Lou Saban's outfit won 12 of 14 regular-season games that season, drummed a very good San Diego team in the AFL title game, and felt reasonably certain it could do the same to that year's NFL champion, the Jim Brown-led Cleveland Browns, had the teams met in a pro football championship game.

"We had the best team in football that year," defensive end Tom Day said.

The AFL had built a reputation of being a league enamored with high-powered offenses, but the '64 Bills changed the model by which future AFL teams were developed. Saban built a powerhouse defense that featured a dynamic front four, smart and physical linebackers, aggressive cornerbacks and ball-hawking safeties.

Defensive end Ron McDole starred in the league's best defense. (AP)

"They were a good, smart defense," Boston's Gino Cappelletti said. "They were systemized. They always had people in the right positions."

The Bills allowed just 913 yards rushing, fewest ever in a 14-game schedule, and their average yield of 65 yards per game ranks third all-time behind the Bears in 1942 and Eagles in 1944. They led the AFL in fewest points allowed (242), first downs allowed (206), sacks (50) and interceptions (34).

Buffalo's offense, powered by fullback Cookie Gilchrist, who Raiders coach Al Davis that season called "the greatest football player in America," was very productive. But when a game was on the line, it was the defense that always rose to the occasion.

"A lot of people talk about the wild AFL days, but ours was a solid defensive team," middle linebacker Harry Jacobs said. "We had some good offensive players, but our defense won games for us."

Only two regular-season opponents topped 100 yards rushing against the Bills, the high being 130 by Kansas City. After his Broncos had been throttled by the Bills in Week 2, Denver quarterback Jacky Lee said, "what an improvement in that defense. They're really solid."

Charley Hennigan, who set a pro football record in 1964 by catching 101 passes, said of the Bills defense: "You know you've been hit when they hit you, but they're one of the cleanest teams in the league."

The front four of Day, Ron McDole, Tom Sestak and Jim Dunaway was superb. Sestak arrived in 1962 as a 17th-round draft choice, Dunaway was a second-rounder in '63, McDole came via a trade with Houston in '63, and Day was converted to the defensive line at the start of '64 after Saban received a call from the player's mother.

It seems Mrs. Day was not pleased that Saban was planning for the third year in a row to miscast her son as an offensive guard.

``She called Saban up and said `My son does not play offense, he plays defense,' '' Day recalled.

Saban was a no-nonsense guy who did not take gruff from anyone, but he took it from Mildred Day. And was he ever glad that he did.

``I enjoyed giving out pain,'' Day said. `` McDole and I had a saying -- `see you in the backfield.' We had a good crew back then.''

Tackles Sestak and Dunaway would stand up the guards and center, and collapse the pocket from the inside, allowing Day and McDole to use their quickness to control the flanks and prevent opposing quarterbacks from escaping their wrath.

And when the Bills used their Oklahoma defense -- a three-man line with four linebackers - rather than take out one of their linemen, they simply dropped Day into a linebacker role and moved Sestak to end.

Day was the final link up front, but the key player in that group was Sestak.

"I played for a long time, in three decades," said former Chiefs quarterback and Hall of Famer Len Dawson. "I played in two Super Bowls and I saw a lot of very good players, but Sestak was one of the greatest defensive players I ever played against."

Said Day: "Sestak allowed the rest of us to just fly at people. Sestak actually was the hub of the whole defense. The guy was one of the best, without a doubt."

Jacobs keyed the middle tier of defense with his superb ability to read plays and make the calls, and he was flanked by Mike Stratton and John Tracey, who could run, tackle and defend against the pass.

In the secondary, Booker Edgerson and Butch Byrd were excellent man-to-man cornerbacks. "We played man-to-man defense probably 98 percent of the time. That's just the way we did it," Edgerson said. "Joe (Collier, the defensive coordinator) always taught man-to-man. We were 3-4 yards off the ball, so we were very good in coverage. If we set back 6-10 yards, he'd have a fit."

The reason Collier preferred man-to-man was because he knew he had two outstanding cover corners in Edgerson and Butch Byrd. And if they could maintain coverage for a few seconds, that was enough time for the Bills' front line to get to the quarterback. But when Edgerson and Byrd were beaten, safeties George Saimes and Hagood Clarke usually covered their mistake. Saimes was a marvelous player who, like Sestak, was named to the all-time AFL defensive team.

Saimes, who made 22 interceptions as a Bill, said, "The key was that we had a good front four and we had two excellent cornerbacks. Booker was a great cover guy and Butch was very physical. We could play a lot of man-to-man and do some things that other teams couldn't do. That combination of having those cornerbacks who you knew you could depend on, and that front four that put pressure on the quarterback, that was a big key. Those corners could have started for any team in the NFL."