1966 Pittsburgh Steelers season

NFL team season

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The 1966 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 34th in the National Football League.

Roster

**1966 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster**

	Quarterbacks 15 George Izo 14 Bill Nelsen 10 Ron C. Smith Running backs 30 Willie Asbury 23 Cannonball Butler FB 42 Dick Hoak Wide receivers 87 Roy Jefferson 25 Jerry Simmons 86 J. R. Wilburn Tight ends 85 Gary Ballman 82 John Hilton		Offensive linemen 71 Charlie Bradshaw T 73 Ray Mansfield C 72 Fran O'Brien T 58 Roger Pillath T 62 Ralph Wenzel G Defensive linemen 78 John Baker DE 64 Chuck Hinton DT 75 Ken Kortas DT 60 Ben McGee DE 65 Lloyd Voss DE/DT		Linebackers 53 John Campbell 50 Bill Saul 34 Andy Russell Defensive backs 26 Brady Keys CB 20 Paul Martha FS 28 Clendon Thomas S 47 Marv Woodson CB Special teams 83 Mike Clark K 46 Frank Lambert P		Rookies in italics 49 active, 0 inactive, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	September 11	New York Giants	T 34–34	0–0–1	Pitt Stadium
2	September 18	Detroit Lions	W 17–3	1–0–1	Pitt Stadium
3	September 25	Washington Redskins	L 27–33	1–1–1	Pitt Stadium
4	October 2	at Washington Redskins	L 10–24	1–2–1	D.C. Stadium
5	October 8	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–41	1–3–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
6	October 16	Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–31	1–4–1	Pitt Stadium
7	Bye
8	October 30	at Dallas Cowboys	L 21–52	1–5–1	Cotton Bowl
9	November 6	Cleveland Browns	W 16–6	2–5–1	Pitt Stadium
10	November 13	St. Louis Cardinals	W 30–9	3–5–1	Pitt Stadium
11	November 20	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–20	3–6–1	Pitt Stadium
12	November 27	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 3–6	3–7–1	Busch Stadium
13	December 4	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 23–27	3–8–1	Franklin Field
14	December 11	at New York Giants	W47–28	4–8–1	Yankee Stadium
15	December 18	at Atlanta Falcons	W 57–33 ^{[note 1]}	5–8–1	Atlanta Stadium

A bye week was necessary in 1966, as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.

Game summaries

Week 1 vs New York Giants

Week One: New York Giants (0-0) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-0) - Game Summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	7	10	0	17	34
Steelers	7	7	17	3	34

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh

Date: September 11
Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C)
Pro Football Reference

Game information

First Quarter

New York Giants – Homer Jones 75-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Gogolak kick), Giants 7-0
Pittsburgh – Gary Ballman 9-yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Clark kick), 7–7

Second Quarter

New York Giants – Bobby Crespino 19-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Gogolak kick), Giants 14-7
Pittsburgh – Willie Asbury 6-yard run (Clark kick), 14–14
New York Giants – Pete Gogolak 26-yard field goal, Giants 17-14

Third Quarter

Pittsburgh – Simmons 21-yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Clark kick), Steelers 21–17
Pittsburgh – Mike Clark 25-yard field goal, Steelers 24–17
Pittsburgh – John Hilton 31-yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Clark kick), Steelers 31–17

Fourth Quarter

New York Giants – Pete Gogolak 14-yard field goal, Steelers 31–20
New York Giants – Homer Jones 98-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Gogolak kick) Steelers 31–27
New York Giants – Wendall Harris 72-yard fumble return (Gogolak kick), Giants 34-31
Pittsburgh – Mike Clark 41-yard field goal, 34–34

Top Passers

NYG – Earl Morrall: 10/18, 273 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
NE – Bill Nelson: 16/27, 265 yds, 3 TD

Top rushers

NYG – Chuck Mercien: 8 car, 14 yds
PIT – Willie Asbury: 18 car, 83 yds. 1 TD

Top receivers

NYG – Homer Jones: 2 rec, 173 yds. 2 TD
PIT – Gary Ballman: 5 rec, 114 yds. 1 TD

Week 2 (Sunday September 18, 1966): Detroit Lions

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	0	0	3	3
Steelers	3	0	7	7	17

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 35,473
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Clark 13 3–0
Pittsburgh – Hilton 32 pass from R. Smith (Clark kick)10–0
Detroit – FG Walker 42 10–3
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 84 pass from R. Smith (Clark kick)17–3

Week 3 (Sunday September 25, 1966): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	9	0	21	3	33
Steelers	0	14	10	3	27

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 37,505
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Washington – FG Gogolak 41 0–3
Washington – FG Gogolak 47 0–6
Washington – FG Gogolak 29 0–9
Pittsburgh – Ballman 49 pass from R. Smith (Clark kick)7–9
Pittsburgh – J. Bradshaw 27 interception return (Clark kick)14–9
Pittsburgh – Ballman 79 pass from R. Smith (Clark kick)21–9
Washington – Taylor 4 pass from Jurgensen (Gogolak kick)21–16
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 47 24–16
Washington – Mitchell 35 pass from Jurgensen (Gogolak kick)24–23
Washington – Taylor 2 run (Gogolak kick)24–30
Washington – FG Gogolak 15 24–33
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 42 27–33

Week 4 (Sunday October 2, 1966): Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	10	0	0	10
Redskins	10	0	7	7	24

at D.C. Stadium, Washington, DC

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 47,360
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Washington – Taylor 60 pass from Jurgensen (Gogolak kick)0–7
Washington – FG Gogolak 12 0–10
Pittsburgh – Hoak 2 run (Clark kick)7–10
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 25 10–10
Washington – Mitchell 51 pass from Jurgensen (Gogolak kick)10–17
Washington – Mitchell 70 pass from Jurgensen (Gogolak kick)10–24

Week 5 (Saturday October 8, 1966): Cleveland Browns

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	0	10	0	10
Browns	14	7	0	20	41

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 82,687
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Cleveland – Collins 23 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)0–7
Cleveland – Collins 14 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)0–14
Cleveland – Kelly 2 run (Groza kick)0–21
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 23 pass from Izo (Clark kick)7–21
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 16 10–21
Cleveland – Kelly 10 run (kick failed)10–27
Cleveland – Warfield 3 fumble return (Groza kick)10–34
Cleveland – R. Smith 24 pass from Ninowski (Groza kick)10–41

Week 6 (Sunday October 16, 1966): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	14	0	17	31
Steelers	7	7	0	0	14

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 28,233
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Asbury 37 pass from Izo (Clark kick)7–0
Philadelphia – Gros 11 run (Baker kick)7–7
Pittsburgh – Asbury 11 run (Clark kick)14–7
Philadelphia – Gros 1 run (Baker kick)14–14
Philadelphia – Brown 9 pass from Snead (Baker kick)14–21
Philadelphia – Goodwin 11 pass from Snead (Baker kick)14–28
Philadelphia – FG Baker 51 14–31

Week 8 at Cowboys

Week Eight: Pittsburgh Steelers (1–4–1) at Dallas Cowboys (4–1–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	7	7	7	0	21
Cowboys	0	24	21	7	52

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Date: October 30
Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C)
Game attendance: 58,453
Box Score

Game information

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). Tie 7–7. Drive:
DAL – Lee Roy Jordan 49-yard interception return (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 14–7.
DAL – Danny Villanueva 12-yard field goal. Cowboys 17–7. Drive:
DAL – Dan Reeves 8-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 24–7. Drive:
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. Drive:
PIT – John Hilton 4-yard pass from Ron Smith (Mike Clark kick). Cowboys 38–21. Drive:
DAL – Pete Gent 84-yard pass from Don Meredith (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 45–21. Drive:

Fourth quarter

DAL – J.D. Smith 1-yard run (Danny Villanueva kick). Cowboys 52–21. Drive:

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 9 vs Browns

Week Nine: Cleveland Browns (5–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1–5–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	6	0	0	6
Steelers	0	3	3	10	16

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Date: November 6, 1966
Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C)
Game attendance: 36,690
Box Score

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Browns	Passing	Frank Ryan	19/37, 228 Yds, TD, 5 INT
	Rushing	Leroy Kelly	19 Rush, 82 Yds
	Receiving	Gary Collins	7 Rec, 93 Yds, TD
Steelers	Passing	Ron Smith	11/19, 151 Yds, TD
	Rushing	Willie Asbury	17 Rush, 94 Yds
	Receiving	Gary Ballman	7 Rec, 88 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	CLE	PIT
2					Browns	Gary Collins 24-yard touchdown reception from Frank Ryan, kick no good	6	0
2					Steelers	28-yard field goal by Mike Clark	6	3
2					Steelers	25-yard field goal by Mike Clark	6	6
3					Steelers	Gary Ballman 8-yard touchdown reception from Ron Smith, Mike Clark kick good	6	13
4					Steelers	42-yard field goal by Mike Clark	6	16
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							6	16

Week 10 (Sunday November 13, 1966): St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	9	0	0	0	9
Steelers	3	10	3	14	30

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 28,552
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

St. Louis – FG Bakken 37 0–3
St. Louis – FG Bakken 17 0–6
St. Louis – FG Bakken 12 0–9
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 40 3–9
Pittsburgh – Russell 14 blocked punt return (Clark kick)10–9
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 33 13–9
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 22 16–9
Pittsburgh – Hilton 11 pass from R. Smith (Clark kick)23–9
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 42 pass from Hoak30–9

Week 11 (Sunday November 20, 1966): Dallas Cowboys

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	10	3	7	20
Steelers	0	7	0	0	7

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 42,185
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Dallas – Meredith 3 run (Villanueva kick)0–7
Dallas – FG Villandueva 27 0–10
Pittsburgh – Asbury 11 pass from R. Smith (Clark kick)7–10
Dallas – FG Villanueva 37 7–13
Dallas – Hayes 38 pass from Meredith (Villanueva kick)7–20

Week 12 (Sunday November 27, 1966): St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	3	0	0	0	3
Cardinals	3	0	3	0	6

at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 46,099
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Clark 47 3–0
St. Louis – FG Bakken 26 3–3
St. Louis – FG Bakken 15 3–6

Week 13 (Sunday December 4, 1966): Philadelphia Eagles

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	13	3	7	23
Eagles	3	10	7	7	27

at Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 54,275
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Philadelphia – FG Baker 35 0–3
Pittsburgh – Asbury 7 run (Clark kick)7–3
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 37 10–3
Philadelphia – Woodeshick 3 run (Baker kick)10–10
Philadelphia – FG Baker 22 10–13
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 32 13–13
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 35 16–13
Philadelphia – Woodeshick 1 run (Baker kick)16–20
Philadelphia – Concannon 1 run (Baker kick)16–27
Pittsburgh – Asbury 2 run (Clark kick)23–27

Week 14 at New York Giants

Week Fourteen: Pittsburgh Steelers (3-8-1) at New York Giants (1-10-1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	5	14	21	7	47
Giants	0	14	7	7	28

at Yankee Stadium, New York City

Date: December 11
Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C)
Box Score

Game information

First Quarter

Pittsburgh – Safety, Spider Lockhart stepped out of endzone, Steelers 2-0.
Pittsburgh – Mike Clark 12-yard field goal, Steelers 5–0.

Second Quarter

Pittsburgh – Amos Bullocks 13-yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Clark kick), Steelers 12–0.
New York – Aaron Thomas 1-yard pass from Tom Kennedy (Gogolak kick), Steelers 12-7.
Pittsburgh – Dick Leftridge 2-yard run (Clark kick), Steelers 19–7.
New York – Homer Jones 82-yard pass from Tom Kennedy (Gogolak kick), Steelers 19–14.

Third Quarter

Pittsburgh – Willie Asbury 1-yard run (Clark kick), Steelers 26–14.
Pittsburgh – Willie Asbury 1-yard run (Clark kick), Steelers 33–14.
New York – Aaron Thomas 5-yard pass from Tom Kennedy (Gogolak kick), Steelers 33-21.
Pittsburgh – Cannonball Butler 66-yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Clark kick), Steelers 40–21.

Fourth Quarter

Pittsburgh – Dick Leftridge 2-yard run (extra point pass successful), Steelers 47–21.
New York – Bobby Crespino 16-yard pass from Tom Kennedy (Gogolak kick), Steelers 47-28.

Top Passers

Steelers – Bill Nelsen: 17/31, 322 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Giants– Tom Kennedy: 14/24, 229 yds, 4 TD

Top rushers

Steelers – Willie Asbury: 9 car, 19 yds. 2 TD
Giants – Allen Jacobs: 14 car, 60 yds

Top receivers

Steelers – Cannonball Butler: 2 rec, 80 yds. 1 TD
Giants – Homer Jones: 3 rec, 111 yds. 1 TD

Week 15 (Sunday December 18, 1966): Atlanta Falcons

	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	6	23	21	7	57
Falcons	0	7	14	12	33

at Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 56,229
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Clark 22 3–0
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 19 6–0
Pittsburgh – Ballman 12 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)13–0
Pittsburgh – Bullocks 13 run (Clark kick)20–0
Atlanta – Coffey 1 run (Kirouac kick)20–7
Pittsburgh – Butler 1 run (run failed)26–7
Pittsburgh – FG Clark 21 29–7
Atlanta – Ridlehuber 53 pass from Johnson (Kirouac kick)29–14
Pittsburgh – Butler 1 run (Clark kick)36–14
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 68 pass from Nelsen (Clark kick)43–14
Pittsburgh – Thomas 23 fumble return (Clark kick)50–14
Atlanta – Ridlehuber 19 pass form Johnson (Kirouac kick)50–21
Pittsburgh – Asbury 2 run (Clark kick)57–21
Atlanta – Anderson 62 pass from Claridge (kick failed)57–27
Atlanta – Anderson 12 pass from Claridge (kick failed)57–33

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	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.

Notes

^ This is the only game in NFL history with this final score^[1]

References

^ https://nflscorigami.com/

External links

1966 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Profootballreference.com
1966 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com

v t e Pittsburgh Steelers seasons
Formerly the Pittsburgh Pirates (1933–1939)
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

v t e Pittsburgh Steelers
Founded in 1933 Formerly the Pittsburgh Pirates (1933–1939) Based and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Franchise	History All-Time Team Seasons Logos and uniforms Coaches Players Starting quarterbacks First-round draft picks Records
Stadiums	Home fields: Forbes Field Pitt Stadium Three Rivers Stadium Acrisure Stadium Training facilities: Rooney Field Point Stadium UPMC Rooney Sports Complex Chuck Noll Field
Culture	Football in Western Pennsylvania Rooney family Myron Cope Steelmark Steeler Nation Terrible Towel Steel Curtain Black Sunday Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story Evening Shade The Chief "Renegade" "Here We Go" "Black and Yellow" YinzCam This Is Us Steel Curtain Roller Coaster
Lore	Steelers lore J.P. Rooneys Pennsylvania Keystoners "Pennsylvania Polka" Steagles Card-Pitt Steelerettes Immaculate Reception 1995 AFC Championship Game Jerome Bettis trade Immaculate Redemption/The Tackle 3:16 game
Rivalries	Baltimore Ravens Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Las Vegas Raiders New England Patriots Philadelphia Eagles Tennessee Titans
Media	Broadcasters KDKA-TV WPKD-TV SportsNet Pittsburgh Charlie Batch Chris Hoke Bob Pompeani Radio Network WDVE-FM WBGG-AM Bill Hillgrove Tunch Ilkin Craig Wolfley Steelers figures in broadcasting
Division championships (24)	1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1983 1984 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 2001 2002 2004 2007 2008 2010 2014 2016 2017 2020
Conference championships (8)	1974 1975 1978 1979 1995 2005 2008 2010
League championships (6)	1974 (IX) 1975 (X) 1978 (XIII) 1979 (XIV) 2005 (XL) 2008 (XLIII)
Retired numbers	32 70 75
Hall of Fame members	Players: Bettis Blount Bradshaw Butler Dawson Dudley Faneca Greene Ham Harris Johnson Lambert Layne Polamalu Shell Stallworth Stautner Swann Webster Woodson Coaches and administration: Bell Cowher Kiesling Noll Art Rooney Dan Rooney
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division

1966 NFL season

Eastern Conference	Atlanta	Philadelphia	Baltimore	Los Angeles	Western Conference
	Cleveland	Pittsburgh	Chicago	Minnesota
	Dallas	St. Louis	Detroit	San Francisco
	New York	Washington	Green Bay