1968 American Football League season


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 defeated the Oakland Raiders 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.

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, 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.
WeekEasternRecordWesternRecord
1Boston1–0–0Tie 1–0–0
2Tie 1–0–0Tie 1–0–0
3N.Y. Jets2–0–0Tie 2–0–0
4Tie 2–1–0Oakland3–0–0
5N.Y. Jets3–1–0Oakland4–0–0
6N.Y. Jets3–2–0Kansas City5–1–0
7N.Y. Jets4–2–0Kansas City6–1–0
8N.Y. Jets5–2–0Kansas City7–1–0
9N.Y. Jets6–2–0Kansas City7–2–0
10N.Y. Jets7–2–0Kansas City8–2–0
11N.Y. Jets7–3–0Kansas City9–2–0
12N.Y. Jets8–3–0Tie 9–2–0
13N.Y. Jets9–3–0Tie 10–2–0
14N.Y. Jets10–3–0Tie 11–2–0
15N.Y. Jets11–3–0Tie 12–2–0

Regular season

The Cincinnati Bengals joined the league as an expansion team.

Results

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

Standings

Playoffs

Offseason