1966 Dallas Cowboys season

NFL draft

Main article: 1966 NFL draft

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Conference opponents are in bold text

• A bye week was necessary in , as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.
• This year was the first time the Dallas Cowboys played on Thanksgiving Day

Game summaries

Week 2 vs. New York Giants

• Dallas – Don Perkins 1-yard rush (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 7–0.

Second Quarter

• New York – Homer Jones 20-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Gogolak kick) 7–7.
• Dallas – Bob Hayes 74-yard pass from Don Meredith (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 14–7.
• Dallas – Danny Villanueva 12-yard field goal, Cowboys 17–7.
• Dallas – Dan Reeves 2-yard pass from Don Meredith (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 24–7.
• Dallas – Dan Reeves 1-yard pass from Don Meredith (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 31–7.

Third Quarter

• Dallas – Bob Hayes 39-yard pass from Don Meredith (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 38–7.
• Dallas – Dan Reeves 19-yard pass from Don Meredith (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 45–7.

Fourth Quarter

• Dallas – Cornell Green 41-yard interception return (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 52–7|stats=Top Passers
• Giants – Earl Morrall: 9/25, 106 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
• Cowboys – Don Meredith: 14/24, 358 yds, 5 TD Top rushers
• Giants – Chuck Mercein: 11 car, 83 yds
• Cowboys – Don Perkins: 16 car, 52 yds, 1 TD Top receivers
• Giants – Homer Jones: 4 rec, 46 yds. 1 TD
• Cowboys – Bob Hayes: 6 rec, 195 yds. 2 TD}}

Week 8 vs Steelers

First quarter

• PIT – Marv Woodson 56-yard interception return (Mike Clark kick), Steelers 7–0. Second quarter
• DAL – Dan Reeves 1-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick), 7–7.
• DAL – Lee Roy Jordan 49-yard interception return (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 14–7.
• DAL – Danny Villanueva 12-yard field goal, Cowboys 17–7.
• DAL – Dan Reeves 8-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick), Cowboys 24–7.
• PIT – Jim Butler 93-yard kickoff return (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 24–14. Third quarter
• DAL – Mel Renfro 87-yard kickoff return (Danny Villanueva kick), Cowboys 31–14.
• DAL – Frank Clarke 22-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick), Cowboys 38–14.
• PIT – John Hilton 4-yard pass from Ron Smith (Mike Clark kick), Cowboys 38–21.
• DAL – Pete Gent 84-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick), Cowboys 45–21. Fourth quarter
• DAL – J.D. Smith 1-yard run (Danny Villanueva kick), Cowboys 52–21. ;Top passers
• PIT – Ron Smith – 8/25, 115 yards, TD
• DAL – Don Meredith – 11/25, 226 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT ;Top rushers
• PIT – Jim Butler – 5 rushes, 9 yards
• DAL – Dan Reeves – 13 rushes, 66 yards ;Top receivers
• PIT – Roy Jefferson – 4 receptions, 74 yards
• DAL – Pete Gent – 1 reception, 84 yards, TD

Week 10 at Redskins

Don Meredith played through a broken rib

Week 12 vs Browns

First quarter

• DAL – Danny Villanueva 11-yard field goal. Cowboys 3-0.
• DAL – Danny Villanueva 31-yard field goal. Cowboys 6-0. Second quarter
• CLE – Leroy Kelly 1-yard run (Lou Groza kick). Browns 7-6.
• DAL – Dan Reeves 6-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 13-7.
• CLE – Ernie Green 16-yard pass from Frank Ryan (Lou Groza kick). Browns 14-13. Third quarter
• DAL – Danny Villanueva 12-yard field goal. Cowboys 16-14.
• DAL – Danny Villanueva 13-yard field goal. Cowboys 19-14. Fourth quarter
• DAL – Don Perkins 9-yard run (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 26-14. ;Top passers
• CLE – Frank Ryan – 12/26, 190 yards, TD
• DAL – Don Meredith – 16/24, 131 yards, TD ;Top rushers
• CLE – Leroy Kelly – 15 rushes, 115 yards, TD
• DAL – Don Perkins – 23 rushes, 111 yards, TD Receiving
• CLE – Gary Collins – 5 receptions, 92 yards
• DAL – Bob Hayes – 6 receptions, 54 yards

Week 15 at New York Giants

• Dallas – George Andrie 6-yard interception return (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 7–0.

Second Quarter

Third Quarter

Fourth Quarter

• New York – Joe Morrison 1-yard rush (Gogolak kick), 7–7.
• Dallas – Bob Hayes 41-yard pass from Craig Morton (Villanueva kick), Cowboys 14–7.
• Dallas – Danny Villanueva 10-yard field goal, Cowboys 17–7.|stats=Top Passers
• Cowboys – Craig Morton: 6/9, 88 yds, 1 TD
• Giants – Gary Wood: 14/28, 198 yds, 2 INT

Top rushers

• Cowboys – Don Perkins: 10 car, 41 yds
• Giants – Allen Jacobs: 11 car, 28 yds

Top receivers

• Cowboys – Bob Hayes: 7 rec, 99 yds,1 TD
• Giants – Joe Morrison: 6 rec, 131 yds}}

Postseason

Main article: 1966 NFL Championship Game

NFL Championship Game

First quarter

• GB – Elijah Pitts 17-yard pass from Bart Starr (Don Chandler kick)
• GB – Jim Grabowski 18-yard fumble return (Don Chandler kick)
• DAL – Dan Reeves 3-yard run (Danny Villanueva kick)
• DAL – Don Perkins 23-yard run (Danny Villanueva kick) Second quarter
• GB – Carroll Dale 51-yard pass from Bart Starr (Don Chandler kick)
• DAL – Danny Villanueva 11-yard field goal Third quarter
• DAL – Danny Villanueva 32-yard field goal
• GB – Boyd Dowler 16-yard pass from Bart Starr (Don Chandler kick) Fourth quarter
• GB – Max McGee 28-yard pass from Bart Starr (kick blocked)
• DAL – Frank Clarke 68-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick) Passing
• GB – Bart Starr 19/28, 304 yards, 4 TD
• DAL – Don Meredith 15/31, 238 yards, TD, INT Rushing
• GB – Elijah Pitts 12 att, 66 yards
• DAL – Don Perkins 17 att, 108 yards, TD Receiving
• GB – Carroll Dale 5 rec, 128 yards, TD
• DAL – Frank Clarke 3 rec, 102 yards, TD Green Bay took an early 14–0 lead on two first-quarter scores; a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bart Starr to Elijah Pitts and an 18-yard fumble return by Jim Grabowski on the ensuing kickoff. The Cowboys tied the score with two touchdowns towards the end of the quarter.

Starr's third touchdown pass of the game gave the Packers a 34–20 lead with 5:20 left in the game, but the Cowboys responded with a 68-yard touchdown pass from Don Meredith to Frank Clarke. Dallas advanced to the Green Bay 22-yard line on their next drive, when a pass interference penalty gave the Cowboys a first down at the Packer 2-yard line. Green Bay's Tom Brown intercepted a Meredith pass in the end zone with 28 seconds left to play to preserve the victory for the Packers.

Standings

Season recap

With the growth in popularity of televised NFL games, the league began looking for a second team in addition to the Detroit Lions, to host an annual Thanksgiving Day game. Every team turned down the offer, except for the Dallas Cowboys. General Manager Tex Schramm recognized this as an opportunity for the franchise to increase its popularity and establish its own Thanksgiving Day game tradition.

In 1966, the Cowboys who had been founded six years earlier, adopted the practice of hosting Thanksgiving games. It is widely rumored that the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host Thanksgiving games as a condition of their very first one (since games on days other than Sunday were uncommon at the time and thus high attendance was not a certainty). Since then, the two "traditional" Thanksgiving Day pro football games have been in Detroit and Dallas.

Statistics

Team leaders

Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL.

Awards and honors

• Don Meredith, Bert Bell Award

References

References

1. Ostly, Ayrton. "Lions, Cowboys and Thanksgiving: Why Detroit and Dallas always play on the holiday".
2. "Pre-1982 Sacks Added To Pro Football Reference".
3. "Maxwell Football Club".