The1965 NFL playoffs determined the champion of theNational Football League in professionalAmerican football for its1965 season. Although a single championship game between conference winners was the current format for the league, a tie in the Western Conference standings between theGreen Bay Packers andBaltimore Colts necessitated a raretiebreaker playoff, the first in the league inseven years and the first in the Western Conference since1957. A coin flip decided the home team.^[1]The teams had played twice during the regular season and Green Bay had won both: 20–17 inMilwaukee on September 26,^[2] and 42–27 inBaltimore on December 12.^[3]

Both teams were hampered on offense without their starting quarterbacks. ColtsJohnny Unitas andGary Cuozzo were both sidelined with injuries, and newly signed replacementsEd Brown andGeorge Haffner were ruled ineligible by the league owners,^[4] so fifth-year running backTom Matte, a quarterback incollege atOhio State, was thrust into service behind center.^[1][5][6] Defensive backBobby Boyd, a one-timeOklahoma quarterback, assumed the back-up role.^[4] Packers QBBart Starr was injured (ribs) on the first play, so veteranZeke Bratkowski played the rest of the game,^[6] backed up by halfbackPaul Hornung and safetyWillie Wood. Tied at 10 points at the end of regulation, the game went into overtime for over 13 minutes. At the time, it was the longest game in NFL history.^[6][7][8][9] Green Bay kickerDon Chandler made a controversial field goal late in regulation (22 yards) to tie the game at ten. He then booted the winning 25-yarder in overtime.^[8]

Although thechampionship game was played in 1966 on January 2, it is recognized as part of the 1965 NFL season. It was the latest date for an NFL Championship Game to that point, and the first time in league history that the game was held after all of thecollegebowl games.

ThePlayoff Bowl (a consolation game between the conference runners-up) for the 1965 season took place inMiami on January 9, 1966, the Sunday following the NFL championship game. With Matte at quarterback, the Colts defeated theDallas Cowboys 35–3;^[10][11] the rusty Cowboys' previous game was three weeks earlier, on December 19. This capped a season where the Western Conference won 15 out of 16 interconference games against the Eastern Conference, including the championship game and Playoff Bowl.

The tiebreaker playoff between Green Bay and Baltimore was the last for the NFL; the league expanded to sixteen teams in four divisions in1967 and a point differential was introducedto break ties. It was used that year in the Coastal Division, whereBaltimore (11–1–2) tied withLos Angeles for thebest overall record in the league, but was left out of thepostseason, which consisted of the four division winners only; thewild card team was introduced in1970 with the realignment of theAFL–NFL merger. TheAmerican Football League (AFL) hadtwo tiebreaker playoff games, the last in1968.

Both games were atLambeau Field inGreen Bay, Wisconsin

Source:^[7][8][9]

Source:^[12][13][14]

• 1965 NFL season
• NFL playoffs
• Green Bay Packers postseason

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023