The painful story of the worst season in Eagles franchise history

Taking a trip back in the Philadelphia Eagles time machine to examine the worst year in franchise history.

The 1960s were an interesting time for the Eagles as the team started the decade with an NFL Championship. It would be the last league title for the franchise until 2018 when they won the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.

After that final NFL title, the team would go on to have just two winning seasons. It all led up to the dreaded 1968 season that saw the worst come out with the team.

How awful was the 1968 Philadelphia Eagles team?

Let's start with the positives (and there are a few of them). The top player on the team was running back Tom Woodeshick, who had a career year in 1968, rushing for 947 yards and three touchdowns, and making his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections.

The only other players who made the Pro Bowl that season were right tackle Bob Brown and kicker/punter Sam Baker. During the season, Baker made 19 of 30 field goals and punted the ball 55 times for an average of 40.9 yards per punt.

Now to the ugly part: the season. The Eagles started the season with 11 consecutive losses, seven of which were by two or more possessions. Philadelphia's worst loss of the season came against the Cleveland Browns, as the Eagles lost 47-13, a 34-point blowout that dropped them to 0-11.

At this point, the assumption was that the Eagles would lose the remaining three games and get the number one overall pick in the 1969 draft. Why was that important? Because sitting as the top player to be selected was USC running back O.J. Simpson. Getting Simpson would transform the franchise into contenders.

This is the worst part of the season: the Eagles ended up winning two straight, but even with the end-of-season loss to the Minnesota Vikings, they were still 2-12, out of the playoffs, and did not secure the number one pick in the draft. That went to the Buffalo Bills, who selected Simpson.

There are some key reasons this season was bad. Long time Eagles quarterback Norm Snead had one of the worst seasons of his career with throwing for 1,655 yards and 11 touchdowns to an NFL-leading 21 interceptions in 11 starts. The Eagles threw 29 total interceptions on the season.

What's even more surprising is that the Eagles had one of the best tight ends in NFL history on the roster. A former Super Bowl champion head coach, Mike Ditka, was on the team, but he would post the second-worst season of his career, with 111 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games. Ditka moved on to the Dallas Cowboys to end his career.

This season was bad in every way. Offense and defense both struggled, and the Eagles finally moved on from head coach Joe Kuharich after the season. Kuharich is considered the worst coach in franchise history, having posted a 28-41-1 career record with the team. Notably, 1968 would be his last season as a head coach.

Not only did they have a horrible record, but the franchise was set back by not selecting Simpson, who would become one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. The Eagles settled for Purdue running back Leroy Keyes, who played just four seasons in Philadelphia and five total NFL seasons.

It wouldn't be until 1978 when the Eagles would post their next winning season and make the postseason. 1968 was truly one of those years when the Eagles were rebuilding the franchise for nearly a decade before finding any success.