Sept. 28, 1963 - Alert defensive ball enabled the New York Jets to redeem an early 0-7 count against them and hang on for a 10-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders tonight at the Polo Grounds. This was the sixth straight time the New Yorkers as Titans or Jets repulsed the Raiders. With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Raiders frightened the crowd of 17,937 when Mike Mercer missed a 41-yard field goal that would have leveled the result. Mike’s kick was long enough but slightly wide. The Raiders ran for 63 yards, 30 by Clem Daniels, who recovered from his thigh injury and went the distance, while the Jets could only account for 56 on land. However, interceptions of throws by Raider quarterbacks Cotton Davidson and Tom Flores by Dainard Paulson, an ex-Oregon Stater on the Jets’ side, wounded Oakland’s air game. Paulson intercepted three passes at critical junctures. Coach Al Davis of the Raiders had mixed emotions about the narrow defeat. “If we can score 21 points, we can beat anybody in the league,” he commented. “Obviously, our defense held up, but the offense was jerky. We should have moved more on the ground than a measly 63 yards. Flores had the poorest night I’ve seen him turn in.”
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