Editing Super Bowl III (section)

===Baltimore Colts===
{{Further|1968 Baltimore Colts season}}

The Baltimore Colts had won the [[1958 NFL Championship Game|1958]] and [[1959 NFL Championship Game|1959]] NFL championships under Coach [[Weeb Ewbank]]. In the following years, however, the Colts failed to make the playoffs, and the Colts dismissed Ewbank after a 7–7 record in [[1962 Baltimore Colts season|1962]]. He was soon hired by New York's new AFL franchise, which had just changed its name from the [[1962 New York Titans season|Titans]] to the [[1963 New York Jets season|Jets]]. In Ewbank's place, Baltimore hired an untested young head coach, [[Don Shula]], who would also go on to become one of the game's greatest coaches.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/30/archives/molder-of-champions-wilbur-charles-ewbank.html|title=Molder of champions: Wilbur Charles Ewbank|date=December 30, 1968|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 24, 2011|archive-date=July 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714112323/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/30/archives/molder-of-champions-wilbur-charles-ewbank.html|url-status=live}}. Fee for article</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eWEhAAAAIBAJ&dq=weeb%20ewbank&pg=5290%2C991379|title=Baltimore fires Weeb Ewbank|date=January 9, 1963|work=AP via Tri-City Herald|page=10|access-date=September 24, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Colts did well under Shula, despite losing to the [[1964 Cleveland Browns season|Cleveland Browns]] in the [[1964 NFL Championship Game]]<ref>Davis, p. 263.</ref> and, in [[1965 Baltimore Colts season|1965]], losing in overtime to the [[1965 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers]] in a [[1965 NFL playoffs|tie-breaker game]] to decide the NFL Western Conference title.<ref>Davis, pp. 269–271.</ref> The Colts finished a distant second in the West to the Packers in [[1966 Baltimore Colts season|1966]], and in [[1967 Baltimore Colts season|1967]], with the NFL realigned into [[1967 NFL season#Final standings|four divisions]] of four teams each, went undefeated with two ties through their first 13 games, but lost the game and the Coastal Division championship to the [[1967 Los Angeles Rams season|Los Angeles Rams]] on the final Sunday of the season—under newly instituted tiebreakers procedures, L.A. won the division championship as it had better net points in the two games the teams played (the Rams win and an earlier tie). The Colts finished 11–1–2, tied for the best record in the league, but were excluded from the [[1967 NFL playoffs|playoffs]].<ref name=uwrcsid>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G8ktAAAAIBAJ&pg=4370%2C2020890 |work=Reading Eagle |location=Pennsylvania |agency=Associated Press |title=Unitas watches Roman carnival from turf |date=December 18, 1967 |page=26 |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503022550/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G8ktAAAAIBAJ&pg=4370%2C2020890 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=rswco>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GGwjAAAAIBAJ&pg=6986%2C4463626 |work=Milwaukee Journal |agency=press dispatches |title=Rams swamp Colts, gain play-off, 34–10 |date=December 18, 1967 |page=17, part 2 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=yofthrm>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1967/12/25/610187/the-year-of-the-ram |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Maule |first=Tex |author-link=Tex Maule |title=The year of the Ram |date=December 25, 1967 |page=12 |access-date=October 31, 2019 |archive-date=October 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029215747/https://www.si.com/vault/1967/12/25/610187/the-year-of-the-ram |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cfl">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wMQtAAAAIBAJ&pg=7188%2C4130764|title=Rams trample Colts, 34–10, to capture Coastal crown|date=December 18, 1967|work=Canadian Press via The Montreal Gazette|page=42|access-date=September 17, 2011|archive-date=May 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503022606/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wMQtAAAAIBAJ&pg=7188%2C4130764|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1968, Shula and the Colts were considered a favorite to win the NFL championship again, which carried with it an automatic berth what was now becoming popularly known as the "Super Bowl" against the champion of the younger AFL. The NFL champion, in both cases the [[Green Bay Packers]], had easily won the first two Super Bowls (1967 and 1968) over the AFL winner, establishing for a while then the superiority of the older NFL circuit.

Baltimore's quest for a championship seemed doomed from the start when long-time starting quarterback [[Johnny Unitas]] suffered a pre-season injury to his throwing arm and was replaced by [[Earl Morrall]], a veteran who had started inconsistently over the course of his 12 seasons with four teams. But Morrall would go on to have the best year of his career, leading the league in [[passer rating]] (93.2) during the regular season. His performance was so impressive that Colts coach [[Don Shula]] decided to keep Morrall in the starting lineup after Unitas was healthy enough to play. The Colts had won ten games in a row, including four shutouts, and finished the season with an NFL-best 13–1 record. In those ten games, they had allowed only seven touchdowns. Then, the Colts avenged their sole regular-season loss against the Cleveland Browns by crushing them 34–0 in the [[1968 NFL Championship Game|NFL Championship Game]].<ref>Rappoport, p. 183.</ref><!-- only this sentence is reffed -->

The Colts offense ranked second in the NFL in points scored (402). Wide receivers [[Jimmy Orr]] (29 receptions, 743 yards, 6 touchdowns) and [[Willie Richardson]] (37 receptions, 698 yards, 8 touchdowns) provided Baltimore with two deep threats, with Orr averaging 25.6 yards per catch, and Richardson averaging 18.9. Tight end [[John Mackey (American football)|John Mackey]] also recorded 45 receptions for 644 yards and 5 touchdowns. [[Pro Bowl]] running back [[Tom Matte]] was the team's top rusher with 662 yards and 9 touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 275 yards and another touchdown. Running backs [[Terry Cole (American football)|Terry Cole]] and [[Jerry Hill (American football)|Jerry Hill]] combined for 778 rushing yards and 236 receiving yards.

The Colts defense led the NFL in fewest points allowed (144, tying the then all-time league record), and ranked third in total rushing yards allowed (1,339), while also recording 29 interceptions (2nd in the league) and holding their opponents to an NFL-low 9 touchdown passes. [[Bubba Smith]], a 6′7″ 295-pound defensive end considered the NFL's best pass rusher, anchored the line. Linebacker [[Mike Curtis (American football)|Mike Curtis]], who intercepted two passes and recovered three fumbles, was considered one of the top linebackers in the NFL. Baltimore's secondary consisted of defensive backs [[Bobby Boyd]] (8 interceptions), [[Rick Volk]] (6 interceptions), [[Lenny Lyles]] (5 interceptions), and [[Jerry Logan]] (3 interceptions). The Colts were the only NFL team to routinely play a zone defense. That gave them an advantage in the NFL because the other NFL teams were inexperienced against a zone defense. (This would not give them an advantage over the upstart [[New York Jets]], however, because zone defenses were common in the AFL and the Jets knew how to attack them.)<ref name=Snell>Matt Snell, "Super Bowl III", ''Super Bowl: The Game of Their Lives'', Danny Peary, editor. Macmillan, 1997. {{ISBN|0-02-860841-0}}</ref>