1968 Green Bay Packers season

1968 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach	Phil Bengtson
General manager	Vince Lombardi
Home field	Lambeau Field Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record	6–7–1
Division place	3rd Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1967 Packers seasons 1969 →

The 1968 Green Bay Packers season was their 50th season overall and the 48th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 6–7–1 record under first-year head coach Phil Bengtson, earning them a third-place finish in the Central Division of the Western Conference. It was also the Packers' first losing season since 1958. The 1968 season marked a turning point in Packers history, as it started a long period of futility and decline for the team known as the "Gory Years". From 1968 to 1991, the Packers had only five winning seasons (1969, 1972, 1978, 1982, and 1989), made the playoffs twice (1972 and 1982), winning only one playoff game (1982).

Offseason[]

NFL 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
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster[]

Green Bay Packers roster
Quarterbacks 12 Zeke Bratkowski 13 Don Horn 15 Bart Starr 10 Billy Stevens Running Backs 44 Donny Anderson P 33 Jim Grabowski 30 Chuck Mercein 22 Elijah Pitts Wide Receivers 84 Carroll Dale 86 Boyd Dowler 29 Dave Dunaway 27 Claudis James 80 Bucky Pope Tight Ends 81 Marv Fleming		Offensive Linemen 57 Ken Bowman 68 Gale Gillingham 75 Forrest Gregg 72 Dick Himes 50 Bob Hyland 64 Jerry Kramer 62 Bill Lueck 71 Francis Peay 76 Bob Skoronski Defensive Linemen 82 Lionel Aldridge 78 Bob Brown 67 Leo Carroll 70 Leon Crenshaw 87 Willie Davis 74 Henry Jordan 77 Ron Kostelnik 58 Francis Winkler DE		Linebackers 60 Lee Roy Caffey 53 Fred Carr 66 Ray Nitschke 55 Jim Flanigan Sr. 89 Dave Robinson 83 Phil Vandersea Defensive Backs 26 Herb Adderley 40 Tom Brown 43 Doug Hart 21 Bob Jeter 45 John Rowser 47 Gordon Rule 24 Willie Wood Special Teams 38 Mike Mercer K 23 Travis Williams

Schedule[]

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[]

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, 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

^[1]

Standings[]

NFL Central
view talk	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.

References[]

External links[]

• SportsEncyclopedia.com