1968 Philadelphia Eagles season

1968 Philadelphia Eagles season
Head coach	Joe Kuharich
Owner	Jerry Wolman
Home field	Franklin Field
Results
Record	2–12
Division place	4th NFL Capitol
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1968 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 36th in the league. They failed to improve on their previous output of 6–7–1, winning only two games. The fans expected to get O.J. Simpson if they went winless. They went 2-12, but the Buffalo Bills went 1-12-1 and got Simpson with the 1st Pick.^[1] The Eagles were on target for a winless season at 0–11 until they won their twelfth game. They were the first team in the NFL proper to lose eleven consecutive games in one season since their own 1936 season, though in the AFL the 1962 Oakland Raiders lost their first thirteen games.

Philadelphia sports fans are noted for their fervent devotion to their teams, leading to perennially high expectations. When Philadelphia teams fall short of expectations, their fans are not shy about voicing their displeasure.^[2] One of the most infamous incidents in Philadelphia sports history came at halftime of the final game of the 1968 season. After a dismal season, the Eagles were on their way to losing to the Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles had planned a Christmas pageant for halftime of the December 15 game, but the condition of the field was too poor. Instead, the team asked a fan dressed as Santa Claus to run onto the field to celebrate with a group of cheerleaders. The fans, in no mood to celebrate, loudly booed and threw snowballs at "Santa Claus."^[3]

Offseason

1968 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	14	Tim Rossovich	DE	USC
2	39	Cyril Pinder	RB	Illinois
3	68	Adrian Young	LB	USC
4	95	Len McNeil	G	Fresno State
5	122	Mike Dirks	T	Wyoming
5	124	Mark Nordquist	T	Pacific
6	150	Thurman Randle	T	Texas – El Paso
6	157	Dave Martin	DB	Notre Dame
7	178	Joe Przybycki	G	Michigan State
8	204	Al Lavan	DB	Colorado State
9	232	Mike Evans	C	Boston College
10	258	John Mallory	DB	West Virginia
11	286	Len Persin	DB	Boston College
12	312	Thurston Taylor	TE	Florida State
13	340	George Barron	T	Mississippi State
14	366	Dan Williamson	LB	West Virginia
15	394	Joe Graham	G	Tennessee
16	420	Phil Creel	T	Northwestern State (LA)
17	448	Joe Forzani	LB	Utah State
17	459	Frank Antonini	RB	Parsons

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 15, 1968	at Green Bay Packers	L 13-30	50,861
2	September 22, 1968	New York Giants	L 25-34	60,858
3	September 29, 1968	Dallas Cowboys	L 13-45	60,858
4	October 6, 1968	at Washington Redskins	L 14-17	50,816
5	October 13, 1968	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14-34	72,083
6	October 20, 1968	Chicago Bears	L 16-29	60,858
7	October 27, 1968	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3-6	26,908
8	November 3, 1968	St. Louis Cardinals	L 17-45	59,208
9	November 10, 1968	Washington Redskins	L 10-16	59,133
10	November 17, 1968	at New York Giants	L 6-7	62,896
11	November 24, 1968	at Cleveland Browns	L 13-47	62,338
12	November 28, 1968	at Detroit Lions	W 12–0	47,909
13	December 8, 1968	New Orleans Saints	W 29–17	57,128
14	December 15, 1968	Minnesota Vikings	L 17-24	54,530

Game Recaps

A recap of the scoring plays and the game scores by quarters during the year. The record after the team's name reflects this games outcome also.^[4]

Week 1

Sunday, September 15, 1968

Played at Lambeau Field on grass in 67F degrees with an 11 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (0–1–0)	3	3	0	7	13
Green Bay Packers (1–0–0)	7	14	6	3	30

		Scoring Plays
1st	Eagles	Sam Baker 27-yard field goal
	Packers	Jim Grabowski 6-yard rush (Jerry Kramer kick)
2nd	Packers	Carroll Dale 12-yard pass from Bart Starr (Jerry Kramer kick)
	Eagles	Sam Baker 17-yard field goal
	Packers	Boyd Dowler 55-yard pass from Bart Starr (Jerry Kramer kick)
3rd	Packers	Jerry Kramer 17-yard field goal
	Packers	Jerry Kramer 22-yard field goal
4th	Eagles	Gary Ballman 2-yard pass from King Hill (Sam Baker kick)
	Packers	Jerry Kramer 35-yard field goal

Week 2

Sunday, September 22, 1968

Played in Franklin Field on grass in 70F degrees with a 9 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
New York Giants (2–0–0)	7	10	10	7	34
Philadelphia Eagles (0–2–0)	12	0	7	6	25

		Scoring Plays
1st	Giants	Randy Minniear 2-yard rush (Pete Gogolak kick)
	Eagles	Alvin Haymond 98-yard kickoff return (kick failed)
	Eagles	Izzy Lang 23-yard pass from John Huarte (kick failed)
2nd	Giants	Spider Lockhart 72-yard interception return (Pete Gogolak kick)
	Giants	Pete Gogolak 20-yard field goal
3rd	Eagles	Tom Woodeshick 54-yard rush (Sam Baker kick)
	Giants	Pete Gogolak 30-yard field goal
	Giants	Joe Morrison 12-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick)
4th	Giants	Bobby Duhon 1-yard rush (Pete Gogolak kick)
	Eagles	Ben Hawkins 92-yard pass from King Hill (kick failed)

Week 3

Sunday, September 29, 1968.

Played in Franklin Field on grass in 61F degrees with a 12 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dallas Cowboys (3–0–0)	7	7	14	17	45
Philadelphia Eagles (0–3–0)	3	10	0	0	13

Scoring

1st Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles – Sam Baker 23-yard field goal
Cowboys – Dan Reeves 2-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)

2nd Quarter Scoring Plays

Cowboys – Lance Rentzel 11-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)
Eagles – Gary Ballman 18-yard pass from King Hill (Sam Baker kick)
Eagles – Sam Baker 13-yard field goal

3rd Quarter Scoring Plays

Cowboys – Bob Hayes 44-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)
Cowboys – Don Perkins 10-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)

4th Quarter Scoring Plays

Cowboys – Mike Clark 26-yard field goal
Cowboys – Lance Rentzel 8-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)
Cowboys – Craig Morton 4-yard rush (Mike Clark kick)

Week 4

Sunday, October 6, 1968

Played at District of Columbia Stadium on grass in 46F degrees with a 9 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (0–4–0)	0	0	0	14	14
Washington Redskins (2–2–0)	0	10	7	0	17

Week 5

Sunday, October 13, 1968

Played at the Cotton Bowl on grass in 77F degrees with a 12 MPH wind.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (0–5–0)	0	0	7	7	14
Dallas Cowboys (5–0–0)	7	7	7	13	34

Scoring 1st Quarter Scoring Plays

Cowboys – Pettis Norman 9-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)

2nd Quarter Scoring Plays

Cowboys – Rayfield Wright 15-yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)

3rd Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles – John Mallory 58-yard pass from Sam Baker (Sam Baker kick)
Cowboys – Don Perkins 1-yard rush (Mike Clark kick)

4th Quarter Scoring Plays

Cowboys – Mike Clark 26-yard field goal
Cowboys – Mike Clark 21-yard field goal
Cowboys – Craig Baynham 22-yard rush (Mike Clark kick)
Eagles – Mike Ditka 4-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)

Week 6

Sunday, October 20, 1968

Played at Franklin Field on grass in 62F degrees with a 12 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chicago Bears (2–4–0)	7	6	3	13	29
Philadelphia Eagles (0–6–0)	3	10	3	0	16

Week 7

Sunday, October 27, 1968

Played at Pitt Stadium on grass in 45F degrees with a 14 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (0–7–0)	0	3	0	0	3
Pittsburgh Steelers (1–6–0)	0	0	0	6	6

		Scoring Plays
2nd	Eagles	Sam Baker 38-yard field goal
4th	Steelers	Booth Lusteg 34-yard field goal
	Steelers	Booth Lusteg 15-yard field goal

Week 8

Sunday, November 3, 1968

Played at Franklin Field on grass in 55F degrees with a 9 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
St. Louis Cardinals (5–3–0)	7	7	14	17	45
Philadelphia Eagles (0–8–0)	0	10	7	0	17

		Scoring Plays
1st	Cardinals	Jim Hart 1-yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)
2nd	Eagles	Fred Hill 31-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)
	Cardinals	Willis Crenshaw 14-yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)
	Eagles	Sam Baker 12-yard field goal
3rd	Eagles	Tom Woodeshick 12-yard rush (Sam Baker kick)
	Cardinals	Jim Hart 1-yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)
	Cardinals	Roy Shivers 40-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
4th	Cardinals	Roy Shivers 1-yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)
	Cardinals	Jim Bakken 47-yard field goal
	Cardinals	Roy Shivers 4-yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)

Week 9

Sunday, November 10, 1968

Played at Franklin Field on grass in 40F degrees with a 15 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington Redskins (4–5–0)	3	6	7	0	16
Philadelphia Eagles (0–9–0)	0	3	0	7	10

		SCORING PLAYS
1st	Redskins	Charlie Gogolak 15-yard field goal
2nd	Redskins	Charlie Gogolak 25-yard field goal
	Eagles	Sam Baker 37-yard field goal
	Redskins	Charlie Gogolak 9-yard field goal
3rd	Redskins	Gerry Allen 1-yard rush (Charlie Gogolak kick)
4th	Eagles	Ben Hawkins 6-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)

Week 10

Sunday, November 17, 1968

Played at Yankee Stadium on grass in 40F degrees with a 14 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (0–10–0)	3	3	0	0	6
New York Giants (7–3–0)	0	7	0	0	7

		SCORING PLAYS
1st	Eagles	Sam Baker 19-yard field goal
2nd	Giants	Bobby Duhon 33-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick)
	Eagles	Sam Baker 19-yard field goal

Week 11

Sunday, November 24, 1968.

Played in Cleveland Municipal Stadium on grass in 52F degrees with a 13 MPH wind

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (0–11–0)	0	6	0	7	13
Cleveland Browns (8–3–0)	10	10	14	13	47

Week 12

Thursday, November 28, 1968 Thanksgiving Day

Played in Tiger Stadium on grass in 40F degrees with a 15 MPH wind

Going into this weeks games the Eagles are 0–11 and Buffalo Bills are 1–9–1, the Falcons are 2–9 and the Steelers are 2–8–1.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Philadelphia Eagles (1–11–0)	3	3	3	3	12
Detroit Lions (3–7–2)	0	0	0	0	0

Scoring

1st Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles – Sam Baker 36-yard field goal

2nd Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles – Sam Baker 18-yard field goal

3rd Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles – Sam Baker 32-yard field goal

4th Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles – Sam Baker 35-yard field goal

Week 13

Sunday, December 8, 1968

Played at Franklin Field on grass in 31F degrees with a 16 MPH wind and a wind chill of 19 degrees.

	1	2	3	4	Total
New Orleans Saints (3–9–1)	7	7	3	0	17
Philadelphia Eagles (2–11–0)	0	13	2	14	29

Scoring

1st Quarter Scoring Plays

Saints Jimmy Hester 4-yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Charlie Durkee kick)

2nd Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles Gary Ballman 55-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)
Saints Billy Kilmer 2-yard rush (Charlie Durkee kick)
Eagles Ben Hawkins 14-yard pass from Norm Snead (kick failed)

3rd Quarter Scoring Plays

Saints Charlie Durkee 10-yard field goal
Eagles Safety, Conjar tackled Brown in end zone

4th Quarter Scoring Plays

Eagles Ben Hawkins 23-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)
Eagles Tom Woodeshick 30-yard rush (Sam Baker kick)

Week 14

Sunday, December 15, 1968

Played at Franklin Field on grass in 28F degrees with a 20 MPH wind and a wind chill of 15 degrees.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minnesota Vikings (8–6–0)	0	7	7	10	24
Philadelphia Eagles (2–12–0)	0	7	3	7	17

		SCORING PLAYS
2nd	Eagles	Gary Ballman 5-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)
	Vikings	Bill Brown 57-yard pass from Joe Kapp (Fred Cox kick)
3rd	Vikings	Gene Washington 30-yard pass from Joe Kapp (Fred Cox kick)
	Eagles	Sam Baker 25-yard field goal
4th	Vikings	Joe Kapp 2-yard rush (Fred Cox kick)
	Eagles	Fred Hill 12-yard pass from Norm Snead (Sam Baker kick)
	Vikings	Fred Cox 17-yard field goal

Standings

NFL Capitol
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	12	2	0	.857	5–1	9–1	431	186	W5
New York Giants	7	7	0	.500	5–1	7–3	294	325	L4
Washington Redskins	5	9	0	.357	2–4	3–7	249	358	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	2	12	0	.143	0–6	1–9	202	351	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

↑ 1968 Philadelphia Eagles
↑ Karabell, Eric (2008). The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans Best Sports Arguments. Sourcebooks. p. 2. ISBN 1-4022-1412-X.
↑ Mihoces, Gary (November 27, 2003). "Santa snowball incident shrouded in myth". USA Today. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com

Philadelphia Eagles

Founded in 1933 Based and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Franchise	Franchise History Seasons Coaches Quarterbacks Players

Stadiums	Baker Bowl Philadelphia Municipal Stadium Connie Mack Stadium Franklin Field Veterans Stadium Lincoln Financial Field

Culture	Fly, Eagles Fly Swoop Curse of Billy Penn Invincible Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Matt Guokas Sr. Dan Baker Cheerleaders Silver Linings Playbook The Philadelphia Phenomenon

Lore	Frankford Yellow Jackets Pennsylvania Keystoners Steagles "Happy Hundred" Miracle at the Meadowlands Buddy Ball Fog Bowl Bounty Bowl series Body Bag Game 4th and 26 Miracle at the New Meadowlands

Rivalries	New York Giants Dallas Cowboys Washington Redskins

Division championships (13)	1947 1948 1949 1960 1980 1988 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2010 2013

Conference championships (3)	1960 1980 2004

League championships (3)	1948 1949 1960

Media	WTEL WIP-FM Merrill Reese Mike Quick

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division

Seasons (83)	1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Philadelphia Eagles seasons

1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–1966) or Super Bowl (1967–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–1966) or Super Bowl (1967–present) appearance

Philadelphia Eagles 1968 NFL draft selections

Tim Rossovich Cyril Pinder Adrian Young Len McNeil Mike Dirks Mark Nordquist Thurman Randle Dave Martin Joe Przybycki Al Lavan Mike Evans John Mallory Len Persin Thurston Taylor George Barron Dan Williamson Joe Graham Phil Creel Joe Forzani Frank Antonini

1968 NFL season

Capitol	Century	Coastal	Central
Dallas	Cleveland	Atlanta	Chicago
NY Giants	New Orleans	Baltimore	Detroit
Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	Los Angeles	Green Bay
Washington	St. Louis	San Francisco	Minnesota

Related: 1968 AFL Season

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