1966 NFL season
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The 1966 NFL season was the 47th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons. This was the last season that the NFL had just two divisions, and that the conference champions went directly to the NFL Championship Game without playing in playoff games.
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[edit] The AFL-NFL merger agreement
Template:Details As the competitive war between the NFL and the American Football League reached its peak, the two leagues agreed to merge on June 8, 1966. Under the agreement:
- 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 AFL-NFL World Championship Game beginning in January, 1967.
- The two leagues would officially merge in 1970 to form one league with two conferences.
Thus, after the Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game, they then went on to beat the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs in the first annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game (later known as Super Bowl I).
[edit] Major rule changes
- Goal posts were standardized in the NFL. They were to be between 3 to 4 inches in diameter, painted bright yellow, with two non-curved supports offset from the goal line, and uprights 20 feet above the crossbar. This new goal post rule is often referred to as the "Don Chandler Rule", the kicker 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 in Green Bay. Chandler kicked a high 27-yard field goal, near the upright, that tied the game with under two minutes remaining. The game went to the fourteenth minute of overtime when Chandler hit a 25-yard field goal (uncontroversial) that finally defeated the Baltimore Colts. Both teams had been without their starting quarterbacks (the Colts started their emergency QB, halfback Tom Matte). The Packers went on to defeat the Cleveland Browns in the 1965 NFL championship game. In 1967, the new "slingshot" goal post would be made standard, with one curved support from the ground. In 1974, the goal posts would be returned to the end line, and the uprights would be extended to 30 feet above the crossbar.
[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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 445 | 239 |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 403 | 259 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 326 | 340 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 264 | 265 |
| Washington Redskins | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 351 | 355 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 316 | 347 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 204 | 437 |
| New York Giants | 1 | 12 | 1 | .077 | 263 | 501 |
| Western Conference | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 335 | 163 |
| Baltimore Colts | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 314 | 226 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 289 | 212 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6 | 6 | 2 | .500 | 320 | 325 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 234 | 272 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 206 | 317 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 292 | 304 |
[edit] NFL Championship Game
Green Bay 34, Dallas 27 at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas, January 1, 1967
[edit] Super Bowl I
Green Bay (NFL) 35, Kansas City (AFL) 10, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
[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)
- When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vince Lombardi, by David Maraniss, 1999, p.381, (ISBN 0-684-84418-4)
