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1966 Atlanta Falcons season
Head Coach Norb Hecker
Home Field Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record 3-11-0
Place 7th NFL Eastern
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season Next season
N/A 1967

The 1966 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcon's inaugural season.

Offseason[]

The Falcons attempted to acquire Green Bay Packers running back Jim Taylor. There were tensions in Green Bay because the Packers first round pick, Jim Grabowski would be groomed to take over for Taylor.[1] The signing of Grabowski upset Taylor but he stated he would leave Green Bay once his contract expired, therefore the Falcons could not acquire the running back.

NFL Draft[]

Round Pick Player Position School
1

Regular season[]

The Falcons played their first game (preseason) on August 1, 1966 against the Philadelphia Eagles before a crowd of 26,072 at Atlanta Stadium. The Falcons would lose against the Eagles and would lose their first nine games in the regular season before finally getting their first franchise win on the road against the New York Giants, 27-16.[2] Former Giant Ernie Wheelwright scored two TD's receiving and ran for 51 more yards as QB Randy Johnson hit for a trio of TD's. Their first ever home victory was against the St. Louis Cardinals, 16-10 to a crowd of 57,169. The Falcons ended their inaugural season at 3-11, yet Tommy Nobis won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award and became the first Falcon named to the Pro Bowl.

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result
1 September 11, 1966 Los Angeles Rams L 19-14
2 September 18, 1966 at Philadelphia Eagles L 23-10
3 September 25, 1966 at Detroit Lions L 28-10
4 October 2, 1966 Dallas Cowboys L 47-14
5 October 9, 1966 at Washington Redskins L 33-20
6 October 16, 1966 San Francisco 49ers L 44-7
7 October 23, 1966 at Green Bay Packers L 56-3
8 October 30, 1966 Cleveland Browns L 49-7
9 Bye
10 November 13, 1966 Baltimore Colts L 19-7
11 November 20, 1966 at New York Giants W 27-16
12 November 27, 1966 at Chicago Bears L 23-6
13 December 4, 1966 at Minnesota Vikings W 20-13
14 December 11, 1966 St. Louis Cardinals W 16-10
15 December 18, 1966 Pittsburgh Steelers L 57-33

Standings[]

NFL Eastern
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys 10 3 1 .769 445 239 W-1
Cleveland Browns 9 5 0 .643 403 259 W-1
Philadelphia Eagles 9 5 0 .643 326 340 W-1
St. Louis Cardinals 8 5 1 .615 264 265 L-3
Washington Redskins 7 7 0 .500 351 355 L-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 8 1 .385 316 347 W-2
Atlanta Falcons 3 11 0 .214 204 437 L-1
New York Giants 1 12 1 .077 263 501 L-8

Roster[]

Awards and records[]

References[]

  1. When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 385, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
  2. "Major Events in Falcons History", NFL
  3. http://football.about.com/od/nflhistory/l/bl_awardsrookie.htm
Eastern Conference Western Conference
Atlanta Baltimore
Cleveland Chicago
Dallas Detroit
NY Giants Green Bay
Philadelphia Los Angeles
Pittsburgh Minnesota
St. Louis San Francisco
Washington
1966 NFL DraftNFL ChampionshipPro BowlSuper Bowl I
Related: 1966 AFL Season
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