Colts Super Bowl Memories: Super Bowl 3

The Colts’ first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history went down as one of the most compelling championship games ever played, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing for Baltimore.

The Baltimore Colts were one of the most dominant teams in the history of football during the 1968 season.

The Colts, led by head coach Don Shula, outscored their opponents by an average of 18 points per game, and they avenged their only loss of the season by beating the Browns 34-0 on their road to Super Bowl 3. Johnny Unitas was injured, but Earl Morrall took over at quarterback and won the league MVP award that season.

The NFL was considered to be a far superior league to the AFL, and that’s part of the reason why the Colts were 18-point favorites over the Jets. However, that didn’t keep Joe Namath from guaranteeing that the Jets would come out victorious on Super Bowl Sunday.

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The first quarter ended in a scoreless tie as the Jets began to build some belief that they could pull the upset.

Morrall started the game under center, but he was benched for Unitas after throwing three interceptions. Unitas didn’t fare much better as the Colts’ offense struggled all game.

The Jets took a 16-0 lead before the Colts scored a late touchdown to avoid being shut out in the Super Bowl.

Joe Namath threw for 206 yards without attempting a single pass in the fourth quarter, and he was named Super Bowl MVP. Namath made himself into a legend by pulling one of the biggest upsets in league history.

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