# 1968 Minnesota Vikings season

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
### 1968 draft

* Hall of Famer
1968 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Ron Yary | Offensive tackle | USC | from Giants |
| 1 | 7 | Traded to the New Orleans Saints | Traded to the New Orleans Saints | Traded to the New Orleans Saints | |
| 2 | 33 | Charlie West | Cornerback | UTEP | |
| 3 | 61 | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| 3 | 76 | Mike McGill | Linebacker | Notre Dame | from Cowboys |
| 4 | 89 | Mike Freeman | Defensive back | Fresno State | |
| 5 | 117 | Traded to the Washington Redskins | Traded to the Washington Redskins | Traded to the Washington Redskins | |
| 6 | 144 | Bob Goodridge | Wide receiver | Vanderbilt | |
| 7 | 167 | Oscar Reed | Wide receiver | Colorado State | from Falcons |
| 7 | 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 | |
| 17 | 445 | Bill Hull | Guard | Tennessee Tech | from Lions |
Notes
* ↑ 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).
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their third-round selection (61st overall) to the Steelers in exchange for CB Brady Keys.
* ↑ The Vikings traded WR Lance Rentzel to the Cowboys in exchange for a third-round selection (76th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded their fifth-round selection (117th overall) to the Redskins in exchange for OT Bob Breitenstein.
* ↑ The Vikings traded QB Ron Vander Kelen to the Falcons in exchange for a seventh-round selection (167th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded a 1969 16th-round selection (407th overall) to the Lions in exchange for a 17th-round selection (445th overall).

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 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 | 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

| 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, relative humidity 63%, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
* TV: CBS
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 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.

## Standings

NFL Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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

| 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 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
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 :
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
### 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 |