1968 Washington Redskins season

1968 Washington Redskins season
Owner	George Preston Marshall
General manager	Otto Graham
President	Edward Bennett Williams
Head coach	Otto Graham
Home field	D.C. Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	3rd NFL Capitol
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1968 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 37th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 32nd in Washington, D.C. In their third and final year under head coach Otto Graham, the team finished 5–9, failing to improve on their 5–6–3 record from 1967.

With two years remaining on a five-year contract (and an option for another five years), Graham was displaced by Vince Lombardi in early February 1969.^[1][2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1968 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Roster

1968 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Gary Beban  9 Sonny Jurgensen 11 Jim Ninowski 17 Harry Theofiledes Running backs (RB) 20 Gerry Allen 26 Bob Brunet 24 Pete Larson 32 Ray McDonald 44 Steve Thurlow FB 25 A. D. Whitfield Wide receivers (WR) 49 Bobby Mitchell 42 Charley Taylor Tight ends (TE) 81 Ken Barefoot 88 Pat Richter 87 Jerry Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 61 Don Bandy G 68 Willie Banks T 56 Len Hauss C 76 Walt Rock T 62 Ray Schoenke G 74 Jim Snowden T 67 John Wooten G Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Walt Barnes DT 73 Frank Bosch DT 79 Dennis Crane DT 66 Carl Kammerer DE 71 Spain Musgrove DE 72 Joe Rutgens DT

Linebackers (LB) 63 Ed Breding 60 Jim Carroll 57 Dave Crossan 55 Chris Hanburger 86 Marlin McKeever 52 Mike Morgan 54 Tom Roussel Defensive backs (DB) 37 Pat Fischer CB 21 George Harold 46 Rickie Harris CB 40 Aaron Martin S 28 Dick Smith 34 Jim Smith 23 Brig Owens S Special teams  4 Mike Bragg P  3 Charlie Gogolak K

Practice squad  5 Curt Knight K Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 15	at Chicago Bears	W 38–28	1–0	Wrigley Field	41,321	Recap
2	September 22	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–37	1–1	Tulane Stadium	65,941	Recap
3	September 29	at New York Giants	L 21–48	1–2	Yankee Stadium	62,797	Recap
4	October 6	Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–14	2–2	D.C. Stadium	50,816	Recap
5	October 13	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–13	3–2	D.C. Stadium	50,659	Recap
6	October 20	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 14–41	3–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	46,456	Recap
7	October 27	New York Giants	L 10–13	3–4	D.C. Stadium	50,839	Recap
8	November 3	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–27	3–5	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644	Recap
9	November 10	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 16–10	4–5	Franklin Field	59,133	Recap
10	November 17	Dallas Cowboys	L 24–44	4–6	D.C. Stadium	50,816	Recap
11	November 24	Green Bay Packers	L 7–27	4–7	D.C. Stadium	50,621	Recap
12	November 28	at Dallas Cowboys	L 20–29	4–8	Cotton Bowl	66,076	Recap
13	December 8	Cleveland Browns	L 21–24	4–9	D.C. Stadium	50,661	Recap
14	December 15	Detroit Lions	W 14–3	5–9	D.C. Stadium	50,123	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 14 14 7 3 38 Bears 7 14 0 7 28 Date: September 15 Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago Game attendance: 41,321 Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), wind 8 mph

Scoring summary 1 WSH Pat Richter 16 yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Charlie Gogolak kick) Redskins 7–0 1 WSH Gerry Allen 12 yard run (Charlie Gogolak kick) Redskins 14–0 1 CHI Jack Concannon 7 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Redskins 14–7 2 WSH Gerry Allen 99 yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Charlie Gogolak kick) Redskins 21–7 2 CHI Brian Piccolo 12 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Redskins 21–14 2 WSH Pat Richter 6 yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Charlie Gogolak kick) Redskins 28–14 2 CHI Ronnie Bull 6 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Redskins 28–21 3 WSH Pat Richter 19 yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Charlie Gogolak kick) Redskins 35–21 4 CHI Ronnie Bull 8 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Redskins 35–21 4 WSH Charlie Gogolak 37 yard field goal Redskins 38–21

^[3]

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 10 0 3 13 • Redskins 6 3 7 0 16 Date: October 13 Location: D.C. Stadium, Washington, D.C. Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), wind 3 mph

Scoring summary 1 WSH Jerry Smith 17 yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (kick failed) Redskins 6–0 2 WSH Charlie Gogolak 24 yard field goal Redskins 9–0 2 PIT Booth Lusteg 24 yard field goal Redskins 9–3 2 PIT Roy Jefferson 33 yard pass from Dick Shiner (Booth Lusteg kick) Steelers 10–9 3 WSH Jerry Smith 49 yard pass from Sonny Jurgensen (Charlie Gogolak kick) Redskins 16–10 4 PIT Booth Lusteg 30 yard field goal Redskins 16–13

^[4]

Standings

NFL Capitol
view talk edit	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

1. Polk, James R. (February 6, 1969). "Lombardi officially in at Washington after gaining release from Green Bay". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 23.
2. "Graham has no comment about Lombardi". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. February 7, 1969. p. 15.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com