1970 Baltimore Colts season

Last updated

1970 Baltimore Colts season
Owner Carroll Rosenbloom
General manager Don Klosterman
Head coach Don McCafferty
Home stadium Memorial Stadium
Results
Record11–2–1
Division place1st AFC East
PlayoffsWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Bengals) 17–0
Won AFC Championship
(vs. Raiders) 27–17
Won Super Bowl V
(vs. Cowboys) 16–13
The Baltimore Colts playing against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V 1986 Jeno's Pizza - 32 - Earl Morrall.jpg
The Baltimore Colts playing against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V

The 1970 Baltimore Colts season was the 18th season of the second Colts franchise in the National Football League (NFL). Led by first-year head coach Don McCafferty, the Colts finished the 1970 season with a regular season record of 11 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie to win the first AFC East title. The Colts completed the postseason in Miami with a victory over the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, their first Super Bowl title and fourth NFL championship (1958, 1959, 1968, and 1970).

Contents

Season history

In February 1970, head coach Don Shula departed after seven seasons for the Miami Dolphins, [1] [2] now in the same division, and offensive backfield coach McCafferty was promoted in early April. [3] [4] [5]

NFL draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool/Club Team
118 Norm Bulaich Running Back TCU
244 Jim Bailey Defensive tackle Kansas
370 Jim O'Brien Wide Receiver / Kicker Cincinnati
374 Ara Person Tight End Morgan State
495 Steve Smear Linebacker Penn State
5122 Billy Newsome Defensive End Grambling State
6148 Ron Gardin Defensive Back Arizona
7174Gordon SladeQuarterback Davidson
8199Bob BouleyTackle Boston College
9226Barney HarrisDefensive Back Texas A&M

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1970 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Final roster

1970 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

 Practice squad

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1August 8at Oakland Raiders W 33–211–0 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 53,519 Recap
2August 14at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–32–0 Municipal Stadium 34,341 Recap
3August 22at Denver Broncos W 24–73–0 Mile High Stadium 42,499 Recap
4August 29at Miami Dolphins L 13–203–1 Miami Orange Bowl 73,533 Recap
5September 5vs. Detroit Lions W 20–144–1 Carter–Finley Stadium (Raleigh, NC)34,500 Recap
6September 12at Washington Redskins L 14–174–2 RFK Stadium 46,045 Recap

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 20at San Diego Chargers W 16–141–0 San Diego Stadium 47,782
2September 28 Kansas City Chiefs L 24–441–1 Memorial Stadium 53,911
3October 4at Boston Patriots W 14–62–1 Harvard Stadium 38,235
4October 11at Houston Oilers W 24–203–1 Astrodome 48,050
5October 18at New York Jets W 29–224–1 Shea Stadium 63,301
6October 25Boston PatriotsW 27–35–1Memorial Stadium60,240
7November 1 Miami Dolphins W 35–06–1Memorial Stadium60,240
8November 9at Green Bay Packers W 13–107–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 48,063
9November 15 Buffalo Bills T 17–177–1–1Memorial Stadium60,240
10November 22at Miami DolphinsL 17–347–2–1 Miami Orange Bowl 67,699
11November 29 Chicago Bears W 21–208–2–1Memorial Stadium60,240
12December 6 Philadelphia Eagles W 29–109–2–1Memorial Stadium60,240
13December 13at Buffalo BillsW 20–1410–2–1 War Memorial Stadium 34,346
14December 19New York JetsW 35–2011–2–1Memorial Stadium60,240
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

Team1234Total
•Colts037616
Chargers007714
Scoring summary
2BAL Jim O'Brien 25-yard field goalColts 3–0
3SD Gary Garrison 65-yard pass from John Hadl (Mike Mercer kick)Chargers 7–3
3BAL Norm Bulaich 1-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick)Colts 10–7
4BALJim O'Brien 34-yard field goalColts 13–7
4SDGary Garrison 43-yard pass from John Hadl (Mike Mercer kick)Chargers 14–13
4BALJim O'Brien 28-yard field goalColts 16–14

[6]

Week 2

Team1234Total
• Chiefs102131044
Colts0731424
Scoring summary
Q1KC Richardson 48 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick)KC 7–0
Q1KCStenerud 28 yard field goalKC 10–0
Q2KC Holmes 13 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick)KC 17–0
Q2KC Robinson 46 yard fumble return (Stenerud kick)KC 24–0
Q2KC Pitts 54 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick)KC 31–0
Q2BAL Jefferson 3 yard pass from Morall (O'Brien kick)KC 31–7
Q3BALO'Brien 26 yard field goalKC 31–10
Q3KCStenerud 17 yard field goalKC 34–10
Q4KCPitts 4 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick)KC 41–10
Q4BAL Hinton 21 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)KC 41–17
Q4BAL Mitchell 2 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)KC 41–24
Q4KCStenerud 48 yard field goalKC 44–24

[7]

Week 3

Team1234Total
• Colts070714
Patriots03036
Scoring summary
Q2BAL Hinton 13 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)BAL 7–0
Q2BOS Cappelletti 13 yard field goalBAL 7–3
Q4BOSCappelletti 25 yard field goalBAL 7–6
Q4BAL Jefferson 55 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 14–6

[8]

Week 4

Team1234Total
• Colts7100724
Oilers077620
  • Date: October 11
  • Location: Houston Astrodome, Houston
  • Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT
  • Game attendance: 48,050
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: George Rennix
Scoring summary
Q1BAL Maitland 2 yard run (O'Brien kick)BAL 7–0
Q2BAL Jefferson 17 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 14–0
Q2HOU LeVias 7 yard pass from Johnson (Gerela kick)BAL 14–7
Q2BALO'Brien 43 yard field goalBAL 17–7
Q3HOU Hopkins 1 yard run (Gerela kick)BAL 17–14
Q4HOUGerela 27 yard field goalTie 17–17
Q4HOUGerela 9 yard field goalHOU 20–17
Q4BALJefferson 31 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 24–20

[9]

Week 5

Team1234Total
• Colts1736329
Jets3214322
Scoring summary
Q1BAL O'Brien 28 yard field goalBAL 3–0
Q1BAL Logan 31 yard interception return (O'Brien kick)BAL 10–0
Q1BAL Mitchell 11 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 17–0
Q1NYJ Turner 41 yard field goalBAL 17–3
Q2BALO'Brien 18 yard field goalBAL 20–3
Q2NYJSafety, Maitland tackled by Elliot in end zoneBAL 20–5
Q3BAL Grant 27 yard interception return (kick failed)BAL 26–5
Q3NYJ Bell 17 yard pass from Namath (Turner kick)BAL 26–12
Q3NYJ Boozer 1 yard run (Turner kick)BAL 26–19
Q4BALO'Brien 28 yard field goalBAL 29–19
Q4NYJTurner 42 yard field goalBAL 29–22

[10]

This was the Super Bowl III rematch and it was truly a rematch but this time it favors the Colts as they opened up a 19–0 lead and never looked back. The Jets did mount a challenge led by Joe Namath's 392 yards passing, but he also had 6 interceptions as the Colts gain some revenge on this day.

Week 6

Team1234Total
Patriots03003
• Colts3143727
  • Date: October 25
  • Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 60,240
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)
  • Referee: Bob Finley
Scoring summary
Q1BAL O'Brien 12 yard field goalBAL 3–0
Q2BOS Gogolak 15 yard field goalTie 3–3
Q2BAL Maitland 5 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 10–3
Q2BAL Jefferson 15 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 17–3
Q3BALO'Brien 48 yard field goalBAL 20–3
Q4BAL Orr 26 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 27–3

[11]

Week 7

Team1234Total
Dolphins00000
• Colts7714735
Scoring summary
Q1BAL Gardin 80 yard punt return (O'Brien kick)BAL 7–0
Q2BAL Bulaich 1 yard run (O'Brien kick)BAL 14–0
Q3BAL Duncan 99 yard kickoff return (O'Brien kick)BAL 21–0
Q3BAL Hinton 32 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 28–0
Q4BAL Mitchell 15 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)BAL 35–0

[12]

Week 8

Team1234Total
• Colts076013
Packers300710
Scoring summary
Q1GB Livingston 20 yard field goalGB 3–0
Q2BAL Hill 15 yard run (O'Brien kick)BAL 7–3
Q3BALO'Brien 42 yard field goalBAL 10–3
Q3BALO'Brien 29 yard field goalBAL 13–3
Q4GB Grabowski 1 yard run (Livingston kick)BAL 13–10

[13]

Week 11

Team1234Total
Bears1700320
• Colts0140721
Scoring summary
Q1CHI Farmer 20 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick)CHI 7–0
Q1CHIPercival 28 yard field goalCHI 10–0
Q1CHI Coady 1 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick)CHI 17–0
Q2BAL Hill 1 yard run (O'Brien kick)CHI 17–7
Q2BAL Jefferson 7 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)CHI 17–14
Q4CHIPercival 27 yard field goalCHI 20–14
Q4BAL Mackey 54 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 21–20

[14]

Week 12

Team1234Total
Eagles037010
• Colts13103329
Scoring summary
Q1BAL Mackey 14 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 7–0
Q1BAL Hinton 9 yard run (kick failed)BAL 13–0
Q2BALO'Brien 45 yard field goalBAL 16–0
Q2PHI Moseley 38 yard field goalBAL 16–3
Q2BAL Logan 33 yard interception return (O'Brien kick)BAL 23–3
Q3BALO'Brien 44 yard field goalBAL 26–3
Q3PHI Snead 1 yard run (Moseley kick)BAL 26–10
Q4BALO'Brien 47 yard field goalBAL 29–10

[15]

Week 13

Team1234Total
•Colts1007320
Bills770014
  • Date: December 13
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 34,346
  • Game weather: Snow • 28 °F (−2 °C) • Wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Referee: Bob Finley
Scoring summary
1BAL Jim O'Brien 32-yard field goalColts 3–0
1BUFLloyd Pate 1-yard run (Grant Guthrie kick)Bills 7–3
1BAL Tom Nowatzke 1-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick)Colts 10–7
2BUF Marlin Briscoe 10-yard pass from Dennis Shaw (Grant Guthrie kick)Bills 14–10
3BAL Norm Bulaich 2-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick)Colts 17–14
4BALJim O'Brien 38-yard field goalColts 20–14

[16]

The Colts clinched the division title with the win.

Week 14

Team1234Total
Jets773320
• Colts01471435
Scoring summary
Q1NYJ Caster 15 yard pass from Woodall (Turner kick)NYJ 7–0
Q2BAL Hinton 25 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)Tie 7–7
Q2NYJ Grantham 41 yard interception return (Turner kick)NYJ 14–7
Q2BALHinton 7 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)Tie 14–14
Q3BAL Orr 18 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)BAL 21–14
Q3NYJTurner 25 yard field goalBAL 21–17
Q4NYJTurner 29 yard field goalBAL 21–20
Q4BAL Perkins 41 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick)BAL 28–20
Q4BAL Hendricks recovered fumble in end zone (O'Brien kick)BAL 35–20

[17]

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Baltimore Colts 1121.8466–1–18–2–1321234W4
Miami Dolphins 1040.7146–28–3297228W6
New York Jets 4100.2862–62–9255286L3
Buffalo Bills 3101.2313–4–13–7–1204337L5
Boston Patriots 2120.1432–62–9149361L3
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason

The team made it to the playoffs with the best record in the AFC. The Colts hosted both AFC playoff games that they played in. (It wasn't until the 1975 season that playoff teams were seeded by record; the fact that the Colts hosted both playoff games was just due to the rotation set up with the AFL–NFL merger.) The team won both AFC playoff games as well as Super Bowl V.

RoundDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
DivisionalDecember 26 Cincinnati Bengals W 17–01–0 Memorial Stadium 51,127
AFC Championship January 3, 1971 Oakland Raiders W 27–172–0 Memorial Stadium 56,368
Super Bowl V January 17, 1971 Dallas Cowboys W 16–133–0 Miami Orange Bowl 80,055

Divisional

Team1234Total
Bengals00000
• Colts730717
Scoring summary
Q1BAL Jefferson 45 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 7–0
Q2BALO'Brien 44 yard field goalBAL 10–0
Q4BAL Hinton 53 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 17–0

The Colts hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round. The Colts relied on their defense, which had carried them all season, to best the Bengals 17–0, holding Cincinnati to only 139 total yards. [18]

Conference Championship

Team1234Total
Raiders037717
• Colts3710727
Scoring summary
Q1BAL O'Brien 16 yard field goalBAL 3–0
Q2BAL Bulaich 2 yard run (O'Brien kick)BAL 10–0
Q2OAK Blanda 48 yard field goalBAL 10–3
Q3OAK Biletnikoff 38 yard pass from Blanda (Blanda kick)Tie 10–10
Q3BALO'Brien 23 yard field goalBAL 13–10
Q3BALBulaich 11 yard run (O'Brien kick)BAL 20–10
Q4OAK Wells 15 yard pass from Blanda (Blanda kick)BAL 20–17
Q4BAL Perkins 68 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick)BAL 27–17

The Colts next hosted the Oakland Raiders for the AFC Championship game. The Colts jumped out to an early lead over the Raiders, 10–3 at halftime. Oakland came back to tie it up early in the 3rd quarter. The Colts would respond with a Jim O'Brien field goal and a second Bulaich touchdown. Johnny Unitas extended the lead with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Ray Perkins that made the score 27–17. The Colts would seal the win with an interception in the end zone. [19]

Super Bowl

Team1234Total
• Colts0601016
Cowboys3100013
Scoring summary
Q1DAL Clark 14 yard field goalDAL 3–0
Q2DALClark 30 yard field goalDAL 6–0
Q2BAL Mackey 75 yard pass from Unitas (kick failed)Tie 6–6
Q2DAL Thomas 7 yard pass from Morton (Clark kick)DAL 13–6
Q4BAL Nowatzke 2 yard run (O'Brien kick)Tie 13–13
Q4BALO'Brien 32 yard field goalBAL 16–13

The Colts made it to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history and played the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL championship. In the 2nd quarter, Johnny Unitas threw a pass that was tipped twice before John Mackey caught it for a 75-yard score. Later in the quarter Unitas was injured and Earl Morrall completed a sloppy and turnover-filled game: the Colts committed a total of 7 turnovers, the Cowboys 4. Following an interception by Mike Curtis, Jim O'Brien kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal, giving Baltimore a 16–13 lead with 5 seconds left in the game, and the victory. [20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shula replaces Miami's Wilson". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. February 19, 1970. p. 1, part 2.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Dollar signs convince Shula to jump to Miami Dolphins". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 19, 1970. p. 4D.
  3. ↑ "Colts passed up 3 head coaches". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. April 7, 1970. p. 21.
  4. ↑ Riker, Dan (April 7, 1970). "Don McCafferty, ex-Kent State mentor, is named Baltimore head coach". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). UPI. p. 14.
  5. ↑ "McCafferty Colt coach". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 7, 1970. p. 1, part 2.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Baltimore Colts at San Diego Chargers - September 20th, 1970". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  7. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-28.
  8. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-28.
  9. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-29.
  10. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-29.
  11. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-29.
  12. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-29.
  13. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-29.
  14. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-01.
  15. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-03.
  16. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  17. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-04.
  18. ↑ "Cincinnati Bengals 0 at Baltimore Colts 17. Saturday, December 26, 1970". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-04.
  19. ↑ "Oakland Raiders 17 at Baltimore Colts 27, Sunday, January 3, 1971". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-04.
  20. ↑ "Baltimore Colts 16 vs. Dallas Cowboys 13, Sunday, January 17, 1971". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-04.
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