1966 NFL season

The season concluded with the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game; the NFL champion Green Bay Packers defeated the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967.

[9] The AFL had originally targeted Atlanta and Philadelphia,[6] but its two expansion teams became the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968.

With the first pick, the expansion Atlanta Falcons selected linebacker Tommy Nobis from the University of Texas.

They were to be 3–4 inches (7.6–10.2 cm) in diameter, painted bright yellow, with two non-curved supports offset from the goal line, and uprights 20 feet (6.1 m) above the crossbar.

Although widely denied, the height increase of the uprights was in reaction to the previous season's Western Divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

The following week, the Packers defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game, their first of three consecutive league titles.

In the Western Division, Green Bay's first loss was in week 5, falling 21–20 in San Francisco to tie them with the Rams.

(The Dallas Cowboys were also unbeaten, but due to a bye in Week One, they had played one fewer game and thus were a half-game behind the Cardinals in the standings.)

However, both teams suffered their first defeat the next week, with St. Louis losing at Washington, 26–20, and the Cowboys falling in Cleveland, 30–21.

The next week, Dallas won at Washington 31–30 on a field goal with 0:15 left, while the Cards fell at Pittsburgh, 30–9, cutting their safety margin to a half-game again.