# 1968 Denver Broncos season

The 1968 Denver Broncos season was the ninth season for the team in the American Football League (AFL). Led by second-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos improved their record from the previous season by posting a record of five wins and nine losses. They finished fourth in the AFL's Western division for the sixth straight season; the expansion Cincinnati Bengals finished fifth, allowing Denver to escape the cellar.
There were threats of the Broncos relocating to Atlanta, Chicago, and Birmingham, Alabama.
The 1968 season was the first in which Denver wore blue helmets with the trademark orange "D" logo; the helmets remained the same until the 1997 season.
In 1968, Bears Stadium was sold to the city of Denver, which renamed it "Mile High Stadium" and built the upper deck along the west side, raising capacity to 50,657.

## Offseason
### NFL/AFL Draft

1968 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 2 | 31 | Curley Culp * $^†$ | Defensive tackle | Arizona State |
| 3 | 58 | Garrett Ford | Running back | West Virginia |
| 3 | 75 | Bob Vaughn | Tackle | Ole Miss |
| 4 | 91 | Gordon Lambert | Linebacker | Tennessee-Martins |
| 4 | 102 | Drake Garrett | Defensive back | Michigan State |
| 4 | 111 | Gus Hollomon | Defensive back | Houston |
| 8 | 196 | Steve Holloway | Defensive back | Weber State |
| 9 | 222 | Paul Smith * | Defensive end | New Mexico |
| 10 | 252 | Bob Langford | Tackle | Middle Tennessee |
| 12 | 304 | Bobby Hendrix | Tackle | Ole Miss |
| 13 | 330 | Charlie Greer | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 14 | 357 | Marlin Briscoe * | Quarterback | Nebraska-Omaha |
| 15 | 386 | Jeff Kuhman | Linebacker | Vermont |
| 16 | 412 | Adin Brown | Linebacker | William & Mary |
| 17 | 438 | Steve Grady | Running back | USC |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 2 | September 15 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–24 | 0–1 | Nippert Stadium | 25,049 | Recap |
| 3 | September 22 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 2–34 | 0–2 | Municipal Stadium | 45,821 | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | Boston Patriots | L 17–20 | 0–3 | Mile High Stadium | 37,024 | Recap |
| 5 | October 6 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 10–7 | 1–3 | Mile High Stadium | 41,257 | Recap |
| 6 | October 13 | at New York Jets | W 21–13 | 2–3 | Shea Stadium | 62,052 | Recap |
| 7 | October 20 | at San Diego Chargers | L 24–55 | 2–4 | San Diego Stadium | 42,953 | Recap |
| 8 | October 27 | Miami Dolphins | W 21–14 | 3–4 | Mile High Stadium | 44,115 | Recap |
| 9 | November 3 | at Boston Patriots | W 35–14 | 4–4 | Fenway Park | 18,304 | Recap |
| 10 | November 10 | Oakland Raiders | L 7–43 | 4–5 | Mile High Stadium | 50,002 | Recap |
| 11 | November 17 | at Houston Oilers | L 17–38 | 4–6 | Astrodome | 36,075 | Recap |
| 12 | November 24 | Buffalo Bills | W 34–32 | 5–6 | Mile High Stadium | 35,201 | Recap |
| 13 | December 1 | San Diego Chargers | L 23–47 | 5–7 | Mile High Stadium | 35,212 | Recap |
| 14 | December 8 | at Oakland Raiders | L 27–33 | 5–8 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 47,754 | Recap |
| 15 | December 14 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 7–30 | 5–9 | Mile High Stadium | 38,463 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFL Western Division :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 6–2 | 453 | 233 | W8 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 7–1 | 371 | 170 | W5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 5–3 | 382 | 310 | L2 |
| Denver Broncos | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 1–7 | 275 | 404 | L3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 1–7 | 215 | 329 | L3 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.