# 1965 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1965 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 46th year in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixth season in St. Louis. After losing the season opener in Philadelphia, the Cardinals reeled off four consecutive wins to move into a tie with the Cleveland Browns at 4–1 after five weeks. However, the Cardinals lost their final six games to finish in sixth place at 5–9, ahead of only the 2–12 Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Eastern Conference.
It was the final season at Busch Stadium, formerly known as Sportsman's Park. Head coach Wally Lemm resigned after the 1965 season and returned to his previous position with the Houston Oilers of the AFL. The Cardinals moved to the new Busch Memorial Stadium for the 1966 season.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

In November 1964, the Cardinals selected quarterback Joe Namath of Alabama in the first round of the 1965 NFL draft, but he signed a record contract with the New York Jets of the American Football League. It was the height of the bidding war between the leagues, which subsided with the merger announcement in June 1966.

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 19 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 27–34 | 0–1 | Franklin Field | 54,260 |
| 2 | September 26 | at Cleveland Browns | W 49–13 | 1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 80,161 |
| 3 | October 4 | Dallas Cowboys | W 20–13 | 2–1 | Busch Stadium | 32,034 |
| 4 | October 10 | at Washington Redskins | W 37–16 | 3–1 | D.C. Stadium | 50,205 |
| 5 | October 17 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 20–7 | 4–1 | Pitt Stadium | 31,085 |
| 6 | October 24 | Washington Redskins | L 20–24 | 4–2 | Busch Stadium | 32,228 |
| 7 | October 31 | at New York Giants | L 10–14 | 4–3 | Yankee Stadium | 62,807 |
| 8 | November 7 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 21–17 | 5–3 | Busch Stadium | 31,899 |
| 9 | November 14 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–34 | 5–4 | Wrigley Field | 45,663 |
| 10 | November 21 | New York Giants | L 15–28 | 5–5 | Busch Stadium | 31,704 |
| 11 | November 28 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 24–28 | 5–6 | Busch Stadium | 28,706 |
| 12 | December 5 | Los Angeles Rams | L 3–27 | 5–7 | Busch Stadium | 27,943 |
| 13 | December 11 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 13–27 | 5–8 | Cotton Bowl | 38,499 |
| 14 | December 19 | Cleveland Browns | L 24–27 | 5–9 | Busch Stadium | 29,348 |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 11–1 | 363 | 325 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 6–6 | 325 | 280 | W3 |
| New York Giants | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 7–5 | 270 | 338 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 6–6 | 257 | 301 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 363 | 359 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 296 | 309 | L6 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 2–10 | 202 | 397 | L7 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 8–3–1 | 316 | 224 | T1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 8–3–1 | 389 | 284 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 7–5 | 409 | 275 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 6–5–1 | 421 | 402 | T1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 5–7 | 383 | 403 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 6 | 7 | 1 | .462 | 4–7–1 | 257 | 295 | W1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–10 | 269 | 328 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.