1968 Baltimore Colts season
The Baltimore Colts season was the 16th season for the team in the National Football League. 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 ; 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.
In 1968, Baltimore won the Western Conference playoff game with [1968 1967 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team|Minnesota Vikings season|the Minnesota Vikings] and the [1968 1968 NFL Championship Game|NFL Championship Game|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. 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.
NFL draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club team |
| 1 | 23 | John Williams | Offensive tackle | Minnesota |
| 2 | 50 | Bob Grant | Linebacker | Wake Forest |
| 3 | 78 | Rich O'Hara | Wide receiver | Northern Arizona |
| 4 | 107 | Jim Duncan | Running back | Maryland-Eastern Shore |
| 5 | 126 | Paul Elzey | Linebacker | Toledo |
| 7 | 188 | Anthony Andrews | Running back | Hampton |
| 8 | 216 | Tommy Davis | Guard | Tennessee State |
| 9 | 242 | Terry Cole | Running back | Indiana |
| 10 | 257 | Ocie Austin | Free safety | Utah State |
| 10 | 270 | Ed Tomlin | Running back | Hampton |
| 11 | 296 | Bill Pickens | Guard | Houston |
| 12 | 324 | James Jackson | Offensive tackle | Jackson State |
| 13 | 350 | Howard Tennebar | Offensive tackle | Kent State |
| 14 | 378 | Charles Mitchell | Tight end | Alabama State |
| 15 | 404 | Jeff Beaver | Quarterback | North Carolina |
| 16 | 432 | Walt Blackledge | Wide receiver | San Jose State |
| 17 | 458 | Roy Pederson | Linebacker | State College of Iowa |
Regular season
Game summaries
Week 11: vs. Minnesota Vikings
This would be the last occasion the Colts hosted the Vikings in the regular season until 2000 in Indianapolis. The intervening gap — following the playoff meeting between the same teams at the same venue — of 31 seasons constitutes the second-longest gap without one team visiting another in NFL history.Post-season
The team made it to the playoffs as winners of the Coastal division and hosted the Minnesota Vikings of the Central division for the Western Conference title. The Colts took a 21–0 lead and went on to win 24–14. They then traveled to Cleveland to take on the Browns in the NFL Championship Game. Baltimore's only loss of the season came at home to the Browns in October, falling 20–30. In late December, the Colts defense was on top of their game as they shut out the Browns 34–0 to gain their third NFL title. The 1968 Colts were being touted as "the greatest football team in history."In Super Bowl III, the Colts took on the heavy underdog New York Jets led by quarterback Joe Namath, with the Colts favored by points. Before the game, former NFL star and coach Norm Van Brocklin ridiculed the AFL, saying "This will be Namath's first professional football game." Three days before the game, Namath was being heckled in Miami and he responded by saying: "We’re going to win Sunday. I guarantee it." The Jets beat the Colts 16–7 in one of the biggest upsets in American sports history.
Perhaps the biggest effect of the Colts' loss is that the predominant sentiment that the AFL was not strong enough to merge with the NFL was firmly squelched.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Western Conference | December 22 | Minnesota Vikings | W 24–14 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | 60,238 |
| NFL Championship | December 29 | at Cleveland Browns | W 34–0 | 2–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 80,628 |
| Super Bowl III | January 12, 1969 | New York Jets | L 7–16 | 2–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 75,389 |