFL championship game, with a last-period 27-23 victory over the Oakland Raiders at chilly, windy Shea Stadium.

Joe Namath, unanimous choice in every Most Valuable Player and/or Player of the Year poll, paced the New Yorkers with three touchdown passes, a pair to Don Maynard, his yardage-record teammate, and the other to tight end Pete Lammons. Namath’s second to Maynard, halfway through the final period, proved the decisive factor.

The Jets had gained the championship round with an 11-3 regular-season effort compared to the 12-2 registered by the Raiders, plus Oakland’s lop-sided victory over Kansas City in the first Western Division playoff in the history of the league.

In the title game, Daryle Lamonica was limited to one TD pass. He connected with flanker Fred Biletnikoff, the game’s leading yardage receiver, in the second period to open the Oakland scoring. Pete Banaszak contributed the other Oakland TD on a run following the game’s only interception by rookie defensive back George Atkinson.

The remainder of the Raider points traced to the kicking of George Blanda, who booted three field goals. A 45-yarder by the game’s oldest performer caromed off the crossbar during the first period.

New York’s Jim Turner, who led the league in scoring during the regular season, booted two field goals and was short with another. Oakland’s final threat fizzled on the New York 12 in the final two minutes when Lamonica’s lateral pass to rookie running back Charlie Smith rolled free and wound up as a fumble recovered by Jets linebacker Ralph Baker.

Five individual AFL championship game records were set, along with eight team marks. Included were most passes attempted (49) by Namath as well as most games played (7) by Dave Kocourek, most points (42) by Blanda, most reception yardage (190) by Biletnikoff, and most passing yardage (401) by Lamonica.

Despite the fact that Namath attempted a record 49 passes, the Jets still mixed their attack and Matt Snell and Emerson Boozer gained 71 and 51 yards respectively behind fine blocking from the front line. Meanwhile, the Jets' league-leading defense held Hewritt Dixon and the Raiders running game to 44 yards.

The financial rewards for the players proved the richest in league history. A winning share was worth $7,007.91 and a losing share $5,349.92.

Combining stories from the 1969 American Football League guide and the 1969 New York Jets media guide. 

Game Trivia

■ Maynard had 118 receiving yards — the eighth time in 1968 and the 17th in '67-68 combined that he cleared 100 yards — and scored the first and last TDs of this game on six receptions.

■ The Jets weathered Lamonica and the Raiders' 443-yard offense with 400 yards of their own. It was the fourth time in three years that both teams totaled 400 yards in the same game against each other.

■ In the 19 playoff games in franchise history, the Jets have mounted only two fourth-quarter comebacks, both against the Raiders, in this game and 14 years later in the 1982 "Super Bowl Tournament."

Quotes Now

LT Winston Hill: “The biggest thing was the championship game with the Raiders, which most of the guys will probably identify as probably the toughest, the best game that we played, period, that year— including Baltimore.”

C John Schmitt: “We wanted to kill them and they wanted to kill us. There were no ifs. ands or buts about it. There was no love — it was just pure hatred. And we just played the best game of our year that year.”

RG Dave Herman on being moved to RT to block Ike Lassiter: “I told Joe, 'The first play, you’re going to run right over top of me.' He said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘I told you, the first play, run right over me. I’m going to set the tone for this game.’ He did, and then hut one, hut two, and BOOM! I hit Big Ike harder than anyone I’ve ever hit anyone in my whole life. And all I did was make him mad at me. He stared at me from sideline to sideline and basically forgot about the quarterback and the running back. His sole purpose that day was to annihilate the obnoxious little guard in front of him.”

Quotes Then

Namath: “Of course, I thought we could come back.”

LB Larry Grantham: “I knew Joe would get us back ahead.”

WR Bake Turner: “I don’t know about them. Me, I was scared.”