The 1969 Baltimore Colts season was the 17th season for the team in the National Football League. The Colts finished the National Football League's season with a record of 8 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. Led by seventh-year head coach Don Shula, Baltimore finished second in the Western Conference's Coastal division, well behind the Los Angeles Rams (11–3). Many attributed the disappointing season to the hangover of losing to the heavy-underdog New York Jets in Super Bowl III in January 1969. It is one of the first instances of a Super Bowl hangover – in which the team that played in a Super Bowl the previous season, underperforms the next season. A disappointing 20–17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in week 9 dropped the Colts to a 5–4 record and put the Colts four full games behind the unbeaten Los Angeles Rams in the division. After the defeat head coach Shula declared, "It looks like we are out of it. I'm disappointed that we went without giving them [the Rams] a battle for it." Two months after the season, Shula departed in February 1970 for the Miami Dolphins.

NFL/AFL draft

Personnel

Staff/coaches

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Season summary

Week 1 vs Rams

Week 6 vs 49ers

This would be the last time the 49ers would visit the Colts until 1989, by when Robert Irsay had moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The 49ers would next play in Baltimore when meeting the Ravens in 2003.

Standings