1966 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

1966 St. Louis Cardinals season
Head coach	Charley Winner
Home field	Busch Memorial Stadium
Local radio	KMOX
Results
Record	8–5–1
Division place	4th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RG Ken Gray, LT Bob Reynolds, DE Joe Robb, HB Johnny Roland, TE Jackie Smith, SS Jerry Stovall, DT Chuck Walker, FS Larry Wilson
All-Pros	FS Larry Wilson

The 1966 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 47th season the team was in the National Football League (NFL), and the seventh in St. Louis. The team moved its home games from the old Busch Stadium to the new Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis, and bettered their 1965 record of 5–9, winning eight games. Despite the improvement, they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 18th consecutive season.

NFL draft

1966 St. Louis Cardinals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Carl McAdams	DT	Oklahoma
2	23	Harold Lucas	T	Michigan State
3	43	Dave Long	DE	Iowa
4	58	Gary Snook	QB	Iowa
5	73	Jack Clancy *	SE	Michigan
6	88	Tim Van Galder	QB	Iowa State	later played for the Cardinals from 1967, 1971–72
7	102	Charley Arkwright	T	Georgia
8	121	Dan Goich	DT	California
9	135	Charlie Bryant	RB	Allen
10	149	Mike Ringer	HB	Oklahoma
11	163	Bobby Williams	DB	Central State (OK)
12	177	Rickey Johnson	T	Clemson
13	196	Jim Brown	G	Nebraska
14	210	LaVerle Pratt	LB	Idaho
15	224	Darryl Alleman	E	Wyoming
16	238	Dick Kasperek	C	Iowa State
17	252	Benny Russell	QB	Louisville
18	271	Willie Jones	DT	Kansas State
19	285	Tony Golmont	DB	NC State
20	299	Tom Gallagher	DE	Indiana
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1966 St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks 12 Charley Johnson 7 Jim Hart 18 Terry Nofsinger Running backs 33 Willis Crenshaw 23 Johnny Roland 38 Bill Triplett 30 Charlie Bryant 22 Prentice Guatt 31 Mal Hammack FB 27 Roy Shivers Wide receivers 88 Sonny Randle 40 Bobby Joe Conrad 3 Billy Gambrell SE Tight ends 28 Ray Ogden 81 Jackie Smith	Offensive linemen 64 Ken Gray G 61 Bob DeMarco C 73 Ernie McMillan T 74 Bob Reynolds T 66 Rick Sortun G 55 Irv Goode G 51 Dick Kasperek C 52 Dave O'Brien T 68 Frank Roy G 76 John McDowell T Defensive linemen 83 Don Brumm DE 74 Fred Heron DT 89 Dave Long DE 82 Mike Melinkovich DE 84 Joe Robb DE 79 Chuck Walker DT 72 Sam Silas DT	Linebackers 34 Bill Koman 60 Dave Meggyesy 62 Dale Meinert 67 Larry Stallings 57 Mike Strofolino 53 Dave Simmons Defensive backs 37 Pat Fischer CB 21 Jerry Stovall S 45 Bobby Williams 8 Larry Wilson S 42 Abe Woodson CB 49 Jimmy Burson CB 26 Jimmy Heidel Special teams 25 Jim Bakken K	Reserve lists Practice squad rookies in italics

Regular Season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 11	Philadelphia Eagles	W 16–13	1–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	39,065	Recap
2	September 18	Washington Redskins	W 23–7	2–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	40,198	Recap
3	September 25	at Cleveland Browns	W 34–28	3–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	74,814	Recap
4	October 2	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 41–10	4–0	Franklin Field	59,305	Recap
5	October 9	New York Giants	W 24–19	5–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	43,893	Recap
6	October 16	Dallas Cowboys	T 10–10	5–0–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,673	Recap
7	October 23	at Washington Redskins	L 20–26	5–1–1	D.C. Stadium	50,154	Recap
8	October 31	Chicago Bears	W 24–17	6–1–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,516	Recap
9	November 6	at New York Giants	W 20–17	7–1–1	Yankee Stadium	62,967	Recap
10	November 13	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 9–30	7–2–1	Pitt Stadium	28,552	Recap
11	Bye
12	November 27	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 6–3	8–2–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	46,099	Recap
13	December 4	at Dallas Cowboys	L 31–34	8–3–1	Cotton Bowl	76,965	Recap
14	December 11	at Atlanta Falcons	L 10–16	8–4–1	Atlanta Stadium	57,169	Recap
15	December 17	Cleveland Browns	L 10–38	8–5–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	47,721	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 3 7 0 3 13 • Cardinals 0 3 3 10 16 Date: September 11 Location: Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C); wind 5 mph (8 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 PHI Baker 23 yard field goal PHI 3–0 Q2 STL Bakken 9 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 PHI Brown 23 yard run (Baker kick) PHI 10–3 Q3 STL Bakken 47 yard field goal PHI 10–6 Q4 STL Johnson 1 yard run (Bakken kick) STL 13–10 Q4 PHI Baker 33 yard field goal Tie 13–13 Q4 STL Bakken 27 yard field goal STL 16–13

Week 5 vs New York Giants

Week Five: New York Giants (0-3-1) at St. Louis Cardinals (4-0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	10	3	0	6	19
Cardinals	0	0	7	17	24

at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis

• Date: October 9
• Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C)
• Box Score

Game information

First Quarter New York – Pete Gogolak 32-yard field goal. Giants 7–0. New York– Homer Jones 9-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Gogolak kick), Giants 10–0. Second Quarter New York – Pete Gogolak 37-yard field goal, Giants 13–0. Third Quarter St. Louis – Johnny Roland 2-yard rush (Bakken kick), Giants 13–7. Fourth Quarter New York – Pete Gogolak 47-yard field goal, Giants 16–7. St. Louis – Bobby Joe Conrad 40-yard pass from Johnny Roland (Bakken kick), Giants 16–14. New York – Pete Gogolak 47-yard field goal, Giants 19–14. St. Louis – Billy Gambrell 30-yard pass from Charley Johnson (Bakken kick), Cardinals 21–19. St. Louis – Jim Bakken 36-yard field goal, Cardinals 24–19. Top Passers Giants – Earl Morrall: 19/35, 162 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT Cardinals – Charley Johnson: 8/17, 139 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT Top rushers Giants – Ernie Koy Jr.: 22 car, 81 yds, Cardinals – Johnny Roland: 19 car, 60 yds. 1 TD Top receivers Giants – Aaron Thomas: 8 rec, 86 yds. Cardinals – Jackie Smith: 3 rec, 49 yds.

Week 9 at New York Giants

Week Nine: St. Louis Cardinals (6-1-1) at New York Giants (1-5-1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	3	14	3	20
Giants	0	7	0	10	17

at Yankee Stadium, New York City

• Date: November 6
• Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C)
• Box Score

Game information

First Quarter Second Quarter St. Louis – Jim Bakken 20-yard field goal, Cardinals 3–0. New York – Jerry Hillebrand 31-yard interception return (Pete Gogolak kick), Giants 7–3. Third Quarter St. Louis – Jackie Smith 69-yard pass from Charley Johnson (Bakken kick), Cardinals 10–7. St. Louis – Prentice Gautt 8-yard pass from Terry Nofsinger (Bakken kick), Cardinals 17–7. Fourth Quarter New York – Pete Gogolak 26-yard field goal, Cardinals 17–10. St. Louis – Jim Bakken 41-yard field goal, Cardinals 20–10. New York – Joe Morrison 7-yard pass from Gary Wood (Pete Gogolak kick), Cardinals 20–17. Top Passers Cardinals – Charley Johnson: 7/19, 123 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT Giants – Gary Wood: 15/33, 216 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Top rushers Cardinals – Johnny Roland: 23 car, 76 yds. Giants – Chuck Mercein: 7 car, 15 yds, Top receivers Cardinals – Jackie Smith: 3 rec, 103 yds 1 TD Giants – Joe Morrison: 5 rec, 95 yds 1 TD.

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	10	3	1	.769	9–3–1	445	239	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	9	5	0	.643	8–5	326	340	W4
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	9–4	403	259	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	8	5	1	.615	7–5–1	264	265	L3
Washington Redskins	7	7	0	.500	7–6	351	355	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	8	1	.385	4–8–1	316	347	W2
Atlanta Falcons	3	11	0	.214	2–5	204	437	L1
New York Giants	1	12	1	.077	1–11–1	263	501	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	12	2	0	.857	10–2	335	163	W5
Baltimore Colts	9	5	0	.643	7–5	314	226	W1
Los Angeles Rams	8	6	0	.571	6–6	289	212	L1
San Francisco 49ers	6	6	2	.500	5–5–2	320	325	L1
Chicago Bears	5	7	2	.417	4–6–2	234	272	W1
Detroit Lions	4	9	1	.308	3–8–1	206	317	L3
Minnesota Vikings	4	9	1	.308	4–7–1	292	304	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

External links

• 1966 St. Louis Cardinals at Pro-Football-Reference.com