Top 8 NFL Power Rankings, 1970

[74_75_78_79_]

Do SB-participants, Colts & Dallas, get top-two spots anyway? Or do NEITHER? Are the 12-2 Cuozzo-led Vikes #1? I assume Bengals get left off everyone's list.

From #8 to #1, what are your by-regular-season's-end-with-a-clear-mind rankings?

The collapsing Cards? Just remember, had SIX teams been allowed in per-conference as is the case now, they STILL wouldn't have made it!

[BD Sullivan]

Do SB-participants, Colts & Dallas, get top-two spots anyway? Or do NEITHER? Are the 12-2 Cuozzo-led Vikes #1? I assume Bengals get left off everyone's list.

From #8 to #1, what are your by-regular-season's-end-with-a-clear-mind rankings?

The collapsing Cards? Just remember, had SIX teams been allowed in per-conference as is the case now, they STILL wouldn't have made it!

1 through 8:

Minnesota
Baltimore
San Francisco
Dallas
Oakland
Detroit
Rams
Giants

[ChrisBabcock]

1. Vikings...... and then everybody else.





2. Colts
3. 49ers
4. Cowboys
5. Lions
6. Rams
7. Dolphins
8. Bengals.... who get the nod over Raiders/Giants/Cardinals because of such an end of season tear they were on.

[JohnH19]

The Vikings cost themselves at least one SB win when they allowed Joe Kapp to walk. 1970 was theirs for the taking and, to a slightly lesser degree, so was 1971.

[BD Sullivan]

The Vikings cost themselves at least one SB win when they allowed Joe Kapp to walk. 1970 was theirs for the taking and, to a slightly lesser degree, so was 1971.

Gary Cuozzo had some strange power over NFL general managers:

*The Colts were able to trade him to the Saints for a 1, 3 and 7 and ended up getting Bubba Smith.
*The Vikings gave up two first rounders for him, though the Saints typically squandered them: Kvin Hardy and John Shinners
*The Cardinals picked him up after the 1971 season and gave the Vikes John Gilliam and a pair of draft picks that never panned out.

[JohnH19]

Cuozzo seemed to be a pretty decent backup but he was eminently mediocre as a starter. His value was exaggerated by the occasional excellent performance like his 5 TD game for the Colts against Minnesota in 1965.

I don't play the "what-if" game that has dominated the forum recently but I am haunted by the question, "What if Joe Kapp had remained a Viking?"

[SixtiesFan]

The Vikings cost themselves at least one SB win when they allowed Joe Kapp to walk. 1970 was theirs for the taking and, to a slightly lesser degree, so was 1971.

Gary Cuozzo had some strange power over NFL general managers:

*The Colts were able to trade him to the Saints for a 1, 3 and 7 and ended up getting Bubba Smith.
*The Vikings gave up two first rounders for him, though the Saints typically squandered them: Kvin Hardy and John Shinners
*The Cardinals picked him up after the 1971 season and gave the Vikes John Gilliam and a pair of draft picks that never panned out.

I recall reading around 1965-66 that Gary Cuozzo was the best backup QB in pro football. The theme was Cuozzo would be a star on some other team. The big day against the Vikings in 1965 accelerated this viewpoint.

[74_75_78_79_]

Honorable mention: Cardinals

8) Colts
7) Cowboys
6) Dolphins
5) Niners
4) Giants
3) Rams
2) Lions
1) Vikings

[JohnH19]

Honorable mention: Cardinals

8) Colts
7) Cowboys
6) Dolphins
5) Niners
4) Giants
3) Rams
2) Lions
1) Vikings

The two SB combatants are 7 and 8? The Giants are #4?

[74_75_78_79_]

Honorable mention: Cardinals

8) Colts
7) Cowboys
6) Dolphins
5) Niners
4) Giants
3) Rams
2) Lions
1) Vikings

The two SB combatants are 7 and 8? The Giants are #4?

Guess I ignored recent history all-out with this one. Fair or not, like college rankings, that usually gets applied. Perhaps lift Dallas & Colts up to #5 & #6 respectively if I want to credit them for their annual greatness the years leading up to '70. As for strictly the very season at-hand though, Colts beat Miami and that's it. Yes, by a whopping 35-0, but Miami beat them lopsided in their 2nd affair. Dallas split with Giants and besides that, only beat 7-5-2 KC who...put up 44 in Balt. Dolphins beat Raiders outside their split with Colts as G-men swept StL, winning convincingly in both games; the first of those well before Cards' collapse, just before their Monstrous steak over Oilers/Pats/@Dallas by a combined 113-0!

Again, strictly from a power rankings perspective which, in this case, completely ignored the late-'60s leading up. That AFC East was super-weak outside Balt & Miami. Dallas getting swept by Cards by combined 58-7 along with losing to Vikes the way they did (hey, 54-13 is 54-13) doesn't help their 'power' case either.