1970 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachJohn Rauch
Home fieldWar Memorial Stadium
Results
Record3–10–1
Division place4th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1970 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 1st season in the National Football League, and the 11th overall. The team looked to improve on its 4–10 record from 1969 and make the playoffs for the first time since 1966. However, the Bills started out on the wrong foot, losing 4 of its first 5 games. After winning 2 straight road games against the Patriots and Jets and suffering a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills and Colts played to a 17–17 draw in week 9, Buffalo's first tie since 1968. The Bills would then lose 5 straight to end the season and finish the season 3-10-1, in fourth place in the AFC East. Their week 5 game against the Miami Dolphins would start a stage of futility in which the Bills would lose 20 straight games to the Dolphins. The Bills would not beat the Dolphins at any point during the 70s and would not beat Miami again until 1980. This would become known as "The Streak".

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team
15Al CowlingsDefensive EndUSC
230Dennis ShawQuarterbackSan Diego State
357Jim ReillyGuardNotre Dame
367Glenn AlexanderDefensive backGrambling
482Jerome GanttDefensive endNorth Carolina Central
5109Steve StarnesLinebackerTampa
6134Ken EdwardsRunning backVirginia Tech
6135Grant GuthrieKickerFlorida State
7161Wayne FowlerTackleRichmond
8186Richard CheekTackleAuburn
9213Bill BridgesGuardHouston
10238Willie DixonDefensive backAlbany State
11265Terry WilliamsRunning backGrambling
12290Dave SimpsonTackleDrake
13317Steve SchroederKickerPacific
14342William CostenTackleMorris Brown
15369Dave FarrisTight endCentral Michigan
16394Larry DavisWide receiverRice
17421George BevanDefensive backLouisiana State

[1]

Personnel

Coaches/Staff

1970 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches'

  • Defensive Line – Ray Malavsi
  • Linebackers – Ralph Hawkins
  • Defensive Backfield – Bobby Hunt
  • Kickers - Bugsy Engelberg

Final roster

1970 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 20 Denver Broncos L 10–25 0–1 War Memorial Stadium 34,882
2 September 27 Los Angeles Rams L 0–19 0–2 War Memorial Stadium 46,206
3 October 4 New York Jets W 34–31 1–2 War Memorial Stadium 46,206
4 October 11 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–23 1–3 Three Rivers Stadium 42,140
5 October 18 Miami Dolphins L 14–33 1–4 War Memorial Stadium 41,312
6 October 25 at New York Jets W 10–6 2–4 Shea Stadium 62,712
7 November 1 at Boston Patriots W 45–10 3–4 Harvard Stadium 31,148
8 November 8 Cincinnati Bengals L 14–43 3–5 War Memorial Stadium 43,587
9 November 15 at Baltimore Colts T 17–17 3–5–1 Memorial Stadium 60,240
10 November 22 at Chicago Bears L 13–31 3–6–1 Wrigley Field 41,015
11 November 29 Boston Patriots L 10–14 3–7–1 War Memorial Stadium 31,427
12 December 6 at New York Giants L 6–20 3–8–1 Yankee Stadium 62,870
13 December 13 Baltimore Colts L 14–20 3–9–1 War Memorial Stadium 34,346
14 December 20 at Miami Dolphins L 7–45 3–10–1 Miami Orange Bowl 70,990
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

1 234Total
• Broncos 0 5713 25
Bills 7 300 10

Week 2

1 234Total
• Rams 3 1303 19
Bills 0 000 0
  • Date: September 27
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium

Week 3

1 234Total
Jets 17 770 31
• Bills 7 6714 34
  • Date: October 4
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium

Week 4

1 234Total
Bills 3 070 10
• Steelers 3 7310 23

Week 5

1 234Total
• Dolphins 10 3713 33
Bills 0 770 14
  • Date: October 18
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium

Week 6

1 234Total
• Bills 0 307 10
Jets 0 060 6

Week 7

1 234Total
• Bills 10 21014 45
Patriots 0 037 10

Week 8

1 234Total
• Bengals 3 20137 43
Bills 7 700 14
  • Date: November 8
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium

Week 9

1 234Total
Bills 7 703 17
Colts 0 773 17

Week 10

1 234Total
Bills 6 007 13
• Bears 0 14710 31

Week 11

1 234Total
• Patriots 0 770 14
Bills 0 307 10
  • Date: November 29
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium

Week 12

1 234Total
Bills 0 600 6
• Giants 0 3314 20

Week 13

1 234Total
• Colts 10 073 20
Bills 7 700 14
  • Date: December 13
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium

Week 14

1 234Total
Bills 0 007 7
• Dolphins 21 1077 45

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts 11 2 1 .846 6–1–1 8–2–1 321 234 W4
Miami Dolphins 10 4 0 .714 6–2 8–3 297 228 W6
New York Jets 4 10 0 .286 2–6 2–9 255 286 L3
Buffalo Bills 3 10 1 .231 3–4–1 3–7–1 204 337 L5
Boston Patriots 2 12 0 .143 2–6 2–9 149 361 L3

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

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ "1970 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 22, 2021.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.