The defending champion Bills entered the game as 6½ point underdogs;[3] the Chargers had won the first regular season meeting on October 10 by a convincing 34–3 score,[6] and tied the Thanksgiving rematch at twenty points each.
[7][8] In favorable 60 °F (16 °C) conditions on the day after Christmas,[3] the Bills shut out the Chargers and repeated as champions, scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter, one on a punt return.
Bills' quarterback Jack Kemp, the league's most valuable player, was named MVP of the game;[1] he and Paul Maguire were among the five ex-Chargers on the Bills' roster that were previously released by San Diego head coach Sid Gillman.
The Chargers meanwhile would not appear in another championship until Super Bowl XXIX, which they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 49–26.
San Diego and Buffalo currently have the longest and second-longest championship droughts respectively for any city that has at least two major sports franchises.