1966 American Football League season

The 1966 American Football League season was the seventh regular season of the American Football League. The league entered talks with the National Football League regarding an NFL-AFL merger, which took effect fully in 1970.

1966 American Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 2 – December 18, 1966
Playoffs
DateJanuary 1, 1967
Eastern ChampionBuffalo Bills
Western ChampionKansas City Chiefs
SiteWar Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
ChampionKansas City Chiefs

The season also saw the debut of the Miami Dolphins. This gave the AFL 9 teams (an odd number). A sixth official, the Line Judge, is added to the officiating crew.

The season ended when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills in the AFL Championship game, and were defeated by the National Football League's Green Bay Packers in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game which is now known as the Super Bowl.

Division Races

The AFL had 9 teams, grouped into two divisions (the new Miami team was in the Eastern Division, which now had 5 teams), and still played a 14-game schedule. With 8 clubs, each one had played a home-and-away game against the other 7 teams. All nine teams faced each other at least once, and each team would play six others twice. Though Boston and Miami were both in the Eastern Division, they met only once that season, on November 27 (each team played Western Division teams Kansas City and Denver twice, while Boston also played San Diego twice and Miami played Oakland twice --- meaning that the Patriots and Dolphins each had a schedule that called for them to face three non-division opponents more often than they played a divisional opponent). The best team in the Eastern Division would play against the best in the Western Division in a championship game. If there was tie in the standings, a playoff would be held to determine the division winner.

Week Eastern Western
1 Houston 1–0–0 Tie (Oak, SD) 1–0–0
2 Houston 2–0–0 Tie (KC, SD) 2–0–0
3 N.Y. Jets 2–0–0 Tie (KC, SD) 2–0–0
4 N.Y. Jets 3–0–0 Tie (KC, SD) 3–0–0
5 N.Y. Jets 3–0–1 San Diego 4–0–0
6 N.Y. Jets 4–0–1 Tie (KC, SD) 4–1–0
7 N.Y. Jets 4–1–1 San Diego 4–1–1
8 N.Y. Jets 4–2–1 Kansas City 5–2–0
9 Boston 4–2–1 Kansas City 6–2–0
10 Buffalo 5–3–1 Kansas City 7–2–0
11 Buffalo 6–3–1 Kansas City 8–2–0
12 Buffalo 7–3–1 Kansas City 8–2–1
13 Buffalo 8–3–1 Kansas City 9–2–1
14 Boston 7–3–2 Kansas City 9–2–1
15 Boston 8–3–2 Kansas City 10–2–1
16 Buffalo 9–4–1 Kansas City 11–2–1

Regular season

Prior to the season, the AFL-NFL Merger was announced, including both leagues agreeing to play an annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game (later known as the Super Bowl) beginning in January 1967.

Also, the Miami Dolphins joined the AFL as the expansion team.

Results
Home/Road Eastern Division Western Division
BOS BUF HOU MIA NY DEN KC OAK SD
Eastern Boston Patriots 14–3 27–21 24–24 10–17 24–43 24–21 35–17
Buffalo Bills 10–20 27–20 58–24 14–3 38–21 20–42 17–17
Houston Oilers 14–38 20–42 13–20 24–0 45–7 31–0 22–28
Miami Dolphins 14–20 0–29 29–28 14–19 24–7 18–19 14–23
New York Jets 38–28 23–33 52–13 30–13 24–32 21–24 17–16
Western Denver Broncos 10–24 40–38 17–7 7–16 10–56 3–17 20–17
Kansas City Chiefs 27–27 14–29 48–23 34–16 37–10 13–34 24–14
Oakland Raiders 10–31 38–23 21–10 28–28 28–10 10–32 20–29
San Diego Chargers 24–0 27–7 44–10 42–27 24–17 17–27 19–41

Standings

Playoffs
The Chiefs lost to the Packers in the first AFL–NFL Championship Game (Super Bowl I)
Main article: 1966 American Football League Championship Game

Stadium changes

Coaching changes

Offseason

In-season

References
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