Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I am curious if anyone has any memories of or thoughts on the 1966 Cleveland at Dallas game in the Cotton Bowl at night. Although the Cowboys had been to the playoffs in 1965, I think Landry called the '66 Thanksgiving Day game against the Browns the biggest in franchise history up to that point. I think it was the first time Dallas played on Thanksgiving and that '66 ushered in a twenty year era where the Cowboys were always one of the top teams in football. The game itself featured top coaches in Collier and Landry and a lot of talent on both squads. I think it is a noteworthy game in pro football history.

Happy Thanksgiving to all !

Nick

Cleveland had won 13 of their first 14 meetings, including a 30-21 decision earlier in the 1966 season, so it was generally felt that the big win over the perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse Browns pushed the Cowboys over the hump.

The game was featured with an extensive write-up in The Great Games section of the 1974 Great Teams' Great Years book on the Cowboys.

In 2013, when CBS Sports Network did a documentary on the Cowboys and the JFK assassination, they made a big deal about how their game that weekend in Cleveland was marked by them supposedly taking relentless abuse from fans--which was something of a stretch. The date of that game (11/24) was exactly three years to the day that the Cowboys and Browns met on Thanksgiving, with the documentary trying to emphasize that winning the holiday game was what propelled them into 20 years of success.

I remember watching the game on TV. In 1966, you didn't "make the playoffs." You had to "win your division," meaning regular season games were all important. It was felt the winner would be Eastern Division champion and would play the Packers in the NFL Championship game, which for the first time meant a berth in the Super Bowl.

The Browns (in an article I read) were supposed to have an advantage due to veterans used to championship game pressure. Winning the game was considered a breakthrough for the Dallas Cowboy franchise.

SixtiesFan wrote:In 1966, you didn't "make the playoffs." You had to "win your division," meaning regular season games were all important.

How it should be. Wish I had grown up in an era where true competition was the preferred season structure - at all levels of the sport.

Halas Hall wrote:I am curious if anyone has any memories of or thoughts on the 1966 Cleveland at Dallas game in the Cotton Bowl at night. Although the Cowboys had been to the playoffs in 1965, I think Landry called the '66 Thanksgiving Day game against the Browns the biggest in franchise history up to that point. I think it was the first time Dallas played on Thanksgiving and that '66 ushered in a twenty year era where the Cowboys were always one of the top teams in football. The game itself featured top coaches in Collier and Landry and a lot of talent on both squads. I think it is a noteworthy game in pro football history.

Happy Thanksgiving to all !

Nick

I have always felt that the schedule is what killed Cleveland's 1966 season. I thought that the Browns had one of their best teams of the 1960's that year, and Gary Collins said it was the best team that he was ever on.

In 1966, Cleveland was the only Eastern Conference team that had to play Green Bay in the west (Dallas played Minnesota). The Browns came close to beating the mighty Packers losing 21 to 20 on one of the last plays of the game, an 8 yard TD by Jim Taylor on a screen pass with 4th down and goal to goal. Cleveland had led for most of the game.

After their disappointing loss to the Pack, Cleveland was down the next week against the Cardinals and blew that game, 34 to 28, with Groza missing 3 field goals.

So, the Browns were kind of behind the 8 ball after only playing 3 games. This meant that they pretty much had to sweep their 2 games with the Cowboys to have any realistic chance of going to the championship game. Cleveland did win their first game with Dallas in 1966, 30 to 21, and the game really was not that close. Dallas got a couple of TD's later in the game when the issue was pretty much decided.

Art Modell got suckered into agreeing to have Cleveland play their second game against Dallas on Thanksgiving. This meant that Cleveland only had 3 days to prepare for the Cowboy's multiple offense. The home field is always an advantage, but even more, IMO, when there are only 3 days between games.

I don't know if Cleveland would have won that game in Dallas if it was played on the following Sunday instead, but they would have had a better chance. Just my opinion.

No doubt that it was a great win for Dallas, but a lousy game for Cleveland. One man's happiness can be another man's crud.

In 1967, Cleveland won the new Century Division, but they had one of their worst teams, due to quarterback Ryan's off year and other problems. The 1966 Cleveland team was much better than the 1967 team, even though they missed the playoffs.

Reaser wrote:

SixtiesFan wrote:In 1966, you didn't "make the playoffs." You had to "win your division," meaning regular season games were all important.

How it should be. Wish I had grown up in an era where true competition was the preferred season structure - at all levels of the sport.

Another expression people think applied pre-1967, but didn't was "making the post-season."

I recall 1963 when you had big heavily publicized regular season games like that year's Bears-Packers and Giants-Steelers. The winners didn't "make the post-season," they played in the NFL Championship game.

Great education once again, gang. No dummy at all when it comes to this stuff but learn something new every week here (why I'm on this site). Always knew '66 was Dallas'/Landry's "coming-out" year but never exactly knew that Turkey Day vs Clev was the "key"-win. Browns ended up losing to Eagles weeks later that would forge the Birds to a (FWI-possibly-W) 2nd-place finish in the Eastern/Playoff Bowl-berth vs Colts. '66...final year before the brief 4Cs-era only to immediately segue into...the Merger!

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the Redskins' infamous 72-41 win over the Giants, punctuated by a last-minute (and meaningless) FG by the Skins so that Sam Huff could get back at Allie Sherman.

BD Sullivan wrote:Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the Redskins' infamous 72-41 win over the Giants, punctuated by a last-minute (and meaningless) FG by the Skins so that Sam Huff could get back at Allie Sherman.

Huff wrote about that game in his book and the revenge on Sherman for trading him, but nothing about their 1967 game with the Giants which the Redskins won, but had some luck when Lockhart intercepted a Jurgensen pass and then fumbled the ball into the end zone, which was recovered by Washington for a TD. Washington won, 38 to 34.

Sometimes losing those close ones hurt more than being bombed out, and losing to the Redskins that way must have hurt. It seems like that would be even further revenge on Allie Sherman, who was still the Giants head coach. Besides, the Giants were improved in 1967 due to the addition of Fran Tarkenton and some other players.