1965 NFL season
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The 1965 NFL season was the 46th regular season of the National Football League.
Because the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts ended up tied in the Western Conference standings after the regular season ended, a conference playoff game was held in Green Bay. Although the Packers had defeated the Colts in both of their games in 1965, there were no tiebreaking rules at the time. In the playoff game, both Colts starting quarterback Johnny Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo could not play, so Baltimore was forced to use running back Tom Matte as the starter. Packers starting quarterback Bart Starr was injured on the first play from scrimmage and did not return to the game. Green Bay's Don Chandler kicked a 27-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining to tie the game. Chandler then kicked a game-winning 25-yard field goal after 13 minutes, 39 seconds of overtime. The Packers went on to defeat the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game, the last before the Super Bowl era.
Meanwhile, the NFL's war with the rival AFL began to increase as the two leagues competed for the top players coming out of college. Prior to the season, both the NFL's Chicago Bears and the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs selected running back Gale Sayers in their respective league drafts. Sayers eventually decided to sign with the NFL's Bears in a victory for the established league. On the other hand, quarterback Joe Namath was selected by both the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals and the AFL's New York Jets, but Namath decided to play for the Jets after signing a $427,000 contract.
This war between the AFL and the NFL would escalate until just before the 1966 season, when they would agree to merge and create a new AFL-NFL World Championship Game between the winners of the two leagues.
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[edit] Major rule changes
- A sixth official, the Line Judge, is added to the officiating crew. This change is sometimes referred to as the "Fran Tarkenton Rule" after the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, who developed the nickname scrambler as he ran around the backfield to avoid being sacked by the opposition. With the Line Judge stationed on the line of scrimmage opposite the Head Linesman, it made it easier for the officials to judge whether or not Tarkenton or any mobile quarterback crossed over the line before throwing the ball.
[edit] Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
| Eastern Conference | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 363 | 325 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 325 | 280 |
| New York Giants | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 270 | 338 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 257 | 301 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 363 | 359 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 296 | 309 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 202 | 397 |
| Western Conference | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 316 | 224 |
| Baltimore Colts | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 389 | 284 |
| Chicago Bears | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 409 | 275 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 421 | 402 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 383 | 403 |
| Detroit Lions | 6 | 7 | 1 | .462 | 257 | 295 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 269 | 328 |
[edit] Playoffs
- Main article: NFL playoffs, 1965
- Home team in capitals
Western Conference Playoff Game
- GREEN BAY 13, Baltimore 10 (OT)
NFL Championship Game
- GREEN BAY 23, Cleveland 12
[edit] References
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 193299436X)
- NFL History 1961-1970 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)
