1968 Minnesota Vikings season

1968 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Bud Grant
General manager	Jim Finks
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	1st NFL Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (Colts) 24–14

The 1968 Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise's 54th season in the National Football League. Under head coach Bud Grant, the Vikings won the NFL Central Division title with a record of eight wins and six losses, as they qualified for postseason play for the first time in franchise history. The Vikings' first trip to the playoffs ended with 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.

Offseason

1968 Draft

Main article: 1968 NFL draft

= Hall of Famer

1968 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1	1	1	Ron Yary	Offensive tackle	USC	from Giants^[a]
1	7	7	Traded to the New Orleans Saints^[b]
2	6	33	Charlie West	Defensive back	Texas-El Paso
3	6	61	Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers^[c]
3	21	76	Mike McGill	Linebacker	Notre Dame	from Cowboys^[d]
4	6	89	Mike Freeman	Defensive back	Fresno State
5	6	117	Traded to the Washington Redskins^[e]
6	6	144	Bob Goodridge	Wide receiver	Vanderbilt
7	2	167	Oscar Reed	Wide receiver	Colorado State	from Falcons^[f]
7	6	171	Lenny Snow	Running back	Georgia Tech
8	6	198	Hank Urbanowicz	Defensive tackle	Miami
9	6	225	Mike Donohue	Tight end	San Francisco
10	6	250	Tom Sakal	Defensive back	Minnesota
11	6	279	Bill Haas	Wide receiver	Nebraska-Omaha
12	6	308	Howie Small	Center	Rhode Island
13	6	333	Dick Wherry	Wide receiver	Northern State
14	6	360	Don Evans	Offensive tackle	Arkansas-Pine Bluff
15	6	387	Jim Haynie	Quarterback	West Chester
16	6	414	Lary Kuharich	Defensive back	Boston College
17	6	441	Bob Lee	Quarterback	Pacific
17	10	445	Bill Hull	Guard	Tennessee Tech	from Lions^[g]

^{^[a]} The New York Giants traded their 1st round selection (1st overall), 1967 1st round selection (2nd overall), 1967 2nd round selection (28th overall), and 1969 2nd round selection (39th overall) to Minnesota for QB Fran Tarkenton.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 1st round selection (7th overall) and their 1969 1st round selection (17th overall) to New Orleans for QB Gary Cuozzo.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 3rd round selection (61st overall) to PIttsburgh for CB Brady Keys.

^{^[d]} Dallas traded their 3rd round selection (76th overall) to Minnesota for WR Lance Rentzel.

^{^[e]} Minnesota traded their 5th round selection (117th overall) to Washington for OL Bob Breitenstein.

^{^[f]} Atlanta traded their 7th round selection (167th overall) to Minnesota for QB Ron Vander Kelen.

^{^[g]} Detroit traded their 17th round selection (445th overall) to Minnesota for their 1969 16th round selection (407th overall).

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	September 14, 1968	Atlanta Falcons	W 47–7	Metropolitan Stadium	45,563
2	September 22, 1968	at Green Bay Packers	W 26–13	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,346
3	September 29, 1968	Chicago Bears	L 17–27	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
4	October 6, 1968	Detroit Lions	W 24–10	Metropolitan Stadium	44,289
5	October 13, 1968	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–20	Tulane Stadium	71,105
6	October 20, 1968	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–20	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
7	October 27, 1968	at Chicago Bears	L 24–26	Wrigley Field	46,562
8	November 3, 1968	Washington Redskins	W 27–14	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
9	November 10, 1968	Green Bay Packers	W 14–10	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
10	November 17, 1968	at Detroit Lions	W 13–6	Tiger Stadium	48,654
11	November 24, 1968	at Baltimore Colts	L 9–21	Memorial Stadium	60,238
12	December 1, 1968	Los Angeles Rams	L 3–31	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
13	December 8, 1968	at San Francisco 49ers	W 30–20	Kezar Stadium	29,049
14	December 15, 1968	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–17	Franklin Field	54,530

Note: The October 6 game against Detroit was originally scheduled to be played in Detroit. The game was switched with the November 17 game due to game 4 of the World Series.

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
Western Conference	December 22, 1968	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–24	Memorial Stadium	60,238
Playoff Bowl	January 5, 1969	vs Dallas Cowboys	L 13–17	Miami Orange Bowl	22,961

Standings

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.

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 Yards	120.4 YPG	15th
Rushing Offense	1,921 Yards	137.2 YPG	6th
Total Offense	3,606 Yards	257.6 YPG	14th
Passing Defense	1,855 Yards	132.5 YPG	3rd
Rushing Defense	1,903 Yards	135.9 YPG	11th
Total Defense	3,758 Yards	268.4 YPG	5th

External links

1968 Minnesota Vikings at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Minnesota Vikings

Founded in 1961 Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Franchise	Franchise History Expansion draft Players First-round draft picks Quarterbacks Head coaches Seasons Statistics Draft

Stadiums	Metropolitan Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium

Culture	Purple People Eaters "Skol, Vikings" Herschel Walker trade Love Boat scandal "Little Minnesota" (How I Met Your Mother episode) Cheerleaders

Rivalries	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers

Lore	The Wrong Way Run Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy Gary Anderson's missed field goal Hail Mary 2010 Metrodome roof collapse

Division championships (19)	1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1980 1989 1992 1994 1998 2000 2008 2009 2015

Conference championships (4)	1969 1973 1974 1976

League championships (0^†)	^† does not include 1969 NFL championship

Retired numbers	10 53 70 77 80 88

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (56)	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Minnesota Vikings seasons

1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1968 NFL season

Capitol	Century	Coastal	Central
Dallas	Cleveland	Atlanta	Chicago
NY Giants	New Orleans	Baltimore	Detroit
Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	Los Angeles	Green Bay
Washington	St. Louis	San Francisco	Minnesota

Related: 1968 AFL Season

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.