| 1968 Baltimore Colts season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Carroll Rosenbloom |
| General manager | Harry Hulmes |
| Head coach | Don Shula |
| Home field | Memorial Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 13–1 |
| Division place | 1st NFL Coastal |
| Playoff finish | Won Western Conference Championship Game (vs. Vikings) 24–14 Won NFL Championship (at Browns) 34–0 Lost Super Bowl III (vs. Jets) 7–16 |
The 1968 Baltimore Colts season was the 16th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). Led by sixth-year head coach Don Shula, they finished the regular season with a record of 13 wins and 1 loss, and won the Western Conference's Coastal division.
The previous season, the Colts finished 11–1–2, tied for the best in the league, but were excluded from the playoffs. They lost a tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Rams for the Coastal Division title in 1967; the other three teams in the NFL postseason, all division winners, had nine wins each.
The Colts finished the 1968 regular season with the team's defense having allowed just 144 points — tying the NFL record for a 14-game season.[1]
In 1968, Baltimore won the Western Conference playoff game with the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL Championship Game in a shutout of the Cleveland Browns, but then lost to the New York Jets of the American Football League in Super Bowl III.[2] Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas had been injured during the pre-season, so Earl Morrall led the offense. He would finish the season as the league leader in touchdown passes with 26. Shula decided to bring Unitas back in during the second half of the Super Bowl, to no avail.
After the upset, instead of championship rings, luxury watches were given to the team as a consolation prize to commemorate their NFL Championship victory over Cleveland.[3]