1970 Cincinnati Bengals season

1970 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach Paul Brown
General manager Paul Brown
Home field Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record 8–6
Division place 1st AFC Central
Playoff finish Lost AFC Divisional Playoff
Timeline
Previous season Next season
< 1969 1971 >

The 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's third year in professional football and the first with the National Football League (NFL). The NFL-AFL merger took place before the season, and the Bengals made their first NFL campaign a memorable one. After winning their first ever game as a member of the NFL — their inaugural game in the brand new Riverfront Stadium — they would lose six games in a row. After the 1–6 start, however, the Bengals would win the rest of their games, rallying to an 8–6 finish and champions of the newly formed AFC Central division. In their first playoff game, they lost, 17–0, to eventual Super Bowl-champion Baltimore. Cincinnati quarterback Greg Cook was forced to the Injured Reserve list in training camp with a shoulder injury that would ultimately end his career; Virgil Carter took over as the starter. In just their third season, the 1970 Bengals set a league mark by being the first NFL expansion team to qualify for the playoffs within their first three seasons of existence.[1]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1970 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 7 Mike Reid *  Defensive tackle Penn State
2 32 Ron Carpenter  Defensive tackle North Carolina State
3 60 Chip Bennett  Linebacker Abilene Christian
4 85 Joe Stephen  Guard Jackson State
4 104 Billie Hayes  Defensive back San Diego State
6 138 Sandy Durko  Defensive back USC
7 163 Lemar Parrish *  Defensive back Lincoln (MO)
8 188 Bill Trout  Defensive tackle Miami (FL)
9 216 Bill Bolden  Running back UCLA
10 241 Nick Roman  Linebacker Ohio State
11 266 Samuel Wallace  Offensive tackle Grambling State
12 294 Thomas Truesdell  Defensive end Ohio Wesleyan
13 319 Paul Dunn  Wide receiver U.S. International
14 344 Joe Johnson  Wide receiver Johnson C. Smith
15 372 Marvin Weeks  Defensive back Alcorn State
16 397 Larry Ely  Linebacker Iowa
17 422 Richard Smith  Running back Washington State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

colspan="7" style="background: black; color:white; border: 2px solid #FB4F14" text-align: center;" | 1970 Cincinnati Bengals staff
Front office
  • President – John Sawyer
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Roster

colspan="10" style="background: black; color:white; border:2px solid #FB4F14" text-align:center;" | 1970 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

 Tight ends

Offensive linemen

 Defensive linemen

Linebackers

 Defensive backs

Special teams


Rookies in italics

[3]

Regular season

Riverfront Stadium, the new home stadium for the Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals set a league record for most points in a game scored by the special teams, with 31 in a 43–14 victory at Buffalo on Nov 8, 1970. Cornerback Lemar Parrish scored two special teams touchdowns: one on a 95-yard kickoff return, and another on an 83-yard return of a blocked field goal attempt. Parrish is the only Bengals player ever to score two touchdowns in a game on returns and/or recoveries — and he did it three times. Kicker Horst Muhlmann added 15 points on five field goals, and four extra points by Muhlmann completed the special teams onslaught. The offense scored only one touchdown, a one-yard run by running back Jess Phillips. The defense scored a touchdown on an eight-yard fumble return by defensive end Royce Berry.

Schedule

1970 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance Stadium
1 September 20 Oakland Raiders W 31–21
56,616
 Riverfront Stadium
2 September 27 at Detroit Lions L 3–38
58,202
 Tiger Stadium
3 October 4 Houston Oilers L 13–20
55,094
 Riverfront Stadium
4 October 11 at Cleveland Browns L 27–30
83,520
 Cleveland Stadium
5 October 18 Kansas City Chiefs L 19–27
57,265
 Riverfront Stadium
6 October 25 at Washington Redskins L 0–20
50,415
 RFK Stadium
7 November 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–21
38,968
 Three Rivers Stadium
8 November 8 at Buffalo Bills W 43–14
43,587
 War Memorial Stadium
9 November 15 Cleveland Browns W 14–10
60,007
 Riverfront Stadium
10 November 22 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–7
59,276
 Riverfront Stadium
11 November 29 New Orleans Saints W 26–6
59,342
 Riverfront Stadium
12 December 6 at San Diego Chargers W 17–14
41,461
 San Diego Stadium
13 December 13 at Houston Oilers W 30–20
34,435
 Astrodome
14 December 20 Boston Patriots W 45–7
60,157
 Riverfront Stadium

Game summaries

Week 9

1 234Total
Browns 7 300 10
• Bengals 0 770 14
  • Date: November 15
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 60,007
  • Game weather: 35°; wind 15

[4]


Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cincinnati Bengals 8 6 0 .571 3–3 7–4 312 255 W7
Cleveland Browns 7 7 0 .500 4–2 7–4 286 265 W1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 9 0 .357 3–3 5–6 210 272 L3
Houston Oilers 3 10 1 .231 2–4 3–7–1 217 352 L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. [5]

Team stats

colspan="100" style="background-color: #ED4E16;" "style="font-size: 95%"|1970 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS Bengals Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS 210 236
Rushing 100 87
Passing 97 131
Penalty 13 18
TOTAL NET YARDS 3927 4178
Avg Per Game 280.5 298.4
Total Plays 831 874
Avg. Per Play 4.7 4.8
NET YARDS RUSHING 2057 1543
Avg. Per Game 146.9 110.2
Total Rushes 461 418
NET YARDS PASSING 1870 2635
Avg. Per Game 133.6 188.2
Sacked Yards Lost 31–227 28–250
Gross Yards 2097 2885
Att. Completions 339–172 428–209
Completion Pct. 50.7 48.8
Intercepted 11 23
PUNTS-AVERAGE 79–46.2 80–43.8
PENALTIES-YARDS 71–831 81–784
FUMBLES-BALL LOST 22–12 28–16
TOUCHDOWNS 34 31
Rushing 16 11
Passing 12 18
Returns 6 2
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Tot
Bengals 56 111 85 60 312
Opponents 49 82 52 72 255

Team leaders

Playoffs

1970 AFC Divisional Playoffs
Date Opponent W-L Score ATT. Stadium
December 26 Baltimore L 0–17 51,127 Memorial

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selections

References

  1. ↑ The record stood until being eclipsed in 1996 by both the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, who each made the playoffs in their second seasons.
  2. ↑ "1970 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ "1970 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-29.
  5. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296

External links