The 1966 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s seventh season in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. It was the first season for head coach Joe Collier, who had been the Bills' defensive coordinator for the previous four seasons. It ended with a loss in the

AFL Championship Game For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

, 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. Although

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

Tom Sestak hampered by a bad knee, defensive linemen

Jim Dunaway James Kenneth Dunaway (September 3, 1941 – May 12, 2018) was an American football player. A defensive tackle, he played college football at the University of Mississippi, and played professionally in the American Football League for the Buffal ...

and

Ron McDole Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

took a leadership position. Linebackers

Mike Stratton David Michael Stratton (April 10, 1941 – March 25, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker for 12 seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He won two AFL championships w ...

, Harry Jacobs and John Tracey, and defensive backs

George Saimes George Thomas Saimes (September 1, 1941 – March 8, 2013) was an American football defensive back and fullback for Michigan State University and the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, which produced American Football League Champion ...

Butch Byrd George Edward "Butch" Byrd (born September 20, 1941) is a former professional American football defensive back. He started his career playing college football at Boston University. He joined the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and immediately made an imp ...

Hagood Clarke Hagood Clarke, III (born June 14, 1942) is an American former college and professional football player who was a defensive back in the American Football League (AFL) for five seasons during the 1960s. Clarke played college football for the Uni ...

and Tom Janik provided a strong defensive foundation. Halfback Bobby Burnett and split end

Bobby Crockett Robert Paul Crockett (born April 3, 1943) is a former American football wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL) with the Buffalo Bills in 1966, and also in 1968 and 1969. He was born in Briggsville, Arkansas and played high school f ...

joined long-time Bills running back

Wray Carlton Linwood Wray Carlton (born June 18, 1937) is a former American gridiron football running back who played professionally in both Canada and the United States. Unable to come to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had selected him in the 19 ...

and quarterback

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. B ...

, leading Buffalo's offense to scoring 358 points, 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 The Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running profess ...

honors for Burnett.

Personnel

Staff

Final roster

Offseason

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 a ...

, who had coached the Bills to consecutive AFL Championships, left the team after the 1965 season to coach at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

AFL Draft

Regular season

Season schedule

Note: * Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 10

Pro-Football-Reference.com
Retrieved 2014-Jan-24.

Roster

Postseason

AFL Championship Game

31, Buffalo Bills 7 :''January 1, 1967, at War Memorial Stadium,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

''
Attendance: 42,080 The Bills entered the

AFL championship game For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

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 Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NF ...

. 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 Christopher William Burford III (born January 31, 1938) is a former American football wide receiver. Burford was a football captain at Stanford, leading the NCAA in receptions with 61 in 1959. The following year, he was a first round draft pic ...

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:1966 Buffalo Bills Season

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

Buffalo Bills seasons 1966 in sports in New York (state)