1970 NFL season

[74_75_78_79_]

Much stuff to be said about this season starting with the obvious - first year of merger & MNF - but also the matchups. Yes, the SB-rematch opener but also the interconference geographical ones in-particular: Steelers/Eagles, Oilers/Cowboys, Niners/Raiders (all three of these season finales), Giants/Jets, Cards/Chiefs (6-6 tie), and also Chargers/Rams (so why not Wash vs Balt?). Sort of reminds me how MLB does it every year. Makes you wonder in the event of future-expansion (scheduling uneven again or maybe going 18 games) if the league would entertain having such matchups on a yearly basis.

What else can be said about this historic season? To those who were around for it, having followed PF for years leading up, were you all in favor of the change, or was it too weird at first to get used to?

[JoeZagorski]

Rupert,
I started watching pro football in 1971 (I was in third grade), so I missed the 1970 season. But I wrote about it in my upcoming book (The NFL in the 1970s: Pro Football's Most Important Decade). The merger really begat the NFL that we know and love today.

Joe Zagorski

[BD Sullivan]

*Blanda
*The wild 11/1 Raiders-Chiefs game that KC had apparently salted away until Ben Davidson sparked a brawl that allowed the Blanda magic to continue.
*Tom Dempsey's 63-yard kick.
*The Bengals starting 1-6 and running off seven straight wins to capture the AFC Central--due in part to the Browns' continual bungling of excellent chances.
*The Giants starting out 0-3 and nearly making the playoffs, ending the year with a 9-5 record/
*Terry Bradshaw getting sacked for a safety in each of his first three NFL games.
*The death of Lombardi--which prevented a Week 5 MNF game that would have pitted Lombardi against John Madden.
*Dallas getting slaughtered 38-0 in a HOME MNF game against the Cardinals and left for dead. Seven straight victories later, they were in the Super Bowl.
*On the other end, the Cardinals' had a 1.5 game lead over Dallas with three weeks left and collapsed.
*In that Raiders-Niners regular season finale, SF could have broadcast the game since it was technically a road game--if they got Oakland's permission. Al Davis being Al Davis, you can guess what the final decision turned out to be.

[MatthewToy]

December 6th. Green Bay Packers 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 12.
To an outsider this was just a random game played by 2 mediocre teams. I don't see it that way. The Packers were 3 years removed from the end of their dynasty. The Steelers were 4 years away from the start of theirs. A crossroads game between 2 of the greatest dynasties in the history of the league. I would kill to see the original broadcast but I know that'll never happen. I've yet to see the Packers season highlights from 1970 but I have the Steelers one committed to memory and it barely touched on this game. I have/had the program that I got years ago from Ebay that came with newspaper accounts from it. Not sure if I still have them. Plus it snowed during the game. I feel this game deserves more attention.

[74_75_78_79_]

December 6th. Green Bay Packers 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 12.
To an outsider this was just a random game played by 2 mediocre teams. I don't see it that way. The Packers were 3 years removed from the end of their dynasty. The Steelers were 4 years away from the start of theirs. A crossroads game between 2 of the greatest dynasties in the history of the league. I would kill to see the original broadcast but I know that'll never happen. I've yet to see the Packers season highlights from 1970 but I have the Steelers one committed to memory and it barely touched on this game. I have/had the program that I got years ago from Ebay that came with newspaper accounts from it. Not sure if I still have them. Plus it snowed during the game. I feel this game deserves more attention.

Never thought about that particular matchup. Who from the Glory/Lombardi years was still playing in that game? I guess it's almost like SF@Pit '81. Another thing about GB...it was sad enough Lombardi's passing before the season started, and then Lions come to town Opening Day and hand them 40-0 walloping. That, in itself, almost like Rooney's passing before the '88 campaign then Steelers' horrid 1-6 start along with Noll (and Landry) on cover of SI for the WRONG reasons.

[BD Sullivan]

December 6th. Green Bay Packers 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 12.
To an outsider this was just a random game played by 2 mediocre teams. I don't see it that way. The Packers were 3 years removed from the end of their dynasty. The Steelers were 4 years away from the start of theirs. A crossroads game between 2 of the greatest dynasties in the history of the league. I would kill to see the original broadcast but I know that'll never happen. I've yet to see the Packers season highlights from 1970 but I have the Steelers one committed to memory and it barely touched on this game. I have/had the program that I got years ago from Ebay that came with newspaper accounts from it. Not sure if I still have them. Plus it snowed during the game. I feel this game deserves more attention.

Never thought about that particular matchup. Who from the Glory/Lombardi years was still playing in that game? I guess it's almost like SF@Pit '81. Another thing about GB...it was sad enough Lombardi's passing before the season started, and then Lions come to town Opening Day and hand them 40-0 walloping. That, in itself, almost like Rooney's passing before the '88 campaign then Steelers' horrid 1-6 start along with Noll (and Landry) on cover of SI for the WRONG reasons.

Larry Krause returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a Packer touchdown, but a fumbled snap (helped along by the miserable weather) made it 6-0 GB. It was 6-3 Packers at the half, with Bradshaw then inserted into the game. On the first second half series, he connected with Dave Smith on an 87-yard TD pass. Starr threw for two TD passes to win it for GB; those two TD passes turned out to be the last of his career and the victory was the last win for him as a starter.

The loss was costly for the Steelers, since they actually went into the game tied in the mediocre AFC Central with qa 5-6 record.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/b ... 060pit.htm

[74_75_78_79_]

Scheduling anomalies that year for sure. The Pack's last 5 games were on the road, only beating Steelers in that stretch. It couldn't have possibly been fun being a schedule-maker 1st half of '70s; most confusing complex formula ever.

[BD Sullivan]

The Rams should have made the playoffs in what would have been George Allen's last year, regardless of what they did. They finished a game behind the 49ers, but blew back-to-back home games in Weeks 8-9. In the first game, Roman Gabriel needed to go 79 yards in the final three minutes to score a TD just to salvage a 10-10 tie with the Falcons. That TD came with two seconds left.

More inexplicably, they were effectively shut down by the Jets one week later. New York was (according to one newspaper account) 17-point underdogs in the Rams' 31-20 loss and had Al Woodall at QB after Namath had been knocked out for the year with an injured wrist one month before. The NY defense limitED the Rams to a touchdown at the start of the second quarter and one in the last two minutes of the game.

The Falcon tie wasn't as deadly, since they would ended up deadlocked with SF and, since they split that year, the Rams had the tiebreaker with a better divisional record.

[slats7]

Regarding Dallas' 5-3 playoff victory, I take it that's the fewest amount of points amassed by a winning playoff team since the merger?

[BD Sullivan]

Regarding Dallas' 5-3 playoff victory, I take it that's the fewest amount of points amassed by a winning playoff team since the merger?

Correct. Actually, it dates back to at least 1940, with only four other games having a winning playoff team score less than 10 points:

7-0 Eagles over Cardinals in 1948 NFL Championship--played in a blinding blizzard.
7-6 Steelers over Patriots in 1997 AFC playoff game.
8-3 Browns over Giants in 1950 NFL playoff game.
9-0 Rams over Bucs in 1979 NFC Championship.