1968 American Football League season

1968 American Football League season
Regular season
Duration	September 6 – December 15, 1968
Playoffs
Date	December 29, 1968
Eastern Champion	New York Jets
Western Champion	Oakland Raiders
Site	Shea Stadium, New York City
Champion	New York Jets
← 1967 AFL seasons 1969 →

The Jets playing the Colts in Super Bowl III.

The 1968 American Football League season was the ninth regular season of the American Football League, and its penultimate season prior to the AFL–NFL merger.

The season ended when the New York Jets (11–3) defeated the Oakland Raiders (12–2) in the AFL championship game on December 29 at Shea Stadium in New York City. Two weeks later, the Jets defeated the National Football League's Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in one of the biggest sports upsets in history.

The season was also notable as the inaugural season of the Cincinnati Bengals, which expanded the AFL to 10 teams.

In anticipation of the merger, all AFL on-field officials wore uniforms similar to those used in the NFL.

Division races

With the addition of the Cincinnati Bengals, the AFL's ten teams were split equally into two divisions. Each played a home-and-away game against the other four teams in its division, one game against each of the five teams in the opposite division, and a second game against one of the other division's teams.

As with the previous eight seasons, the best record in the Eastern Division played the best in the Western Division in the AFL championship game, with the site alternating between the divisions; the Eastern division hosted in even-numbered years. If there was tie within the division standings (as happened when Oakland and Kansas City both finished at 12–2), a tiebreaker playoff was held to determine the division winner. The Jets, with the third-best record in the league in 1968, had a week off and hosted the title game.

Week	Eastern	Record	Western	Record
1	Boston	1–0–0	Tie (KC, SD)	1–0–0
2	Tie (Bos, NYJ)	1–0–0	Tie (Oak, SD)	1–0–0
3	N.Y. Jets	2–0–0	Tie (Oak, SD)	2–0–0
4	Tie (Bos, NY)	2–1–0	Oakland	3–0–0
5	N.Y. Jets	3–1–0	Oakland	4–0–0
6	N.Y. Jets	3–2–0	Kansas City	5–1–0
7	N.Y. Jets	4–2–0	Kansas City	6–1–0
8	N.Y. Jets	5–2–0	Kansas City	7–1–0
9	N.Y. Jets	6–2–0	Kansas City	7–2–0
10	N.Y. Jets	7–2–0	Kansas City	8–2–0
11	N.Y. Jets	7–3–0	Kansas City	9–2–0
12	N.Y. Jets	8–3–0	Tie (KC, Oak)	9–2–0
13	N.Y. Jets	9–3–0	Tie (KC, Oak)	10–2–0
14	N.Y. Jets	10–3–0	Tie (KC, Oak)	11–2–0
15	N.Y. Jets	11–3–0	Tie (KC, Oak)	12–2–0

Regular season

The Cincinnati Bengals joined the league as an expansion team.

Results

Home/Road		Eastern Division					Western Division
		BOS	BUF	HOU	MIA	NY	CIN	DEN	KC	OAK	SD
Eastern	Boston Patriots		23–6	0–16	10–34	31–47*	33–14	14–35			17–27
	Buffalo Bills	7–16		7–30	17–21	37–35			7–18	6–48	6–21
	Houston Oilers	45–17	35–6		7–24	14–20		38–17	21–26	15–24
	Miami Dolphins	38–7	14–14	10–24		7–31	21–38		3–48	21–47
	New York Jets	48–14	25–21	26–7	35–17		27–14	13–21			23–20
Western	Cincinnati Bengals		34–23	17–27	22–24			24–10	9–16	0–34	10–31
	Denver Broncos	17–20	34–32		21–14		10–7		7–30	7–43	23–47
	Kansas City Chiefs	31–17		24–10		19–20	13–3	34–2		24–10	27–20
	Oakland Raiders	41–10	13–10			43–32	31–10	33–27	38–21		14–23
	San Diego Chargers			30–14	34–28	15–37	29–13	55–24	3–40	27–34

(*) Played at Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama since Boston Red Sox refused to rent Fenway Park to Patriots.

Standings

AFL Eastern Division view talk edit W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK New York Jets 11 3 0 .786 7–1 419 280 W4 Houston Oilers 7 7 0 .500 5–3 303 248 W2 Miami Dolphins 5 8 1 .385 4–3–1 276 355 L1 Boston Patriots 4 10 0 .286 2–6 229 406 L2 Buffalo Bills 1 12 1 .077 1–6–1 199 367 L8 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

AFL Western Division view talk edit W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK Oakland Raiders 12 2 0 .857 6–2 453 233 W8 Kansas City Chiefs 12 2 0 .857 7–1 371 170 W5 San Diego Chargers 9 5 0 .643 5–3 382 310 L2 Denver Broncos 5 9 0 .357 1–7 275 404 L3 Cincinnati Bengals 3 11 0 .214 1–7 215 329 L3 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs

Main article: AFL playoffs, 1968

	Western Division playoff December 22					AFL Championship Game December 29
						E	at New York Jets (11–3)	27
						W	Oakland Raiders	23
	W	Kansas City Chiefs    (12–2)	6
	W	at Oakland Raiders (12–2)	41

Super Bowl

Main article: Super Bowl III

In an upset, the New York Jets, defeated the Baltimore Colts, 16–7, at Orange Bowl in Miami, on January 12, 1969.

Stadium changes

• The expansion Cincinnati Bengals began play at Nippert Stadium
• Bears Stadium, home of the Denver Broncos, was renamed Mile High Stadium after the city took control of the venue
• The Houston Oilers moved from Rice Stadium to the Astrodome

Coaching changes

Offseason

• Cincinnati Bengals: Paul Brown was the expansion team's first head coach.

In-season

• Buffalo Bills: Joe Collier was fired after two games. Defensive coordinator Harvey Johnson served as interim head coach.

External links

• Football Database