| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 10 – December 18, 1966 |
| East Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| West Champions | Green Bay Packers |
| Championship Game | |
| Champions | Green Bay Packers |
The1966 NFL season was the 47thregular season of theNational Football League, and the first season in which theSuper Bowl was played, though it was called theAFL-NFL World Championship Game. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of theAtlanta Falcons, making abye necessary one week for each team.
This was the last season that the NFL was divided only into two separatedivisions, and only one postseason round was played, that being between the two division champions. The season concluded with thefirst AFL-NFL World Championship Game; theNFL championGreen Bay Packers defeated theAFL'sKansas City Chiefs35–10 at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967. The interleague championship game would eventually be named theSuper Bowl, and the 1966 season is now considered the first of theSuper Bowl era.
Pat Studstill for theDetroit Lions set a record for consecutive games with more than 125 receiving yards with five, a record which was not tied untilCalvin Johnson several decades later. He also became the 3rd ever player to complete a99-yard pass play.
The highest scoring game in NFL history also took place during this season, with the thenWashington Redskins defeating theNew York Giants in a week 12 showdown with a final score of 72–41.
With the growth in popularity of televised NFL games, the league began looking for a second team in addition to the Detroit Lions, to host an annual Thanksgiving Day game. Every team turned down the offer, except for the Dallas Cowboys. General ManagerTex Schramm recognized this as an opportunity for the franchise to increase its popularity and establish its own Thanksgiving Day game tradition.
In 1966, the Cowboys who had been founded six years earlier, adopted the practice of hosting Thanksgiving games. It is widely rumored that the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host Thanksgiving games as a condition of their very first one (since games on days other than Sunday were uncommon at the time and thus high attendance was not a certainty). Since then, the two "traditional" Thanksgiving Day pro football games have been in Detroit and Dallas (except 1975 and 1977, when St. Louis hosted instead of Dallas). Primetime games on Thanksgiving night would not occur until2006.
As the competitive war between the NFL and theAmerican Football League reached its peak, the two leagues agreed on June 8, 1966, to merge. Under the agreement:
On June 3, 1965, the NFL announced its plans to add two teams in1967.[1] Four days later on June 7, the eight franchises of the rivalAmerican Football League (AFL) voted unanimously to add two teams in1966,[2][3] an AFL franchise was awarded to Atlanta the next day.[4][5][6]
The NFL awarded the first of the two expansion franchises to the city ofAtlanta onJune 30, 1965.[7][8]CommissionerPete Rozelle granted ownership of theAtlanta Falcons toRankin Smith, Sr. and they were awarded the first pick in the1966 NFL draft, as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds.[9] Theleague also provided the Falcons with anexpansion draft six weeks later.[9]
The AFL had originally targeted Atlanta andPhiladelphia,[6] but its two expansion teams became theMiami Dolphins in 1966 and theCincinnati Bengals in1968.
The competition with the AFL for Atlanta forced the first to be added a year early. The odd number of teams (15) in 1966 resulted in one idle team (bye) each week, with each team playing fourteen games over fifteen weeks (similar to1960: twelve games over thirteen weeks). The second expansion team, theNew Orleans Saints, joined the NFL as planned in 1967 as its sixteenth franchise. Scheduled byes in the NFL's regular season did not return until1990.
The1966 NFL expansion draft was held on February 15, 1966, with Falcons selecting 42 players from the other NFL teams.
The1966 NFL draft was held on November 27, 1965, atNew York City's Summit Hotel. With the first pick, the expansionAtlanta Falcons selected linebackerTommy Nobis from theUniversity of Texas.
Goal posts were standardized in the NFL. They were to be 3–4 inches (7.6–10.2 cm) in diameter, painted bright yellow, with two non-curved supports offset from the goal line, and uprights 20 feet (6.1 m) above the crossbar. In1967, the new "slingshot" goal post was made standard, with one curved support from the ground. In1974, the goal posts were returned to the end line, and the uprights were extended to 30 feet (9.1 m) above the crossbar, and to 35 feet (10.7 m) in2014.
The new goal-post rule is often referred to as the "Don Chandler Rule", referring to the placekicker for theGreen Bay Packers. Although widely denied, the height increase of the uprights was in reaction to the previous season'sWestern Divisional playoff game atLambeau Field inGreen Bay. Chandler kicked a controversial field goal that tied the game with under two minutes remaining. The kick was high above the upright, and many spectators thought that the kick missed; however, the kick was ruled good by field judgeJim Tunney. Chandler later hit a field goal that defeated theBaltimore Colts inovertime. The following week, the Packers defeated theCleveland Browns in theNFL Championship Game, their first ofthree consecutive league titles.
Another rule change born from the 1965 Western Divisional playoff was two officials (the back judge and field judge) were stationed under each upright for field goal and extra point attempts.
In the Western Division, Green Bay's first loss was in week 5, falling 21–20 in San Francisco to tie them with the Rams. The Rams lost 35–7 to Minnesota the next week, and Green Bay stayed in front until week 9, when Minnesota beat them 20–17. Baltimore's 19–7 win over Atlanta briefly tied it with the Packers at 7–2–0 in week 10, but the Colts lost to Detroit the next week, 20–14. The Packers clinched the title in week 13.
In the Eastern Division, the St. Louis Cardinals took the early lead, winning their first five games. (The Dallas Cowboys were also unbeaten, but due to a bye in Week One, they had played one fewer game and thus were a half-game behind the Cardinals in the standings.) The unbeaten teams met in week 6, and both were still unbeaten after they played to a 10–10 tie. However, both teams suffered their first defeat the next week, with St. Louis losing at Washington, 26–20, and the Cowboys falling in Cleveland, 30–21. In week 9 (November 6), St. Louis beat the Giants, 20–17, while Dallas came up short in a 24–23 loss to the Eagles. The next week, Dallas won at Washington 31–30 on a field goal with 0:15 left, while the Cards fell at Pittsburgh, 30–9, cutting their safety margin to a half-game again. St. Louis had a bye in week 11, and a 20–7 Dallas victory over Pittsburgh gave the Cards and Cowboys records of 7–2–1. Both teams won the next week, setting up the stage for their December 4 meeting in Dallas during week 13. The Cards took a 10–7 lead in the first quarter, but Dallas won 31–17 to take over the conference lead. InWeek Fourteen, Dallas hosted Washington, and lost 34–31 on a field goal at 0:08. The Cardinals were in a must-win game against what should have been an easy opponent, the new (2–10–0) Atlanta Falcons. Instead, the Falcons notched their third win and virtually ended St. Louis's hopes to go to the title game. The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost again the next week, never got that close to the Super Bowl again before moving to Phoenix in1988.
| Week | Western | Eastern | Bye[10] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit, Green Bay, Los Angeles (tie) | 1–0–0 | Cleveland, St. Louis (tie) | 1–0–0 | Dallas Cowboys |
| 2 | Green Bay, Los Angeles (tie) | 2–0–0 | St. Louis, Pittsburgh (tie) | 2–0–0 | San Francisco 49ers |
| 3 | Green Bay Packers | 3–0–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 3–0–0 | Chicago Bears |
| 4 | Green Bay Packers | 4–0–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 4–0–0 | Baltimore Colts |
| 5 | Green Bay, Los Angeles (tie) | 4–1–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 5–0–0 | Minnesota Vikings |
| 6 | Green Bay Packers | 5–1–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 5–0–1 | Cleveland Browns |
| 7 | Green Bay Packers | 6–1–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 5–1–1 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 8 | Green Bay Packers | 7–1–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 6–1–1 | New York Giants |
| 9 | Green Bay Packers | 7–2–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 7–1–1 | Atlanta Falcons |
| 10 | Baltimore, Green Bay (tie) | 7–2–0 | St. Louis Cardinals | 7–2–1 | Green Bay Packers |
| 11 | Green Bay Packers | 8–2–0 | Dallas, St. Louis (tie) | 7–2–1 | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 12 | Green Bay Packers | 9–2–0 | Dallas, St. Louis (tie) | 8–2–1 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 13 | Green Bay Packers | 10–2–0 | Dallas Cowboys | 9–2–1 | Washington Redskins |
| 14 | Green Bay Packers | 11–2–0 | Dallas Cowboys | 9–3–1 | Los Angeles Rams |
| 15 | Green Bay Packers | 12–2–0 | Dallas Cowboys | 10–3–1 | Detroit Lions |
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ThePlayoff Bowl was between the division runners-up, for third place in the league. This was its seventh year, and it was played a week after the title game.
TheGreen Bay Packers defeated theKansas City Chiefs, league champion of the1966 American Football League season, 35–10, atLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on January 15, 1967.
| Most Valuable Player | Bart Starr,quarterback, Green Bay |
| Coach of the Year | Tom Landry, Dallas |
