1966 Washington Redskins season

The 1966 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 35th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 30th in Washington, D.C.The Washington Redskins attempted to make Vince Lombardi their new head coach, but Lombardi refused their offer and the Redskins had to settle for Otto Graham instead. They finished with a 7–7 record, fifth place in the eight-team Eastern Conference.

1966 Washington Redskins season
Owner	George Preston Marshall
General manager	Otto Graham
President	Edward Bennett Williams
Head coach	Otto Graham
Home field	D.C. Stadium
Local radio	WTOP
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	LB Chris Hanburger, C Len Hauss, QB Sonny Jurgensen, HB Charley Taylor

In Week Twelve, the Redskins set an NFL record for most points by one team in a regular season game, scoring 72 points against the Giants. Coincidentally, this was one point less than the all-time record, the 73 scored against Washington by Chicago in the 1940 NFL Championship Game. They were the last team to score at least 70 points in a regular season game until the Miami Dolphins did so in Week 3 of the 2023 season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1966 NFL draft

1966 Washington Redskins Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	6	Charlie Gogolak	K	Princeton

Roster

1966 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 9 Sonny Jurgensen 14 Dick Shiner Running backs (RB) 32 Tom Barrington 25 A. D. Whitfield 35 Joe Don Looney 44 Steve Thurlow Wide receivers (WR) 80 Pat Hodgson 49 Bobby Mitchell 42 Charley Taylor Tight ends (TE) 88 Pat Richter P 87 Jerry Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 45 Don Croftcheck LG 56 Len Hauss C 65 Jake Kupp G 62 Ray Schoenke G 74 Jim Snowden T 64 Mitch Johnson T Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Walt Barnes DT 66 Carl Kammerer DE

Linebackers (LB) 55 Chris Hanburger 70 Sam Huff Defensive backs (DB) 46 Rickie Harris CB 26 Paul Krause S 23 Brig Owens S 47 Jim Shorter CB Special teams 3 Charlie Gogolak K

Rookies in italics

1966 Washington Redskins staff

Front office Director of Player Personnel -- Tim Temerario Player Personnel -- Bob White Player Personnel -- Mike Allman Opponent's Scout -- Wayne Millner Team Physician -- George A. Resta, MD Trainer: Joe Kuczo Equipment Manager -- Kelly Miller Head coaches Head Coach – Otto Graham Offensive coaches Don Doll Mike McCormack Ray Renfro

Defensive coaches Ed Hughes Mike Scarry

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 11	Cleveland Browns	L 14–38	0–1	D.C. Stadium	48,643	Recap
2	September 18	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–23	0–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	40,198	Recap
3	September 25	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 33–27	1–2	Pitt Stadium	37,505	Recap
4	October 2	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–10	2–2	D.C. Stadium	47,360	Recap
5	October 9	Atlanta Falcons	W 33–20	3–2	D.C. Stadium	50,116	Recap
6	October 16	at New York Giants	L 10–13	3–3	Yankee Stadium	62,865	Recap
7	October 23	St. Louis Cardinals	W 26–20	4–3	D.C. Stadium	50,154	Recap
8	October 30	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–13	5–3	Franklin Field	60,658	Recap
9	November 6	at Baltimore Colts	L 10–37	5–4	Memorial Stadium	60,238	Recap
10	November 13	Dallas Cowboys	L 30–31	5–5	D.C. Stadium	50,927	Recap
11	November 20	at Cleveland Browns	L 3–14	5–6	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,466	Recap
12	November 27	New York Giants	W 72–41	6–6	D.C. Stadium	50,439	Recap
13	Bye
14	December 11	at Dallas Cowboys	W 34–31	7–6	Cotton Bowl	64,198	Recap
15	December 18	Philadelphia Eagles	L 28–37	7–7	D.C. Stadium	50,405	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

• 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 6 at New York Giants

Week Six: Washington Redskins (3-2) at New York Giants (0-4-1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	3	7	0	0	10
Giants	0	3	0	10	13

at Yankee Stadium, New York

• Date: October 16
• Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C)
• Box Score

Game information

First Quarter Washington – Charlie Gogolak 37-yard field goal, Redskins 3–0. Second Quarter Washington – Bobby Mitchell 7-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Gogolak kick), Redskins 10–0. New York – Pete Gogolak 15-yard field goal, Redskins 10–3. Third Quarter Fourth Quarter New York – Pete Gogolak 18-yard field goal, Redskins 10–6. New York – Aaron Thomas 29-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Gogolak kick), Giants 13–10. Top Passers Redskins – Sonny Jurgensen: 9/20, 125 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT Giants – Earl Morrall: 5/14, 139 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Top rushers Redskins – Steve Thurlow: 11 car, 44 yds. Giants – Chuck Mercein: 14 car, 37 yds, Top receivers Redskins – Bobby Mitchell: 2 rec, 58 yds. 1 TD Giants – Homer Jones: 4 rec, 146 yds.

Week 10 vs Dallas Cowboys

Week Ten: Dallas Cowboys (5–2–1) at Washington Redskins (5–4)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	7	7	10	31
Redskins	6	0	17	7	30

at District of Columbia Stadium, Washington, D.C.

• Date: November 13, 1966
• Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C)
• Game attendance: 50,927
• Box Score

Week 12 vs New York Giants

Week Twelve: Washington Redskins (5-6) vs New York Giants (1-8-1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants	0	14	14	13	41
Redskins	13	21	14	24	72

at D.C. Stadium, Washington D.C.

• Date: November 27
• Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C)
• Box Score

Game information

First Quarter Washington – A.D. Whitfield 5-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen, Redskins 6–0. Washington – A.D. Whitfield 63-yard rush (Gogolak kick), Redskins 13–0. Second Quarter Washington – Brig Owens 62-yard fumble return (Gogolak kick), Redskins 20–0. New York – Allen Jacobs 6-yard rush (Gogolak kick), Redskins 20 – 7. Washington – A.D. Whitfield 1-yard rush (Gogolak kick) , Redskins 27–7. Washington – Joe Don Looney 9-yard rush (Gogolak kick) , Redskins 34–7. New York – Gary Wood 1-yard rush (Gogolak kick), Redskins 34 – 14. Third Quarter New York – Jim Morrison 41-yard pass from Gary Wood (Gogolak kick), Redskins 34 – 21. Washington – Charley Taylor 32-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Gogolak kick), Redskins 41–21. New York – Homer Jones 50-yard pass from Gary Wood (Gogolak kick), Redskins 41-28. Washington – Charley Taylor 74-yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Gogolak kick), Redskins 48–28. Fourth Quarter Washington – Rickie Harris 52-yard punt return (Gogolak kick) , Redskins 55–28. Washington – Brig Owens 60-yard interception return (Gogolak kick), Redskins 62–28. New York – Aaron Thomas 18-yard pass from Tom Kennedy, Redskins 62–34. New York – Dan Lewis 1-yard rush (Gogolak kick), Redskins 62–41. Washington – Bobby Mitchell 45-yard rush (Gogolak kick), Redskins 69–41. Washington – Charlie Gogolak 29-yard field goal, Redskins 72–41. Top Passers Giants – Tom Kennedy: 13/21, 165 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT Redskins – Sonny Jurgensen: 10/16, 145 yds, 3 TD Top rushers Giants – Joe Morrison: 16 car, 59 yds, Redskins – A.D. Whitfield: 6 car, 74 yds. 2 TD Top receivers Giants – Homer Jones: 6 rec, 85 yds.1 TD Redskins – Charley Taylor: 6 rec, 124 yds. 2 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.

Awards, records, and honors

Most points in a single game in regular season NFL history.