1966 Buffalo Bills season

1966 Buffalo Bills season
1966 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Joe Collier
Home field	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	9–4–1
Division place	1st AFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Lost AFL Championship; (vs. Chiefs) 7–31
	← 1965; Bills seasons; 1967 →;

The 1966 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s seventh season in the American Football League. It was the first season for head coach Joe Collier, who had been the Bills' defensive coordinator for the previous four seasons.^[1]

It ended with a loss in the AFL Championship Game to the Kansas City Chiefs, ending the team's two-year reign as league champions. The score was 31-7 during the time.

The Bills allowed the fewest points in the AFL for the third consecutive year.^[2] Although defensive tackle Tom Sestak hampered by a bad knee, defensive linemen Jim Dunaway and Ron McDole took a leadership position. Linebackers Mike Stratton, Harry Jacobs and John Tracey, and defensive backs George Saimes, Butch Byrd, Hagood Clarke and Tom Janik provided a strong defensive foundation.^[3]

Halfback Bobby Burnett and split end Bobby Crockett joined long-time Bills running back Wray Carlton and quarterback Jack Kemp, leading Buffalo's offense to scoring 358 points,^[4] second-most in the AFL in 1966. Burnett's 1,185 total yards from scrimmage were 5th in the AFL, and garnered AFL Rookie of the Year honors for Burnett.

Personnel

Staff

1966 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

President/owner – Ralph Wilson
Vice-president/minority owner – Pat McGroder

Head coaches

Head coach – Joe Collier

Offensive coaches

Running backs/wide receivers – John Mazur
Offensive line – Jerry Smith

Defensive coaches

Linebackers/Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe

Final roster

1966 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks

15 Jack Kemp
12 Daryle Lamonica

Running backs

21 Bobby Burnett HB
30 Wray Carlton RB
35 Doug Goodwin
34 Allen Smith HB
23 Jack Spikes RB

Wide receivers

85 Glenn Bass
83 Bobby Crockett SE/WR
44 Elbert Dubenion
48 Pete Mills WR
40 Ed Rutkowski QB/RB/SE/KR

Tight ends

73 Paul Costa
80 Charley Ferguson

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

88 Tom Day DE
78 Jim Dunaway DT
82 Dave Costa DE
74 Tom Keating DT
72 Ron McDole DE
75 Dudley Meredith DT
70 Tom Sestak DT

Linebackers

59 Paul Guidry LB
64 Harry Jacobs MLB
55 Paul Maguire LB/P
56 Marty Schottenheimer MLB
58 Mike Stratton OLB
51 John Tracey OLB

Defensive backs

42 Butch Byrd CB
45 Hagood Clarke SS
24 Booker Edgerson CB
27 Tom Janik SS
47 Charlie King CB
26 George Saimes FS
22 Charley Warner CB/KR

Special teams

49 Booth Lusteg K

Note: rookies in italics

Offseason

Lou Saban, who had coached the Bills to consecutive AFL Championships, left the team after the 1965 season to coach at the University of Maryland.

AFL draft

Regular season

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 4	at San Diego Chargers	L 7–27	0–1	Balboa Stadium	27,572	Recap
2	September 11	Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–42	0–2	War Memorial Stadium	42,023	Recap
3	September 18	Miami Dolphins	W 58–24	1–2	War Memorial Stadium	37,546	Recap
4	September 25	Houston Oilers	W 27–20	2–2	War Memorial Stadium	42,256	Recap
5	October 2	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 29–14	3–2	Municipal Stadium	43,885	Recap
6	October 8	Boston Patriots	L 10–20	3–3	War Memorial Stadium	45,542	Recap
7	October 16	San Diego Chargers	T 17–17	3–3–1	War Memorial Stadium	45,169	Recap
8	Bye
9	October 30	at New York Jets	W 33–23	4–3–1	Shea Stadium	61,552	Recap
10	November 6	at Miami Dolphins	W 29–0	5–3–1	Miami Orange Bowl	37,177	Recap
11	November 13	New York Jets	W 14–3	6–3–1	War Memorial Stadium	45,738	Recap
12	November 20	at Houston Oilers	W 42–20	7–3–1	Rice Stadium	27,312	Recap
13	November 24	at Oakland Raiders	W 31–10	8–3–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	36,781	Recap
14	December 4	at Boston Patriots	L 3–14	8–4–1	Fenway Park	39,350	Recap
15	Bye
16	December 18	Denver Broncos	W 38–21	9–4–1	War Memorial Stadium	40,583	Recap

Note:

Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills	9	4	1	.692	6–2	358	255	W1
Boston Patriots	8	4	2	.667	5–1–1	315	283	L1
New York Jets	6	6	2	.500	4–3–1	322	312	W1
Houston Oilers	3	11	0	.214	1–7	335	396	L8
Miami Dolphins	3	11	0	.214	2–5	213	362	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.^[5]^[6]

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	3	7	0	14	24
• Bills	21	27	3	7	58

Date: September 18
Location: War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, NY
Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C); wind 3 mph

^[7]

Week 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	0	0	3	0	3
• Bills	0	0	0	14	14

Date: November 13
Location: War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
Game attendance: 45,738
Game weather: 33 °F (1 °C); wind 10 mph

^[8]

Roster

Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks

- Daryle Lamonica
15 Jack Kemp

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Defensive backs

Special teams

K-Booth Lusteg

Postseason

AFL Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	7	10	0	14	31
Bills	7	0	0	0	7

Kansas City Chiefs 31, Buffalo Bills 7

January 1, 1967, at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
Attendance: 42,080

The Bills entered the AFL championship game seeking their third consecutive title. Though the game was played in Buffalo, the visiting Kansas City Chiefs were three-point favorites, mainly because of their explosive and innovative offense led by head coach Hank Stram. The Bills were a more conventional team with a solid defensive line and a running mindset on offense.

Buffalo found no offensive rhythm in the second half, and the Chiefs closed the game out in the fourth quarter with Dawson found Chris Burford for a 45-yard gain, setting up a one-foot touchdown run by rookie Mike Garrett. Less than two minutes later, Garrett scored a second touchdown following another Bills fumble.

Scoring

KC – Arbanas 29 pass from Dawson (Mercer kick)
BUF – Dubenion 69 pass from Kemp (Lusteg kick)
KC – Taylor 29 pass from Dawson (Mercer kick)
KC – Field goal Mercer 32
KC – Garrett 1 run (Mercer kick)
KC – Garrett 18 run (Mercer kick)

Awards and records

Bobby Burnett, Rookie of the Year

References

^ Collier would coach the Bills for three seasons: 1966–1968
^ Pro-Football-Reference: 1966 AFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics
^ Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p.108, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
^ 25.6 per game
^ "Chargers' tie jolt to Raiders". Oakland Tribune. November 26, 1965. p. 51 – via newspapers.com.
^ "AFL standings". Lompoc Records. December 19, 1966. p. 2-B – via newspapers.com.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jan-06.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jan-24.

[1] Collier would coach the Bills for three seasons: 1966–1968

[2] Pro-Football-Reference: 1966 AFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics

[3] Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p.108, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1

[4] 25.6 per game

[5] "Chargers' tie jolt to Raiders". Oakland Tribune. November 26, 1965. p. 51 – via newspapers.com.

[6] "AFL standings". Lompoc Records. December 19, 1966. p. 2-B – via newspapers.com.

[7] Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jan-06.

[8] Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jan-24.

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1966 Buffalo Bills season

Personnel

Staff

Final roster

Offseason

AFL draft

Regular season

Season schedule

Standings

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 10

Roster

Postseason

AFL Championship Game

Awards and records

References

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