| 1966 AFL season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | |
| Duration | September 2 – December 18, 1966 |
| Playoffs | |
| Date | January 1, 1967 |
| Eastern champion | Buffalo Bills |
| Western champion | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Site | War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York |
| Champion | Kansas City Chiefs |
The1966 AFL season was the seventhregular season of theAmerican Football League. The league began itsmerger process with theNational Football League (NFL) in June, which took effect fully in1970.
The season also saw the debut of the expansionMiami Dolphins, the AFL's ninth team (an odd number), requiring an idle team each week. A sixth official, theLine Judge, was added to the officiating crew; the NFL added the Line Judge theprevious season.
The season ended when theKansas City Chiefs defeated the two-time defending championBuffalo Bills in theAFL Championship game, and were defeated by the NFL'sGreen Bay Packers in the firstAFL-NFL World Championship Game, now known asSuper Bowl I.
The AFL now had nine teams, grouped into two divisions (the new Miami team was in the Eastern Division, now with five teams), and still played a 14-game schedule. In previous seasons (with eight clubs), each played a home-and-away game against the other seven. All nine teams faced each other at least once, and each team played six others twice. Though Boston and Miami were both in the Eastern Division, they met only once, on November 27 (each team played Western Division teams Kansas City and Denver twice, while Boston also played San Diego twice and Miami played Oakland twice --- meaning that the Patriots and Dolphins each had a schedule that called for them to face three non-division opponents more often than they played a divisional opponent).
As in earlier years, the division champions met in the league championship game, with the home team rotating, this year to the Eastern champion. If there was a tie in the standings at the top of either division, a one-game playoff would be held to determine the division winner, with the other division's winner idle.
| Week | Eastern | Western | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | 1–0–0 | Tie (Oak, SD) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Houston | 2–0–0 | Tie (KC, SD) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | N.Y. Jets | 2–0–0 | Tie (KC, SD) | 2–0–0 |
| 4 | N.Y. Jets | 3–0–0 | Tie (KC, SD) | 3–0–0 |
| 5 | N.Y. Jets | 3–0–1 | San Diego | 4–0–0 |
| 6 | N.Y. Jets | 4–0–1 | Tie (KC, SD) | 4–1–0 |
| 7 | N.Y. Jets | 4–1–1 | San Diego | 4–1–1 |
| 8 | N.Y. Jets | 4–2–1 | Kansas City | 5–2–0 |
| 9 | Boston | 4–2–1 | Kansas City | 6–2–0 |
| 10 | Buffalo | 5–3–1 | Kansas City | 7–2–0 |
| 11 | Buffalo | 6–3–1 | Kansas City | 8–2–0 |
| 12 | Buffalo | 7–3–1 | Kansas City | 8–2–1 |
| 13 | Buffalo | 8–3–1 | Kansas City | 9–2–1 |
| 14 | Boston | 7–3–2 | Kansas City | 9–2–1 |
| 15 | Boston | 8–3–2 | Kansas City | 10–2–1 |
| 16 | Buffalo | 9–4–1 | Kansas City | 11–2–1 |
Prior to the season, theAFL–NFL merger was announced in June, and both leagues agreed to have their champions meet in an annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game (later known as theSuper Bowl), beginning in January 1967. Additionally, acommon draft was introduced, with the first held in March1967.
Also, theMiami Dolphins joined the AFL as its first expansion team.Joe Auer would score the first touchdown in Dolphins history, returning an opening kickoff for 95 yards versus the Oakland Raiders.[1]
| Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | BUF | HOU | MIA | NY | DEN | KC | OAK | SD | ||
| Eastern | Boston Patriots | 14–3 | 27–21 | 24–24 | 10–17 | 24–43 | 24–21 | 35–17 | ||
| Buffalo Bills | 10–20 | 27–20 | 58–24 | 14–3 | 38–21 | 20–42 | 17–17 | |||
| Houston Oilers | 14–38 | 20–42 | 13–20 | 24–0 | 45–7 | 31–0 | 22–28 | |||
| Miami Dolphins | 14–20 | 0–29 | 29–28 | 14–19 | 24–7 | 18–19 | 14–23 | |||
| New York Jets | 38–28 | 23–33 | 52–13 | 30–13 | 24–32 | 21–24 | 17–16 | |||
| Western | Denver Broncos | 10–24 | 40–38 | 17–7 | 7–16 | 10–56 | 3–17 | 20–17 | ||
| Kansas City Chiefs | 27–27 | 14–29 | 48–23 | 34–16 | 37–10 | 13–34 | 24–14 | |||
| Oakland Raiders | 10–31 | 38–23 | 21–10 | 28–28 | 28–10 | 10–32 | 20–29 | |||
| San Diego Chargers | 24–0 | 27–7 | 44–10 | 42–27 | 24–17 | 17–27 | 19–41 | |||
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