1968 Green Bay Packers season

1968 Green Bay Packers season
General manager	Vince Lombardi
Head coach	Phil Bengtson
Home field	Lambeau Field Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	6–7–1
Division place	3rd Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1968 Green Bay Packers season was their 50th season overall and the 48th season in the National Football League. Under first-year head coach Phil Bengtson, the team finished with a 6–7–1 record, third place in the four-team Central Division of the Western Conference.

It was the Packers' first losing season in a decade, and marked a turning point in team history, starting a long period of futility and decline known as the "Gory Years". From 1968 through 1991, Green Bay had only five winning seasons (1969, 1972, 1978, 1982, 1989), made the playoffs twice (1972, 1982), with one win (1982).

A few weeks after winning Super Bowl II in January 1968, Vince Lombardi stepped down as head coach but remained as general manager, and longtime defensive coordinator Bengston was promoted. Lombardi left after the season for the Washington Redskins.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1968 NFL/AFL draft

1968 Green Bay Packers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	Fred Carr *	Linebacker	Texas at El Paso
1	26	Bill Lueck	Guard	Arizona
3	67	Billy Stevens	Quarterback	Texas at El Paso
3	81	Dick Himes	Tackle	Ohio State
4	92	Brendan McCarthy	Running back	Boston College
4	108	John Robinson	Wide receiver	Tennessee State
5	121	Steve Duich	Tackle	San Diego State
5	137	Francis Winkler	Defensive end	Memphis State
6	164	Walter Chadwick	Running back	Tennessee
7	191	Andy Beath	Defensive back	Duke
8	218	Tom Owens	Guard	Missouri-Rolla
9	245	Bob Apisa	Running back	Michigan State
10	260	Rick Cash	Tackle	Northeast Missouri State
10	272	Ron Worthen	Center	Arkansas State
11	299	Gordon Rule	Defensive back	Dartmouth
12	325	Dennis Porter	Tackle	Northern Michigan
13	353	Frank Geiselman	Wide receiver	Rhode Island
14	380	John Farler	Wide receiver	Colorado
15	407	Ridley Gibson	Defensive back	Baylor
16	434	Al Groves	Tackle	St. Norbert
17	461	Ken Rota	Running back	North Dakota State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1968 Green Bay Packers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Zeke Bratkowski 13 Don Horn 15 Bart Starr 10 Billy Stevens Running backs (RB) 44 Donny Anderson P 33 Jim Grabowski 30 Chuck Mercein 22 Elijah Pitts 23 Travis Williams Wide receivers (WR) 84 Carroll Dale 86 Boyd Dowler 29 Dave Dunaway 27 Claudis James 80 Bucky Pope Tight ends (TE) 81 Marv Fleming

Offensive linemen (OL) 57 Ken Bowman C 68 Gale Gillingham G 75 Forrest Gregg T 72 Dick Himes G 50 Bob Hyland C 64 Jerry Kramer G 62 Bill Lueck G 71 Francis Peay T 76 Bob Skoronski T Defensive linemen (DL) 82 Lionel Aldridge DE 78 Bob Brown DT 67 Leo Carroll DE 70 Leon Crenshaw 87 Willie Davis DE 74 Henry Jordan DT 77 Ron Kostelnik DT 58 Francis Winkler DE

Linebackers (LB) 60 Lee Roy Caffey 53 Fred Carr 66 Ray Nitschke MLB 55 Jim Flanigan Sr. 89 Dave Robinson 83 Phil Vandersea Defensive backs (DB) 26 Herb Adderley CB 40 Tom Brown S 43 Doug Hart S 21 Bob Jeter CB 45 John Rowser CB 47 Gordon Rule 24 Willie Wood S Special teams 14 Errol Mann K 38 Mike Mercer K

Practice squad -- Andy Beath DB Reserve 36 Ben Wilson FB Rookies in italics

Schedule

Main article: 1968 NFL season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 15	Philadelphia Eagles	W 30–13	1–0	Lambeau Field	50,861
2	September 22	Minnesota Vikings	L 13–26	1–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,346
3	September 29	Detroit Lions	L 17–23	1–2	Lambeau Field	50,861
4	October 6	at Atlanta Falcons	W 38–7	2–2	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
5	October 13	Los Angeles Rams	L 14–16	2–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,646
6	October 20	at Detroit Lions	T 14–14	2–3–1	Tiger Stadium	57,302
7	October 28	at Dallas Cowboys	W 28–17	3–3–1	Cotton Bowl	74,604
8	November 3	Chicago Bears	L 10–13	3–4–1	Lambeau Field	50,861
9	November 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–14	3–5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
10	November 17	New Orleans Saints	W 29–7	4–5–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,644
11	November 24	at Washington Redskins	W 27–7	5–5–1	D.C. Stadium	50,621
12	December 1	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–27	5–6–1	Kezar Stadium	47,218
13	December 7	Baltimore Colts	L 3–16	5–7–1	Lambeau Field	50,861
14	December 15	at Chicago Bears	W 28–27	6–7–1	Wrigley Field	46,435

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 vs Eagles

See also: 1968 Philadelphia Eagles season

Week One: Philadelphia Eagles (0–0) at Green Bay Packers (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	3	0	7	13
Packers	7	14	6	3	30

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: September 15
• Game attendance: 67 °F (19 °C)
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter PHI – Sam Baker 27-yard field goal. Eagles 3–0. Drive: GB – Jim Grabowski 6-yard run (Jerry Kramer kick). Packers 7–3. Drive: Second quarter GB – Carroll Dale 12-yard pass from Bart Starr (Jerry Kramer kick). Packers 14–3. Drive: PHI – Sam Baker 17-yard field goal. Packers 14–6. Drive: GB – Boyd Dowler 55-yard pass from Bart Starr (Jerry Kramer kick). Packers 21–6. Drive: Third quarter GB – Jerry Kramer 17-yard field goal. Packers 24–6. Drive: GB – Jerry Kramer 22-yard field goal. Packers 27–6. Drive: Fourth quarter PHI – Gary Ballman 2-yard pass from King Hill (Sam Baker kick). Packers 27–13. Drive: GB – Jerry Kramer 35-yard field goal. Packers 30–13. Drive: Top passers PHI – King Hill – 16/35, 196 yards, TD, INT GB – Bart Starr – 14/18, 220 yards, TD, INT Top rushers PHI – Tom Woodeshick – 11 rushes, 48 yards GB – Donny Anderson – 12 rushes, 92 yards Top receivers PHI – Ben Hawkins – 4 receptions, 85 yards GB – Boyd Dowler – 5 receptions, 110 yards, TD

Week 14

A win by the Packers was important because a Bears loss means that The Minnesota Vikings clinched the Central Division title and their first ever playoff berth.

1 2 3 4 Total • Packers 7 14 7 0 28 Bears 10 0 0 17 27 Date: December 15 Location: Wrigley Field Game weather: 22 °F (−6 °C), wind 7 mph

Scoring summary 1 CHI Mac Percival 14-yard field goal Bears 3–0 1 GB Boyd Dowler 72-yard pass from Zeke Bratkowski (Mike Mercer kick) Packers 7–3 1 CHI Dick Gordon 48-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Bears 10–7 2 GB Jim Grabowski 67-yard pass from Don Horn (Mike Mercer kick) Packers 14–10 2 GB Chuck Mercein 1-yard run (Mike Mercer kick) Packers 21–10 3 GB Boyd Dowler 25-yard pass from Don Horn (Mike Mercer kick) Packers 28–10 4 CHI Ronnie Bull 8-yard run (Mac Percival kick) Packers 28–17 4 CHI Mac Percival 26-yard field goal Packers 28–20 4 CHI Dick Gordon 51-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Packers 28–27

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.

External links

• SportsEncyclopedia.com