1968 Dallas Cowboys season

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1968 Dallas Cowboys season
OwnerClint Murchison, Jr.
General managerTex Schramm
Head coachTom Landry
Home stadiumCotton Bowl
Results
Record12–2
Division place1st NFL Capitol
PlayoffsLost Eastern Conference Championship Game
(at Browns) 20–31
Won NFL Playoff Bowl
(vs. Vikings) 17–13

The 1968 Dallas Cowboys season was their ninth in the National Football League (NFL) and won the Capitol division by five games with a 12–2 record (tied with 1977 for the best record in the Landry era). In the first round of the playoffs, Dallas met the Cleveland Browns (10–4) in the Eastern Conference title game, held at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. In this era, the host sites were rotated, home field advantage was not adopted for the playoffs until 1975. Dallas had won the regular season game 28–7 in September, and had routed the Browns 52–14 in the previous year's playoffs, but both were played at the Cotton Bowl.

The Browns upset the favored Cowboys 31–20,[1][2][3] sending Dallas to the third place Playoff Bowl at the Orange Bowl in Miami,[4] where they rallied to defeat the Minnesota Vikings, 17–13.[5][6]

The team averaged 30.8 points per game during the regular season, and holds the record for most points scored through the first three games of a season.[7]

Offseason

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NFL draft

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Main article: 1968 NFL draft
1968 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 20 Dennis Homan  Wide receiver Alabama
2 45 Dave McDaniels  Wide receiver Mississippi Valley State
3 71 Ed Harmon  Linebacker Louisville
4 97 John Douglas  Linebacker Missouri
5 130 Blaine Nye *  Guard Stanford
6 159 D. D. Lewis  Linebacker Mississippi State
7 185 Bob Taucher  Tackle Nebraska
8 211 Frank Brown  Defensive tackle Albany State
9 241 Ken Kmiec  Defensive back Illinois
10 266 Ben Olison  Wide receiver Kansas
11 292 Ron Shotts  Running back Oklahoma
12 321 Wilson Whitty  Linebacker Boston University
13 347 Carter Lord  Wide receiver Harvard
14 373 Ron Williams  Defensive back West Virginia
15 402 Tony Lunceford  Kicker Auburn
16 428 Larry Cole  Defensive end Hawaii yes
17 454 George Nordgren  Running back Houston
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance Recap
1 September 15 Detroit Lions W 59–13 1–0 Cotton Bowl 61,382 Recap
2 September 22 Cleveland Browns W 28–7 2–0 Cotton Bowl 68,733 Recap
3 September 29 at Philadelphia Eagles W 45–13 3–0 Franklin Field 60,858 Recap
4 October 6 at St. Louis Cardinals W 27–10 4–0 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,296 Recap
5 October 13 Philadelphia Eagles W 34–14 5–0 Cotton Bowl 72,083 Recap
6 October 20 at Minnesota Vikings W 20–7 6–0 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644 Recap
7 October 28 Green Bay Packers L 17–28 6–1 Cotton Bowl 74,604 Recap
8 November 3 at New Orleans Saints W 17–3 7–1 Tulane Stadium 84,728 Recap
9 November 10 New York Giants L 21–27 7–2 Cotton Bowl 72,163 Recap
10 November 17 at Washington Redskins W 44–24 8–2 D.C. Stadium 50,816 Recap
11 November 24 at Chicago Bears W 34–3 9–2 Wrigley Field 46,667 Recap
12 November 28 Washington Redskins W 29–20 10–2 Cotton Bowl 66,076 Recap
13 December 8 Pittsburgh Steelers W 28–7 11–2 Cotton Bowl 55,069 Recap
14 December 15 at New York Giants W 28–10 12–2 Yankee Stadium 62,617 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 3

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Team 1 234Total
• Cowboys 7 71417 45
Eagles 3 1000 13
Scoring summary
Q1PHISam Baker 23 yard field goalPHI 3–0
Q1DALDan Reeves 2 yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)DAL 7–3
Q2DALLance Rentzel 11 yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)DAL 14–3
Q2PHIGary Ballman 18 yard pass from King Hill (Sam Baker kick)DAL 14–10
Q2PHISam Baker 13 yard field goalDAL 14–13
Q3DALBob Hayes 44 yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)DAL 21–13
Q3DALDon Perkins 10 yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)DAL 28–13
Q4DALMike Clark 26 yard field goalDAL 31–13
Q4DALLance Rentzel 8 yard pass from Don Meredith (Mike Clark kick)DAL 38–13
Q4DALCraig Morton 4 yard run (Mike Clark kick)DAL 45–13

[8]

Week 14

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Team 1 234Total
• Cowboys 0 7147 28
Giants 3 007 10
Scoring summary
1NYGPete Gogolak 12 yard field goalGiants 3–0
2DALBob Hayes 13 yard pass from Craig Morton (Mike Clark kick)Cowboys 7–3
3DALBob Hayes 63 yard punt return (Mike Clark kick)Cowboys 14–3
3DALCraig Morton 1 yard run (Mike Clark kick)Cowboys 21–3
4DALWalt Garrison 8 yard run (Mike Clark kick)Cowboys 28–3
4NYGAaron Thomas 46 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick)Cowboys 28–10

[9]

Playoffs

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Main article: 1968 NFL playoffs
Round Date Opponent Result Game Site Attendance Recap
Eastern Conference December 21, 1968 at Cleveland Browns L 20–31 Cleveland Stadium 81,497 Recap
Playoff Bowl January 5, 1969 vs Minnesota Vikings W 17–13 Orange Bowl 22,961

Standings

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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.

Roster

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Dallas Cowboys 1968 roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

Taxi squad

Rookies in italics
39 active, 6 inactive, 7 Taxi squad

References

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  1. ^ Bledsoe, Terry (December 22, 1968). "Browns' interceptions beat Dallas". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, sports.
  2. ^ Livingston, Pat (December 22, 1968). "Browns jolt Cowboys, 31-20". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, section 3.
  3. ^ Taylor, Jim (December 22, 1968). "Browns smash Dallas, earn shot at NFL title". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. D1.
  4. ^ 1968 Dallas Cowboys
  5. ^ "Vikings 13-0 lead withers before Dallas rush, 17-13". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. January 6, 1969. p. 11, part 2.
  6. ^ "Cowboys rally, capture Playoff Bowl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 6, 1969. p. 26.
  7. ^ "Mind-blowing stats for week 4 of the 2013 season". National Football League. September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  8. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-15.
  9. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com