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1966 NFL season

The 1966 NFL season was the 47th regular season of the National Football League, and the first season in which the Super Bowl was played, though it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons, making a bye necessary one week for each team.

Regular season

September 10 –
December 18, 1966

This was the last season that the NFL was divided only into two separate conferences, and only one postseason round was played, that being between the two conference champions. The season concluded with the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game; the NFL champion Green Bay Packers defeated the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967. The interleague championship game would eventually be named the Super Bowl, and the 1966 season is now considered the first of the Super Bowl era.


Pat Studstill for the Detroit Lions set a record for consecutive games with more than 125 receiving yards with five, a record which was not tied until Calvin Johnson several decades later. He also became the 3rd ever player to complete a 99-yard pass play.


The highest scoring game in NFL history also took place during this season, with the then Washington Redskins defeating the New York Giants in a week 12 showdown with a final score of 72–41.

The two leagues would combine to form an expanded league with 24 teams, which would be increased to 26 teams by 1969, and to 28 teams by 1970 or soon thereafter.

All existing teams would be retained, and none of them would be moved outside of their metropolitan areas.

While maintaining separate schedules through 1969, the leagues agreed to play an annual beginning in January 1967 (this game was eventually renamed the Super Bowl, with all four AFL-NFL matchups being retroactively renamed as such).

AFL-NFL World Championship Game

The two leagues would officially merge in 1970 to form one league with two conferences (named and National Football Conference).

American Football Conference

As the competitive war between the NFL and the American Football League reached its peak, the two leagues agreed on June 8, 1966 to merge. Under the agreement:

Draft[edit]

The 1966 NFL Draft was held on November 27, 1965 at New York City's Summit Hotel. With the first pick, the Atlanta Falcons selected linebacker Tommy Nobis from The University of Texas.

Major rule changes[edit]

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. In 1967, the new "slingshot" goal post was made standard, with one curved support from the ground. In 1974, 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) in 2014.


The new goal-post rule is often referred to as the "Don Chandler Rule", referring to the placekicker for the Green Bay Packers. Although widely denied, the height increase of the uprights was in reaction to the previous season's Western Conference playoff game at Lambeau Field in Green 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 judge Jim Tunney. Chandler later hit a field goal that defeated the Baltimore Colts in overtime. The following week, the Packers defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game, their first of three consecutive league titles.


Another rule change born from the 1965 Western Conference playoff was two officials (the back judge and field judge) were stationed under each upright for field goal and extra point attempts.

A bye week was necessary in 1966, as the league had an odd-number (15) of teams; one team was idle each week. The sixteenth team () joined the league in 1967.

New Orleans

In the Western Conference, 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 Conference, 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. In Week 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 in 1988.

Green Bay 34, Dallas 27 at the in Dallas, Texas, on January 1, 1967

Cotton Bowl

: Norb Hecker became the expansion team's first head coach.

Atlanta Falcons

: Harland Svare was replaced by George Allen.

Los Angeles Rams

: Wally Lemm was replaced by Charley Winner.

St. Louis Cardinals

: Mike Nixon was replaced by Bill Austin.

Pittsburgh Steelers

: Bill McPeak was replaced by Otto Graham.

Washington Redskins

The expansion began play at Atlanta Stadium

Atlanta Falcons

The opened the new Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, replacing the older Busch Stadium (Sportsman's Park)

St. Louis Cardinals

1966 American Football League season

1966 NFL Season Schedule

NFL Record and Fact Book ( 1-932994-36-X)

ISBN

(Last accessed December 4, 2005)

NFL History 1961–1970

Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League ( 0-06-270174-6)

ISBN

When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vince Lombardi, by David Maraniss, 1999, p. 381, ( 0-684-84418-4)

ISBN