File Under: Joe Namath, Buffalo Bills, Tom Janik, George Sauer
10/20 — This is the third in a series of Radar entries on the 16 games of the Jets' 1968 Super Bowl III season:
Sunday, Sept. 29, 1968
War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, N.Y. (38,044)
Five interceptions, three of them resulting in touchdowns, brought Buffalo an upset victory over New York and tagged the Jets with their first 1968 setback. All interceptions came off of Joe Namath, who also threw four touchdown passes, including two to George Sauer, for the game's first and last TDs. Bills DB Tom Janik tied the league record with a 100-yard interception return. (Rookie in CAPS below.)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot | |
| JETS (2-1) | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Buffalo Bills (1-3) | 10 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 37 |
| Qtr | Team | Scoring Play |
| 1 | NYJ | George Sauer 4 pass from Joe Namath (Jim Turner kick) |
| 1 | BUF | Bruce Alford 35 FG |
| 1 | BUF | BEN GREGORY 2 run (Alford kick) |
| 2 | BUF | Tom Janik 100 interception return (Alford kick) |
| 2 | NYJ | Emerson Boozer 1 run (Turner kick) |
| 2 | BUF | Alford 41 FG |
| 2 | NYJ | Don Maynard 55 pass from Namath (Turner kick) |
| 3 | BUF | Alford 37 FG |
| 4 | BUF | Butch Byrd 53 interception return (Alford kick) |
| 4 | BUF | Booker Edgerson 45 interception return (Alford kick) |
| 4 | NYJ | Matt Snell 3 pass from Namath (Turner kick) |
| 4 | NYJ | Sauer 10 pass from Namath (Turner kick) |
Game Trivia
■ Namath's four TD passes marked the fourth time in his career he threw at least that many in a game. He finished with six such performances and lost only once — in this outing at the Buffalo stadium known as "The Rockpile."
■ The three INT-return TDs by the Bills equaled the pro football record achieved three times in the NFL and not broken until Seattle scored on four picks against Kansas City in 1984.
■ Edgerson's touchdown return put Buffalo ahead, 37-21, a 16-point deficit that was the largest the Jets would face all year.
Quotes Now
Namath: “I was surprised. I played a crap game against Buffalo and I played a crap game against Denver. Both times I thought I was ready, but I was wrong.”
C John Schmitt: “Yeah, Joe had a lot of interceptions. Well, he hit the guy who was open. Whether it was green or blue, he hit the guy that was open. ... I’m only kidding.”
Quote Then
Head coach Weeb Ewbank: “Joe’s the guy who gets you there and he almost got us there."
Ken Said:
Mon, October 20, 2008 - 8:09pm ET"CD. You said, "Hey Ken, do you really think the Jets should forget about a passing game and just run". Dude! Read my comment. I said 70% RUN, 30% PASS. Maybe you are not good with numbers, but 70 - 30% is NOT FORGET about the RUN. My point is the PASSING game was NOT working against Oakland, but the RUN game was. So you have to ADJUST to what works. That is called making IN GAME ADJUSTMENTS"
CD Said:
Tue, October 21, 2008 - 2:20pm ET"In my opinion the run did not do much to get a win, did it? Plenty of yardage, but only one TD!!! I've watched Farve for a long time, and the way I see it, is protect him, give him some room and if there is a chance he can get it to a receiver, 8 times of 10 he will. So, the odds are better to throw, except, of course when #4 is being thrashed by the D. Gotta have both, and guard against blitz'"
Row Said:
Tue, October 21, 2008 - 5:27pm ET"Hey guys, easy on the coaching staff. Favre was overthrowing guys by almost 10 yards, just out of sync. The guy fumbled it twice, and threw 2 picks, you can't teach that. Leon runs one in from like 10 yards out. We held the Raiders to 13 points, last I checked our D was in the bottom 5 for points against. We were outplayed when it mattered most. We will get better! Go Jets"
Rick Roucoulet Said:
Mon, October 20, 2008 - 7:40am ET"Same old JETS. So darn predictable, wont air it out & use FAVRE w/what he's known for. The Kelly Green & White team is jinxed. Anything we can do to get away from looking like the same old JETS will help - The uniform is a visual start, they wear the Throwbacks & win. Time to test the waters & keep the throwbacks & see what happends... Yes im very superstitious, What JET fan isnt???"
Offensive Comment?