1968 Detroit Lions season

1968 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Joe Schmidt
Home field	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	4–8–2
Division place	4th NFL Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1968 Detroit Lions season was their 39th in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 5–7–2, winning only four games. They missed the playoffs for the eleventh straight season.

NFL Draft

Main article: 1968 NFL/AFL Draft

1968 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	11	Greg Landry *	QB	Massachusetts
1	24	Earl McCullouch	WR	USC	from Los Angeles
2	37	Jerry DePoyster	K	Wyoming
3	74	Charlie Sanders * †	TE	Minnesota	from Los Angeles
4	93	Ed Mooney	LB	Texas Tech
5	120	Phil Odle	WR	BYU
6	148	Mike Spitzer	DE	San Jose State
8	202	Terry Miller	LB	Illinois
9	229	Greg Barton	QB	Tulsa
10	256	Granville Liggins	LB	Oklahoma
11	283	Dwight Little	G	Kentucky
12	310	Ed Caruthers	DB	Arizona
13	337	Chuck Bailey	OT	Cal State-Humboldt
14	364	Richie Davis	WR	Upsala
15	391	Jim Oliver	RB	Colorado State
16	418	Bob Rokita	DE	Arizona State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

• Detroit traded DT Roger Brown to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' first- and third-round selections (24th and 74th) and second-round selection in 1969.
• Detroit traded its third-round selection (65th) and fourth-round selection in 1969 to San Francisco in exchange for RB David Kopay.
• Detroit traded its seventeenth-round selection (445th) to Minnesota in exchange for Minnesota's sixteenth-round selection in 1969.

Roster

1968 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 14 Greg Barton 11 Greg Landry 19 Bill Munson Running backs 21 Mike Campbell 40 Nick Eddy 24 Mel Farr 43 Dave Kopay 35 Tom Nowatzke 23 Phil Odle 38 Bill Triplett Wide receivers  3 Billy Gambrell 89 Gail Cogdill 81 Bill Malinchak 25 Earl McCullouch Tight ends 80 Jim Gibbons 88 Charlie Sanders		Offensive linemen 79 Charlie Bradshaw T 54 Ed Flanagan C 76 Rocky Freitas T 68 Frank Gallagher G 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 70 Denis Moore T 73 Roger Shoals T 63 Chuck Walton G 52 Bill Cottrell Defensive linemen 78 John Baker DE 74 Larry Hand DT 85 Lew Kamanu DE 71 Alex Karras DT 85 Greg Kent DE 70 Denis Moore DE 84 Joe Robb DE 82 Jerry Rush DT 61 Chuck Sieminski DT	Linebackers 53 Mike Lucci 62 Ed Mooney 50 Paul Naumoff 55 Wayne Walker 51 Bill Swain Defensive backs 20 Lem Barney CB 44 Dick LeBeau CB 47 Wayne Rasmussen FS 27 Bobby Thompson S 48 Tom Vaughn FS 28 Mike Weger SS 46 Jim Welch S Special teams 15 Jerry DePoyster K		Reserve lists None - vacant Practice squad 26 Mike Bass CB  1 Garo Yepremian K Note: rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 15	at Dallas Cowboys	L 13–59	0–1	Cotton Bowl	61,382
2	September 22	Chicago Bears	W 42–0	1–1	Tiger Stadium	50,688
3	September 29	at Green Bay Packers	W 23–17	2–1	Lambeau Field	50,681
4	October 6	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–24	2–2	Metropolitan Stadium	44,289
5	October 13	at Chicago Bears	W 28–10	3–2	Wrigley Field	46,996
6	October 20	Green Bay Packers	T 14–14	3–2–1	Tiger Stadium	57,302
7	October 27	San Francisco 49ers	L 7–14	3–3–1	Tiger Stadium	53,555
8	November 3	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–10	3–4–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	77,982
9	November 10	Baltimore Colts	L 10–27	3–5–1	Tiger Stadium	55,170
10	November 17	Minnesota Vikings	L 6–13	3–6–1	Tiger Stadium	46,654
11	November 24	New Orleans Saints	T 20–20	3–6–2	Tiger Stadium	46,152
12	November 28	Philadelphia Eagles	L 0–12	3–7–2	Tiger Stadium	47,909
13	December 8	at Atlanta Falcons	W 24–7	4–7–2	Atlanta Stadium	49,437
14	December 15	at Washington Redskins	L 3–14	4–8–2	D.C. Stadium	50,123

Note: The October 6 game against Minnesota was originally scheduled to be played in Detroit. The game was switched with the November 17 game due to game 4 of the World Series.

Season summary

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 7 7 7 7 28 Bears 7 3 0 0 10 Date: October 13 Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), wind 9 mph

Scoring summary 1 DET Mel Farr 32 yard pass from Bill Munson (Jerry DePoyster kick) Lions 7–0 1 CHI Cecil Turner 80 yard pass from Larry Rakestraw (Mac Percival kick) Tie 7–7 2 DET Mel Farr 9 yard run (Jerry DePoyster kick) Lions 14–7 2 CHI Mac Percival 33 yard field goal Lions 14–10 3 DET Mel Farr 1 yard run (Jerry DePoyster kick) Lions 21–10 4 DET Tom Nowatzke 1 yard run (Jerry DePoyster kick) Lions 28–10

Standings

NFL Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–4	282	242	W2
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	250	333	L1
Green Bay Packers	6	7	1	.462	1–4–1	2–7–1	281	227	W1
Detroit Lions	4	8	2	.333	3–2–1	4–5–1	207	241	L1

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