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1966 AFL season
1966 AFL season
Regular season
Duration	September 2 –; December 18, 1966
Playoffs
Date	January 1, 1967
Eastern champion	Buffalo Bills
Western champion	Kansas City Chiefs
Site	War Memorial Stadium,; Buffalo, New York
Champion	Kansas City Chiefs
	← 1965; AFL seasons; 1967 →;

Oilers

Jets

Bills

Patriots

Dolphins

Chargers

Chiefs

Raiders

Broncos

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AFL teams: West, East

The 1966 AFL season was the seventh regular season of the American Football League. The league began its merger process with the National Football League (NFL) in June, which took effect fully in 1970.

The season also saw the debut of the expansion Miami Dolphins, the AFL's ninth team (an odd number), requiring an idle team each week. A sixth official, the Line Judge, was added to the officiating crew; the NFL added the Line Judge the previous season.

The season ended when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the two-time defending champion Buffalo Bills in the AFL Championship game, and were defeated by the NFL's Green Bay Packers in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, now known as Super Bowl I.

Division races

The AFL now had nine teams, grouped into two divisions (the new Miami team was in the Eastern Division, now with five teams), and still played a 14-game schedule. In previous seasons (with eight clubs), each played a home-and-away game against the other seven. All nine teams faced each other at least once, and each team played six others twice. Though Boston and Miami were both in the Eastern Division, they met only once, 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).

As in earlier years, the division champions met in the league championship game, with the home team rotating, this year to the Eastern champion. If there was a tie in the standings at the top of either division, a one-game playoff would be held to determine the division winner, with the other division's winner idle.

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 in June, and both leagues agreed to have their champions meet in an annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game (later known as the Super Bowl), beginning in January 1967. Additionally, a common draft was introduced, with the first held in March 1967.

Also, the Miami Dolphins joined the AFL as its first expansion team. Joe Auer would score the first touchdown in Dolphins history, returning an opening kickoff for 95 yards versus the Oakland Raiders. ^[1]

Results

Home/Road		Eastern Division					Western Division
Home/Road		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

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.^[2]^[3]

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Kansas City Chiefs	11	2	1	.846	5–1	448	276	W3
Oakland Raiders	8	5	1	.615	4–2	315	288	W1
San Diego Chargers	7	6	1	.538	2–4	335	284	L1
Denver Broncos	4	10	0	.286	1–5	196	381	L2

^[4]^[5]

Playoffs

AFL Championship Game
- Kansas City Chiefs 31, Buffalo Bills 7, January 1, 1967, War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
Super Bowl I
- Green Bay Packers (NFL) 35, Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) 10, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Stadium changes

The Oakland Raiders moved from Frank Youell Field to the new Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
The expansion Miami Dolphins began play at the Orange Bowl

Coaching changes

Offseason

Buffalo Bills: Lou Saban resigned and defensive coach Joe Collier was promoted.
Houston Oilers: Hugh Taylor was fired and Wally Lemm took over as head coach in late January.
Miami Dolphins: The expansion team's first head coach was George Wilson.
Oakland Raiders: Al Davis stepped down as head coach in April to serve as AFL commissioner, and backfield coach John Rauch was promoted.

In-season

Denver Broncos: Mac Speedie resigned after starting the season 0–2; line coach Ray Malavasi was interim head coach for the rest of the season.

References

^ 100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Armando Salguero, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2020, ISBN 978-1-62937-722-3, p.19
^ "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.
^ "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.