1965 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1965 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 46th year in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixth season in St. Louis. After losing the season opener in Philadelphia, the Cardinals reeled off four consecutive wins to move into a tie with the Cleveland Browns at 4–1 after five weeks. However, the Cardinals lost their final six games to finish in sixth place at 5–9, ahead of only the 2–12 Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Eastern Conference.

1965 St. Louis Cardinals season
Head coach	Wally Lemm
Home field	Busch Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	5th (tied) NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

It was the final season at Busch Stadium, formerly known as Sportsman's Park. Head coach Wally Lemm resigned after the 1965 season and returned to his previous position with the Houston Oilers of the AFL. The Cardinals moved to the new Busch Memorial Stadium for the 1966 season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

In November 1964, the Cardinals selected quarterback Joe Namath of Alabama in the first round of the 1965 NFL draft, but he signed a record contract with the New York Jets of the American Football League. It was the height of the bidding war between the leagues, which subsided with the merger announcement in June 1966.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 19	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 27–34	0–1	Franklin Field	54,260
2	September 26	at Cleveland Browns	W 49–13	1–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	80,161
3	October 4	Dallas Cowboys	W 20–13	2–1	Busch Stadium	32,034
4	October 10	at Washington Redskins	W 37–16	3–1	D.C. Stadium	50,205
5	October 17	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 20–7	4–1	Pitt Stadium	31,085
6	October 24	Washington Redskins	L 20–24	4–2	Busch Stadium	32,228
7	October 31	at New York Giants	L 10–14	4–3	Yankee Stadium	62,807
8	November 7	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–17	5–3	Busch Stadium	31,899
9	November 14	at Chicago Bears	L 13–34	5–4	Wrigley Field	45,663
10	November 21	New York Giants	L 15–28	5–5	Busch Stadium	31,704
11	November 28	Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–28	5–6	Busch Stadium	28,706
12	December 5	Los Angeles Rams	L 3–27	5–7	Busch Stadium	27,943
13	December 11	at Dallas Cowboys	L 13–27	5–8	Cotton Bowl	38,499
14	December 19	Cleveland Browns	L 24–27	5–9	Busch Stadium	29,348
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	3	0	.786	11–1	363	325	W1
Dallas Cowboys	7	7	0	.500	6–6	325	280	W3
New York Giants	7	7	0	.500	7–5	270	338	L1
Washington Redskins	6	8	0	.429	6–6	257	301	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	5	9	0	.357	5–7	363	359	L1
St. Louis Cardinals	5	9	0	.357	5–7	296	309	L6
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	12	0	.143	2–10	202	397	L7

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

External links

• 1965 St. Louis Cardinals at Pro-Football-Reference.com