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1968 Minnesota Vikings season

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1968 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerJim Finks
Head coachBud Grant
Home fieldMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record8–6
Division place1st NFL Central
Playoff finishLost Western Conference Championship Game
(at Colts) 14–24
Lost NFL Playoff Bowl
(vs. Cowboys) 13–17
Pro BowlersDE Carl Eller
C Mick Tingelhoff
FB Bill Brown
DT Alan Page
DE Jim Marshall
AP All-ProsDE Carl Eller (1st team)
C Mick Tingelhoff (1st team)
FB Bill Brown (2nd team)
S Paul Krause (2nd team)
Uniform

The 1968 season was the Minnesota Vikings' eighth in the National Football League. 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.

Offseason

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1968 draft

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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

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1968 Minnesota Vikings roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad
Rookies in italics

Preseason

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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

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Schedule

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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.

Week 11: at Baltimore Colts

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Minnesota Vikings (6–4) at Baltimore Colts (9–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 3 339
Colts 7 14 0021

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: November 24, 1968
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 50 °F or 10 °C, relative humidity 63%, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
  • TV: CBS
  • [2]
Game information

This would be the last occasion the Colts hosted the Vikings in the regular season until 2000, by when the former team had been relocated to Indianapolis for seventeen seasons. The intervening gap of 31 seasons constitutes the second-longest gap without one team visiting another in NFL history.[b]

Standings

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NFL Central
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

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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

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Minnesota Vikings (8–6) at Baltimore Colts (13–1) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 0 01414
Colts 0 7 14324

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: December 22, 1968
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 33 °F or 0.6 °C, relative humidity 73%, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn), wind chill 27 °F or −2.8 °C
  • TV: CBS
  • [4]
Game information

Following upon their last regular-season visit to the Colts for 32 years, the Vikings would visit the Colts for the last time in a competition game until 2000 in their first-ever postseason appearance.

Statistics

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Team leaders

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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

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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

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  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.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "1968 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com.
  2. ^ "Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Colts — November 24th, 1968". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. ^ Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 15–16. ISBN 9780786473519.
  4. ^ "Divisional Round — Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Colts — December 22nd, 1968". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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