# 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.
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

1966 Washington Redskins Draft :
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 6 | Charlie Gogolak | K | Princeton |

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

| 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

| 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

| 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 :
| 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.

### Roster
## Awards, records, and honors

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