1966 Detroit Lions season

The 1966 Detroit Lions season marked the team's 37th year in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 6–7–1, winning only four games. They missed the playoffs for the ninth straight year and incurred their second losing record in a row.

1966 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager	Edwin J. Anderson
Head coach	Harry Gilmer
Home field	Tiger Stadium
Local radio	WWJ
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	6th NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	Dick LeBeau, Roger Brown, Pat Studstill
AP All-Pros	Pat Studstill

Regular Season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 11	Chicago Bears	W 14–3	1–0	Tiger Stadium	52,225	Recap
2	September 18	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–17	1–1	Pitt Stadium	35,473	Recap
3	September 25	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–10	2–1	Tiger Stadium	47,615	Recap
4	October 2	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–23	2–2	Lambeau Field	50,861	Recap
5	October 9	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–14	2–3	Tiger Stadium	52,793	Recap
6	October 16	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–45	2–4	Memorial Stadium	60,238	Recap
7	October 23	at San Francisco 49ers	L 24–27	2–5	Kezar Stadium	36,745	Recap
8	October 30	Green Bay Packers	L 7–31	2–6	Tiger Stadium	56,954	Recap
9	November 6	at Chicago Bears	T 10–10	2–6–1	Wrigley Field	47,041	Recap
10	November 13	at Minnesota Vikings	W 32–31	3–6–1	Metropolitan Stadium	43,939	Recap
11	November 20	Baltimore Colts	W 20–14	4–6–1	Tiger Stadium	52,383	Recap
12	November 24	San Francisco 49ers	L 14–41	4–7–1	Tiger Stadium	53,189	Recap
13	December 4	at Los Angeles Rams	L 3–23	4–8–1	L.A. Memorial Coliseum	40,039	Recap
14	December 11	Minnesota Vikings	L 16–28	4–9–1	Tiger Stadium	43,022	Recap
—	Bye
Notes: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. November 24: Thanksgiving.

• 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.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	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.

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.

Roster

1966 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 16 Milt Plum 14 Karl Sweetan Running backs 31 Amos Marsh 34 Tom Nowatzke Wide receivers 89 Gail Cogdill 87 John Henderson 81 Bill Malinchak 25 Pat Studstill P Tight ends 80 Jim Gibbons 88 Ron Kramer		Offensive linemen 54 Ed Flanagan C 75 John Gordy G 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 70 Daryl Sanders T 73 Roger Shoals T 72 J. D. Smith T Defensive linemen 76 Roger Brown DT 74 Larry Hand DE 71 Alex Karras DT 78 Darris McCord DE 82 Jerry Rush DT		Linebackers 59 Ernie Clark 67 Wally Hilgenberg 53 Mike Lucci 55 Wayne Walker Defensive backs 44 Dick LeBeau CB 21 Bruce Maher S 47 Wayne Rasmussen FS 27 Bobby Thompson CB 48 Tom Vaughn FS Special teams 1 Garo Yepremian K		Reserve lists currently vacant rookies in italics