# 1966 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

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 ||||||

## 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 |

#### Week 5 vs New York Giants

| 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

| 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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.