NFL 1965

1965 NFL season
Regular season
season	September 19, 1965 - December 26, 1965
East Champions	Cleveland Browns
West Champions	Green Bay Packers
Championship game
NFL Champion	Green Bay Packers
NFL season  <1964 1966>

The 1965 NFL season was the 46th season of American football in the National Football League (NFL), which at the time, along with the American Football League (AFL), was the top football league in the United States . The regular season started on September 19th and ended on December 26th.

In the NFL Championship Game, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Cleveland Browns on January 2, 1966 at 23:12. It was the last year that the NFL champion and AFL champion did not compete and thus two national champions existed.

Regular season

In the east, the Cleveland Browns set themselves apart from the other teams early on and clearly won their conference. In the west, there was a change in leadership on the penultimate matchday after the second-placed Green Bay Packers won an away win at the leading Baltimore Colts. Due to a subsequent draw by the Packers and a simultaneous victory by the Colts, both teams were tied at the end of the round. According to the rules of the time, the direct comparison was not used to achieve the Championship Game. The two teams therefore had to play a playoff, which Green Bay won.

Western Conference team S. U N SQ P + P− Green Bay Packers a 10 1 3 .769 316 224 Baltimore Colts a 10 1 3 .769 389 284 Chicago Bears 9 0 5 .643 409 275 San Francisco 49ers 7th 1 6th .538 421 402 Minnesota Vikings 7th 0 7th .500 383 403 Detroit Lions 6th 1 7th .462 257 295 Los Angeles Rams 4th 0 10 .286 269 328

Eastern Conference team S. U N SQ P + P− Cleveland Browns 11 0 3 .786 363 325 Dallas cowboys b 7th 0 7th .500 325 280 New York Giants b 7th 0 7th .500 270 338 Washington Redskins 6th 0 8th .429 257 301 Philadelphia Eagles 5 0 9 .357 363 359 St. Louis Cardinals 5 0 9 .357 296 309 Pittsburgh Steelers 2 0 12 .143 202 397

^a Green Bay and Baltimore had to play a playoff game

^b Dallas won both games against New York and qualified for the Playoff Bowl

Legend:

S iege	U nentschieden	N iederlagen	SQ win rate 1
P + points made	P− opposing points	Championship game	Playoff Bowl

¹ before 1972 ties were not included in the calculation

Post season

In the Western Conference a play-off between the two top-ranked teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Colts, was necessary. The Packers, who won both games against the Colts in the regular season, prevailed and qualified for the championship game. At halftime, the Colts were still 10-0 ahead. Two minutes before the end of the fourth quarter, kicker Don Chandler equalized with a field goal . In overtime it was again Chandler who made a field goal for the decision in favor of the Packers.

	Green Bay December 26, 1965 1:00 p.m. ( UTC − 6 )		Green Bay Packers	13:10	Baltimore Colts		Lambeau Field spectators: 50,484
				(0: 7, 0: 3, 7: 0, 3: 0) OT: 3: 0

As the respective winners of their conference, Cleveland and Green Bay contested the NFL Championship Game on January 2, 1966, which Green Bay won 23:12. The Packers' Jim Taylor was named the game's MVP .

			NFL Championship Game
	Green Bay January 2, 1966 1:00 p.m. ( UTC − 6 )		Green Bay Packers	23:12	Cleveland Browns		Lambeau Field spectators: 50,852
				(7: 9, 6: 3, 7: 0, 3: 0) Match report

A week after the Championship Game, on January 9th, the two runners-up, the Baltimore Colts and the Dallas Cowboys, competed in the Playoff Bowl. The Colts won 35-3 at the Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami .

			Playoff Bowl
	Miami January 9, 1966		Baltimore Colts	35: 3	Dallas Cowboys		Orange Bowl spectators: 65,569
				(0: 0, 14: 3, 14: 0, 7: 0)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Packers win, 13 to 10, for NFL Western Title. In: packershistory.net. Retrieved April 27, 2018 . 
2. ^ Divisional Round - Baltimore Colts at Green Bay Packers - December 26th, 1965. In: pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018 . 
3. ^ Championship - Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers - January 2nd, 1966. In: pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved May 3, 2018 . 
4. ^ Colts Blast Dallas, 35-3. In: California Digital Newspaper Collection. January 10, 1966. Retrieved May 11, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Colt 'Problem': Mat. In: The Daily Review, Hayward, California. January 10, 1966, p. 10 , accessed May 11, 2018 .