1966 Buffalo Bills season

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 77 Stew Barber T 50 Al Bemiller G 71 Wayne DeSutter T 79 Dick Hudson T 67 Joe O'Donnell G 65 Remi Prudhomme C 57 Bob Schmidt C 66 Billy Shaw G 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

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Kemp 1 yard run (Lusteg kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 BUF Byrd 60 yard interception return (Lusteg kick) BUF 14–0 Q1 BUF Byrd 72 yard punt return (Lusteg kick) BUF 21–0 Q1 MIA Mingo 24 yard field goal BUF 21–3 Q2 BUF Crockett 26 yard pass from Kemp (Lusteg kick) BUF 28–3 Q2 BUF Burnett 1 yard run (Lusteg kick) BUF 35–3 Q2 BUF Burnett 3 yard run (kick failed) BUF 41–3 Q2 MIA Roderick 4 yard pass from Wilson (Mingo kick) BUF 41–10 Q2 BUF Spikes 11 yard run (Lusteg kick) BUF 48–10 Q3 BUF Lusteg 13 yard field goal BUF 51–10 Q4 MIA Roberson 66 yard pass from Wilson (Mingo kick) BUF 51–17 Q4 BUF Spikes 18 yard pass from Lamonica (Lusteg kick) BUF 58–17 Q4 MIA Kocourek 13 yard pass from Wilson (Mingo kick) BUF 58–24

^[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

Scoring summary Q3 NYJ Jim Turner 43 yard field goal NYJ 3–0 Q4 BUF Elbert Dubenion 14 yard pass from Jack Kemp (Booth Lusteg kick) BUF 7–3 Q4 BUF Jim Dunaway 72 yard blocked field goal return (Booth Lusteg kick) BUF 14–3

^[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

• Buffalo Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Buffalo Bills on jt-sw.com