1966 Pittsburgh Steelers season

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

1966 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Owner	Art Rooney
Head coach	Bill Austin
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Results
Record	5–8–1
Division place	6th NFL Eastern
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	K Mike Clark, RCB Brady Keys, RDE Ben McGee
← 1965 Steelers seasons 1967 →

Roster

1966 Pittsburgh Steelers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Ron Meyer 14 Bill Nelsen 10 Ron Smith Running backs (RB) 30 Willie Asbury 49 Amos Bullocks 23 Jim Butler 42 Dick Hoak 31 Dick Leftridge 37 Bobby Smith Wide receivers (WR) 85 Gary Ballman 87 Roy Jefferson 25 Jerry Simmons 86 J. R. Wilburn Tight ends (TE) 82 John Hilton 84 Tony Jeter

Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Charlie Bradshaw T 79 Larry Gagner G 77 Dan James T 55 Pat Killorin C 68 Mike Magac G 73 Ray Mansfield C 72 Fran O'Brien T 61 Eli Strand G 62 Ralph Wenzel G Defensive linemen (DL) 78 John Baker DE 74 Riley Gunnels DT 64 Chuck Hinton DT 75 Ken Kortas DT 60 Ben McGee DE 65 Lloyd Voss DE

Linebackers (LB) 63 Rod Breedlove OLB 52 Gene Breen OLB 53 John Campbell OLB 50 Bill Saul MLB 34 Andy Russell OLB Defensive backs (DB) 44 Willie Daniel CB 29 Bob Hohn SS 26 Brady Keys CB 20 Paul Martha FS 28 Clendon Thomas SS 47 Marv Woodson CB Special teams (ST) 83 Mike Clark K 46 Frank Lambert P

Reserve 24 Jim Bradshaw S (IR) 58 Roger Pillath T (IR) Rookies in italics

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	W 47–28	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

Quarter	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

See also: 1966 Dallas Cowboys season

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

Quarter	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)

Quarter	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 Plays Yards TOP 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)

Quarter	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

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