1968 Los Angeles Rams season

1968 Los Angeles Rams season
Head coach	George Allen
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	2nd Western Coastal
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1967 Rams seasons 1969  →

The 1968 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 31st year with the National Football League and the 23rd season in Los Angeles. The season saw the Rams attempting to improve on their 11-1-2 record from 1967 and qualifying for the playoffs for the second straight season. The Rams started off by winning their first six games before losing to the Baltimore Colts for their first loss. After 2 more victories, the Rams tied the San Francisco 49ers. They rebounded by winning their next 2 games and were in firm control of their playoff hopes. However, 2 close losses to the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts at home dampened their playoff hopes, and they barely missed the playoffs as a result.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1968 NFL draft

1968 Los Angeles Rams draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	30	Gary Beban	Quarterback	UCLA
2	51	Mike LaHood	Guard	Wyoming
5	135	Don Martin	Kicker	Washington
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1968 Los Angeles Rams roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 18 Roman Gabriel 16 Milt Plum Running backs (RB) 22 Dick Bass FB 43 Mike Dennis 35 Henry Dyer 33 Willie Ellison 37 Vilnis Ezerins 20 Tommy Mason Wide receivers (WR) 25 Bernie Casey 29 Harold Jackson 84 Jack Snow 14 Wendell Tucker Tight ends (TE) 83 Dave Pivec 87 Billy Truax

Offensive linemen (OL) 63 Joe Carollo T 62 Don Chuy G 73 Charlie Cowan T 50 Ken Iman C 65 Tom Mack G 56 Frank Marchlewski C 71 Joe Scibelli G 77 Jim Wilson T Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Coy Bacon DE 78 Roger Brown DT 75 Deacon Jones DE 85 Lamar Lundy DE 74 Merlin Olsen DT 81 Gregg Schumacber DE 72 Diron Talbert DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Maxie Baughan 53 Gene Breen 88 Tony Guillory 56 Dean Halverson 32 Jack Pardee 66 Myron Pottios 57 Doug Woodlief Defensive backs (DB) 49 Claude Crabb 27 Irv Cross CB 46 Willie Daniel 21 Eddie Meador S 41 Ron Smith CB 24 Clancy Williams CB 47 Kelton Winston Special teams (ST) 30 Bruce Gossett K 28 Pat Studstill P

Practice squad Jimmy Raye II DB Rookies in italics

Season Recap

Just as they had in 1967, the Rams and Colts staged a season long battle for the Coastal Division title. The Rams won their first six games, but lost to the Colts in Baltimore in week seven, 27-10, to fall into a tie with the Colts. Both teams won their next two games, but then the Rams had to rally from a 10-point 4th quarter deficit to tie the 49ers in San Francisco, 20-20.

Going into the second to the last game of the season against the Bears, the Rams trailed the Colts by 1/2 game, with a regular season finale vs. the Colts in Los Angeles looming the following week to decide the title. The Colts won a Saturday game in Green Bay (eliminating the Packers from playoff contention) 16-3. On Sunday, the Bears, the breaks, and the officials all played a role in the Bears 17-16 win that eliminated the Rams. The Bears played inspired defense, even knocking quarterback Roman Gabriel out of the game for a time. The Rams blocked a Bears punt, but it rolled out of the end zone for a safety just before the Rams were about to recover the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Finally, trailing by a point, Gabriel rallied the Rams and appeared to pass them into field goal range. But a late flag for clipping cost the Rams the gain and set them back 15 yards into their own territory. At the same time, the officials neglected to re-set the down marker back to 3rd down (the down is supposed to go over on a penalty), so when the next play was an incomplete pass, the officials awarded the Bears the ball. The Rams protested vehemently that it was still their ball down but to no avail. The NFL later acknowledged the officials' mistake but said the result of the game could not be changed.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 16	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–13	1–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,757
2	September 22	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–10	2–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	49,647
3	September 29	at Cleveland Browns	W 24–6	3–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	82,514
4	October 6	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–10	4–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	69,520
5	October 13	at Green Bay Packers	W 16–14	5–0	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,646
6	October 20	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–14	6–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54,443
7	October 27	at Baltimore Colts	L 10–27	6–1	Memorial Stadium	60,238
8	November 3	Detroit Lions	W 10–7	7–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	77,982
9	November 10	at Atlanta Falcons	W 17–10	8–1	Atlanta Stadium	53,979
10	November 17	at San Francisco 49ers	T 20–20	8–1–1	Kezar Stadium	41,815
11	November 24	New York Giants	W 24–21	9–1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	68,534
12	December 1	at Minnesota Vikings	W 31–3	10–1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,644
13	December 8	Chicago Bears	L 16–17	10–2–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	66,368
14	December 15	Baltimore Colts	L 24–28	10–3–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	69,397
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Coastal
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	13	1	0	.929	6–0	10–0	402	144	W8
Los Angeles Rams	10	3	1	.769	3–2–1	6–3–1	312	200	L2
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	2–3–1	4–5–1	303	310	W1
Atlanta Falcons	2	12	0	.143	0–6	1–9	170	389	L4

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