1968 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1968 season was the Minnesota Vikings' eighth in the National Football League. In their second year under head coach Bud Grant, the Vikings won the NFL Central division title with an 8–6 record, and qualified for the postseason for the first time in franchise history. This was the first of four consecutive division titles for the Vikings. The Vikings' first trip to the playoffs saw them suffer a 24–14 loss in the Western Conference Championship Game to the eventual NFL champion and Super Bowl runner-up Baltimore Colts at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. In the Playoff Bowl two weeks later, they again lost to the Dallas Cowboys 17–13.

1968 Minnesota Vikings season
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Bud Grant
Home stadium	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	1st NFL Central
Playoffs	Lost Western Conference Championship Game (at Colts) 14–24 Lost NFL Playoff Bowl (vs. Cowboys) 13–17
All-Pros	DE Carl Eller (1st team) C Mick Tingelhoff (1st team) FB Bill Brown (2nd team) S Paul Krause (2nd team)
Pro Bowlers	DE Carl Eller C Mick Tingelhoff FB Bill Brown DT Alan Page DE Jim Marshall
Uniform
← 1967 Vikings seasons 1969 →

Offseason

1968 draft

Main article: 1968 NFL draft

Hall of Famer

1968 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	1	Ron Yary	Offensive tackle	USC	from Giants[A]
	7	Traded to the New Orleans Saints[B]
2	33	Charlie West	Cornerback	UTEP
3	61	Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers[C]
	76	Mike McGill	Linebacker	Notre Dame	from Cowboys[D]
4	89	Mike Freeman	Defensive back	Fresno State
5	117	Traded to the Washington Redskins[E]
6	144	Bob Goodridge	Wide receiver	Vanderbilt
7	167	Oscar Reed	Wide receiver	Colorado State	from Falcons[F]
	171	Lenny Snow	Running back	Georgia Tech
8	198	Hank Urbanowicz	Defensive tackle	Miami (FL)
9	225	Mike Donohoe	Tight end	San Francisco
10	250	Tom Sakal	Defensive back	Minnesota
11	279	Bill Haas	Wide receiver	Nebraska–Omaha
12	308	Howie Small	Center	Rhode Island
13	333	Dick Wherry	Wide receiver	Northern State
14	360	Don Evans	Offensive tackle	Arkansas AM&N
15	387	Jim Haynie	Quarterback	West Chester
16	414	Lary Kuharich	Defensive back	Boston College
17	441	Bob Lee	Quarterback	Pacific
	445	Bill Hull	Guard	Tennessee Tech	from Lions[G]

Notes

1. The Vikings traded QB Fran Tarkenton to the Giants in exchange for a first- (1st overall), a 1967 first- (2nd overall), a 1967 second- (28th overall) and a 1969 second-round selection (39th overall).
2. The Vikings traded their first-round (7th overall) and their 1969 first-round selection (17th overall) to the Saints in exchange for QB Gary Cuozzo.
3. The Vikings traded their third-round selection (61st overall) to the Steelers in exchange for CB Brady Keys.
4. The Vikings traded WR Lance Rentzel to the Cowboys in exchange for a third-round selection (76th overall).
5. The Vikings traded their fifth-round selection (117th overall) to the Redskins in exchange for OT Bob Breitenstein.
6. The Vikings traded QB Ron Vander Kelen to the Falcons in exchange for a seventh-round selection (167th overall).
7. The Vikings traded a 1969 16th-round selection (407th overall) to the Lions in exchange for a 17th-round selection (445th overall).

Roster

1968 Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Gary Cuozzo 11 Joe Kapp Running backs (RB) 30 Bill Brown 28 Earl Denny 26 Clinton Jones 21 Jim Lindsey 41 Dave Osborn Wide receivers (WR) 27 Bob Grim 86 Tom Hall 80 John Henderson 84 Gene Washington Tight ends (TE) 87 John Beasley 85 Billy Martin P

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Grady Alderman T 66 Bookie Bolin G 71 Doug Davis T 64 Milt Sunde G 53 Mick Tingelhoff C 63 Jim Vellone G 73 Ron Yary T Defensive linemen (DL) 76 Paul Dickson DT 81 Carl Eller DE 77 Gary Larsen DT 70 Jim Marshall DE 88 Alan Page DT 74 Steve Smith DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Wally Hilgenberg OLB 36 John Kirby OLB 55 Mike McGill MLB 59 Lonnie Warwick MLB 60 Roy Winston OLB Defensive backs (DB) 20 Bobby Bryant CB 49 Dale Hackbart FS 29 Karl Kassulke SS 22 Paul Krause FS 46 Earsell Mackbee CB 45 Ed Sharockman CB 40 Charlie West SS Special teams (ST) 14 Fred Cox K 10 King Hill P

Practice squad -- Chet Anderson TE 82 Bob Goodridge WR -- Gayle Knief WR 19 Bob Lee QB -- Jerry Mazzanti DE 32 Oscar Reed RB Reserve 61 Larry Bowie G (IR) -- Don Hansen LB Retired 50 Jim Hargrove LB (Military) -- Tom Sakal S (Military) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance[1]
1	August 10	Kansas City Chiefs (AFL)	L 10–13	0–1	Metropolitan Stadium	46,228
2	August 17	at Denver Broncos (AFL)	W 39–16	1–1	University of Denver Stadium	20,901
3	August 24	Philadelphia Eagles	W 52–10	2–1	Metropolitan Stadium	41,229
4	September 1	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 28–31	2–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	25,233
5	September 6	New Orleans Saints	W 20–17	3–2	State Fair Stadium (Shreveport, LA)	23,000

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 14	Atlanta Falcons	W 47–7	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	45,563
2	September 22	at Green Bay Packers	W 26–13	2–0	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,346
3	September 29	Chicago Bears	L 17–27	2–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
4	October 6	Detroit Lions[a]	W 24–10	3–1	Metropolitan Stadium	44,289
5	October 13	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–20	3–2	Tulane Stadium	71,105
6	October 20	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–20	3–3	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
7	October 27	at Chicago Bears	L 24–26	3–4	Wrigley Field	46,562
8	November 3	Washington Redskins	W 27–14	4–4	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
9	November 10	Green Bay Packers	W 14–10	5–4	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
10	November 17	at Detroit Lions	W 13–6	6–4	Tiger Stadium	48,654
11	November 24	at Baltimore Colts	L 9–21	6–5	Memorial Stadium	60,238
12	December 1	Los Angeles Rams	L 3–31	6–6	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
13	December 8	at San Francisco 49ers	W 30–20	7–6	Kezar Stadium	29,049
14	December 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–17	8–6	Franklin Field	54,530

• Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 11: at Baltimore Colts

Minnesota Vikings (6–4) at Baltimore Colts (9–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	3	3	3	9
Colts	7	14	0	0	21

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

• Date: November 24, 1968
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 50 °F or 10 °C
• TV: CBS
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter BAL – Terry Cole 1-yard rush (Lou Michaels kick). Colts 7–0 Second quarter BAL – Willie Richardson 39-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Lou Michaels kick). Colts 14–0 BAL – Tom Mitchell 18-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Lou Michaels kick). Colts 21–0 MIN – Fred Cox 43-yard field goal. Colts 21–3 Third quarter MIN – Fred Cox 36-yard field goal. Colts 21–6 Fourth quarter MIN – Fred Cox 31-yard field goal. Colts 21–9 Top passers BAL – Earl Morrall – 17/24, 259 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT MIN – Gary Cuozzo – 12/18, 141 yards Top rushers BAL – Terry Cole – 20 rushes, 71 yards, TD MIN – Clinton Jones – 10 rushes, 53 yards Top receivers BAL – Willie Richardson – 6 receptions, 150 yards, TD MIN – John Beasley – 6 receptions, 79 yards

This was the last occasion the Colts hosted the Vikings in the regular season until 2000, seventeen years after they had relocated to Indianapolis. The intervening gap of 31 seasons constitutes the second-longest gap without one team visiting another in NFL history.^[b]

Standings

NFL Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–4	282	242	W2
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	250	333	L1
Green Bay Packers	6	7	1	.462	1–4–1	2–7–1	281	227	W1
Detroit Lions	4	8	2	.333	3–2–1	4–5–1	207	241	L1

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

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Conference	December 22	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–24	0–1	Memorial Stadium	60,238
Playoff Bowl	January 5	Dallas Cowboys	L 13–17	0–2	Miami Orange Bowl	22,961

Conference Playoff: at Baltimore Colts

Minnesota Vikings (8–6) at Baltimore Colts (13–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	0	0	14	14
Colts	0	7	14	3	24

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

• Date: December 22, 1968
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 33 °F (1 °C)
• TV: CBS
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter No scoring plays. Second quarter BAL – Tom Mitchell 3-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Lou Michaels kick). Colts 7–0 Third quarter BAL – John Mackey 49-yard pass from Earl Morrall (Lou Michaels kick). Colts 14–0 BAL – Mike Curtis 60-yard defensive fumble return (Lou Michaels kick). Colts 21–0 Fourth quarter MIN – Billy Martin 1-yard pass from Joe Kapp (Fred Cox kick). Colts 21–7 BAL – Lou Michaels 33-yard field goal. Colts 24–7 MIN – Bill Brown 7-yard pass from Joe Kapp (Fred Cox kick). Colts 24–14 Top passers BAL – Earl Morrall – 13/22, 280 yards, 2 TD, INT MIN – Joe Kapp – 26/44, 287 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Top rushers BAL – Tom Matte – 14 rushes, 31 yards MIN – Joe Kapp – 10 rushes, 52 yards Top receivers BAL – Willie Richardson – 6 receptions, 148 yards MIN – Gene Washington – 5 receptions, 95 yards

Four weeks after their last regular-season visit to the Colts for 32 years, the Vikings' first ever playoff appearance saw them return to play the Colts in their only postseason meeting.

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Joe Kapp	1,695
Passing touchdowns	Joe Kapp	10
Rushing yards	Bill Brown	805
Rushing touchdowns	Bill Brown	11
Receiving yards	Gene Washington	756
Receiving touchdowns	Gene Washington	6
Points	Fred Cox	88
Kickoff return yards	Charlie West	576
Punt return yards	Charlie West	201
Interceptions	Paul Krause	7

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 16)
Passing offense	1,685	120.4	15th
Rushing offense	1,921	137.2	6th
Total offense	3,606	257.6	14th
Passing defense	1,855	132.5	3rd
Rushing defense	1,903	135.9	11th
Total defense	3,758	268.4	5th

Notes

1. This game was originally scheduled to be played in Detroit, but was switched with the November 17 game due to game 4 of the World Series.
2. Tampa Bay did not play at Buffalo until 2009, although the Buccaneers joined the league 33 seasons previously.^[2]