1968 NFL season

1968 NFL season
Regular season
Duration	September 14 – December 15, 1968
Playoffs
East Champions	Cleveland Browns
West Champions	Baltimore Colts
Championship Game
Champions	Baltimore Colts
	← 1967; NFL seasons; 1969 →;

The 1968 NFL season was the 49th regular season of the National Football League. As per the agreement made during the 1967 realignment, the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants switched divisions; the Saints joined the Century Division while the Giants became part of the Capitol Division.

The season ended when the Baltimore Colts defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game, only to be defeated by the American Football League's New York Jets in Super Bowl III 16-7 at the Miami Orange Bowl. Subsequently, it was the first time in the history of professional football in which the NFL champion was not crowned as the world champion. One year later, this feat would be repeated, as the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL Champion Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.

Division races

The Eastern Conference was split into the Capitol and Century Divisions, and the Western Conference had the Coastal and Central Divisions. In the past, if two teams were tied for the division lead at season's end, a one-game playoff was conducted to break the tie. Starting in 1967, a tiebreaking system was implemented that started with net points in head-to-head competition, followed by the team that had less recently played in a title game. As such, only one team in a division would be the division winner, even if the won-lost record was the same.

Colts and Rams

For the second straight season, the Colts and Rams waged a tight season long battle for the Coastal Division title. In 1967, the Rams defeated the Colts in the season's final game to claim the title. They appeared headed for a similar showdown in 1968 (they were scheduled to face each other in the season finale in L.A.), as the Rams entered week 13 with a 10-1-1 record while the Colts were 11-1-0. But in the next to last game, the Rams were upset by the Chicago Bears 17-16 in what was known as "the lost down game." The biggest play on the game came when the Rams completed a second down pass to get into field goal range in the final minute, but the play was wiped out by a holding penalty. It should have remained second down due to the Bears accepting the penalty on the Rams, but the referees forgot to reset the down marker. After two incomplete passes, the Rams lined up for a fourth down attempt, but the referees waived the Bears offense onto the field on a change of possession; the Bears ran out the clock and the Colts (who had already won earlier in the day) clinched the division. Note that in the now meaningless season finale, the Colts won 28-24.

Week	Capitol		Century		Coastal		Central
1	Dallas*	1–0–0	Cleveland	1–0–0	Baltimore*	1–0–0	Minnesota*	1–0–0
2	Dallas*	2–0–0	Cleveland*	1–1–0	Baltimore*	2–0–0	Minnesota*	2–0–0
3	Dallas*	3–0–0	Cleveland*	1–2–0	Baltimore*	3–0–0	Minnesota*	2–1–0
4	Dallas	4–0–0	Cleveland	2–2–0	Baltimore*	4–0–0	Minnesota	3–1–0
5	Dallas	5–0–0	St. Louis*	2–3–0	Baltimore*	5–0–0	Minnesota*	3–2–0
6	Dallas	6–0–0	St. Louis*	3–3–0	Los Angeles	6–0–0	Detroit	3–2–1
7	Dallas	6–1–0	St. Louis*	4–3–0	Baltimore*	6–1–0	Detroit*	3–3–1
8	Dallas	7–1–0	St. Louis*	5–3–0	Baltimore*	7–1–0	Chicago*	4–4–0
9	Dallas	7–2–0	Cleveland	6–3–0	Baltimore*	8–1–0	Chicago*	5–4–0
10	Dallas	8–2–0	Cleveland	7–3–0	Baltimore	9–1–0	Minnesota	6–4–0
11	Dallas	9–2–0	Cleveland	8–3–0	Baltimore	10–1–0	Minnesota	6–5–0
12	Dallas	10–2–0	Cleveland	9–3–0	Baltimore	11–1–0	Chicago*	6–6–0
13	Dallas	11–2–0	Cleveland	10–3–0	Baltimore	12–1–0	Chicago*	7–6–0
14	Dallas	12–2–0	Cleveland	10–4–0	Baltimore	13–1–0	Minnesota	8–6–0

indicates more than one team with record

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Eastern Conference
Capitol Division
Dallas Cowboys	12	2	0	.857	431	186
New York Giants	7	7	0	.500	294	325
Washington Redskins	5	9	0	.357	249	358
Philadelphia Eagles	2	12	0	.143	202	351
Century Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Cleveland Browns	10	4	0	.714	394	273
St. Louis Cardinals	9	4	1	.692	325	289
New Orleans Saints	4	9	1	.308	246	327
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	11	1	.154	244	397

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Western Conference
Coastal Division
Baltimore Colts	13	1	0	.929	402	144
Los Angeles Rams	10	3	1	.769	312	200
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	303	310
Atlanta Falcons	2	12	0	.143	170	389
Central Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Minnesota Vikings	8	6	0	.571	282	242
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	250	333
Green Bay Packers	6	7	1	.462	281	227
Detroit Lions	4	8	2	.333	207	241

Playoffs

Conference Championship Games		NFL Championship Game

December 22, 1968 – Memorial Stadium

Minnesota Vikings	14
		December 29, 1968 – Cleveland Stadium
Baltimore Colts	24
		Baltimore Colts	34
December 21, 1968 – Cleveland Stadium
		Cleveland Browns	0
Dallas Cowboys	20

Cleveland Browns	31

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Earl Morrall, Quarterback, Baltimore Colts
Coach of the Year	Don Shula, Baltimore Colts
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Earl McCullouch, Wide receiver, Detroit
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Claude Humphrey, Defensive end, Atlanta

References

The NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
NFL History 1961–1970 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)