1970 Oakland Raiders season

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1970 Oakland Raiders season
Head coach John Madden
Owner F. Wayne Valley
Home field Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record 8–4–2
Division place 1st AFC West
Playoff finish Lost AFC Championship Game

The 1970 Oakland Raiders season was the team’s 11th season in Oakland. It was also their first season as members of the NFL. The Raiders would ultimately win their fourth consecutive division title (as well as their first AFC West title). They advanced to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Baltimore Colts.

The Raiders' 1970 season is best remembered for a series of clutch performances by veteran placekicker/quarterback George Blanda. Blanda, despite being cut during the 1970 preseason, eventually re-joined the Raiders' roster. His ensuing season (the twenty-first of his professional career) would rank as one of the more dramatic comebacks in sports history. Over a span of five consecutive games, Blanda would come off the bench to spark a series of dramatic rallies. The Raiders went an impressive 4–0–1 over this span.

Blanda's five-game "streak" began on October 25, 1970. In an away game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Blanda threw for two touchdowns in relief of an injured Daryle Lamonica. One week later, his 48-yard field goal (with three seconds remaining on the clock) salvaged a 17–17 tie with the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. One week later, on November 8, Blanda would come off the bench against the Cleveland Browns. His late touchdown pass (with 1:34 remaining in the game) tied the game at 20–20. He would ultimately kick a 53-yard field goal, as time expired, to give the Raiders a stunning 23–20 victory. The following week, against the Denver Broncos, Blanda again replaced Lamonica in the fourth quarter. His touchdown pass to Fred Biletnikoff, with 2:28 left in the game, gave the Raiders an unlikely 24–19 win. The incredible streak concluded one week later against the San Diego Chargers. The Raiders managed to drive deep into Chargers territory in the game's final seconds. Blanda's last-minute 16-yard field goal would seal a dramatic 20–17 triumph.

Blanda's streak played a huge role in the Raiders' 1970 division title, as the team went a mediocre 4–4–1 in "non-streak" games. Indeed, their final record of 8–4–2 (itself a four-win drop from a 12–1–1 finish in 1969) placed them only one game ahead of the Chiefs at season's end.

The Raiders would ultimately advance to the 1970 AFC Championship Game, where they met the heavily favored 11–2–1 Baltimore Colts. During this game, Blanda again came off the bench in relief of an injured Lamonica. Blanda's solid play (17 of 32 passes for 217 yards, two touchdowns, and a 48-yard field goal) kept the Raiders in the game until the final quarter, when he was intercepted twice. At age 43, Blanda became the oldest quarterback to ever play in a championship game.

Blanda's eye-opening achievements resulted in his winning the Bert Bell Award. Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt quipped that "...this George Blanda is as good as his father, who used to play for Houston." While he never again played a major role at quarterback, Blanda would serve as the Raiders' kicker for five more seasons.

Offseason

NFL Draft

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Main article: 1970 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team
1 24 Raymond Chester Tight End Morgan State
2 50 Ted Koy Tight End Texas

[1]

Regular season

Roster

Schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Raiders points Opponents First Downs Record Streak Attendance
1 Sep 20 at Cincinnati Bengals Loss 21 31 13 0–1 Lost 1
56,616
2 Sep 27 at San Diego Chargers Tie 27 27 23 0–1–1 Tied 1
42,109
3 Oct 3 at Miami Dolphins Loss 13 20 14 0–2–1 Lost 1
57,140
4 Oct 11 Denver Broncos Win 35 23 25 1–2–1 Won 1
54,436
5 Oct 19 Washington Redskins Win 34 20 25 2–2–1 Won 2
54,471
6 Oct 25 Pittsburgh Steelers Win 31 14 15 3–2–1 Won 3
54,423
7 Nov 1 at Kansas City Chiefs Tie 17 17 22 3–2–2 Tie 1
51,334
8 Nov 8 Cleveland Browns Win 23 20 21 4–2–2 Won 1
54,463
9 Nov 15 at Denver Broncos Win 24 19 16 5–2–2 Won 2
50,959
10 Nov 22 San Diego Chargers Win 20 17 22 6–2–2 Won 3
54,594
11 Nov 26 at Detroit Lions Loss 14 28 18 6–3–2 Lost 1
56,597
12 Dec 6 at New York Jets Win 14 13 16 7–3–2 Won 1
62,905
13 Dec 12 Kansas City Chiefs Win 20 6 23 8–3–2 Won 2
54,596
14 Dec 20 San Francisco 49ers Loss 7 38 17 8–4–2 Lost 1
54,535

[2]

Game summaries

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total
Broncos 10 7 6 0 23
• Raiders 7 14 0 14 35
  • OAK: Daryle Lamonica 20/37, 364 Yds, 4 TD, INT
  • OAK: Warren Wells 7 Rec, 198 Yds, 3 TD

[3]

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total
Redskins 3 10 0 7 20
• Raiders 14 6 14 0 34

[4]

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 7 7 0 14
• Raiders 7 17 7 0 31

[5]

Week 7

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
1 2 3 4 Total
Raiders 0 7 7 3 17
Chiefs 0 7 3 7 17

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 0 10 7 3 20
• Raiders 3 10 0 10 23

[6]

Standings

AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Oakland Raiders 8 4 2 .667 4–0–2 7–2–2 300 293 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 7 5 2 .583 2–3–1 7–3–1 272 244 L2
San Diego Chargers 5 6 3 .455 2–2–2 4–4–3 282 278 W1
Denver Broncos 5 8 1 .385 1–4–1 3–6–1 253 264 L1

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

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoffs

1 2 3 4 Total
Dolphins 0 7 0 7 14
Raiders 0 7 7 7 21

at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

  • Date: December 27
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 45 F, wind 8 mph
  • Game attendance: 52,594
  • Referee: John McDonough
  • TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote
  • Box Score

AFC Championship Game

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See also: 1970 Baltimore Colts season
1 2 3 4 Total
Raiders 0 3 7 7 17
Colts 3 7 10 7 27

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ 1970 NFL Draft on databaseFootball.com
  2. ↑ 1970 Oakland Raiders Statistics & Players – Pro-Football-Reference.com
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Apr-20.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jul-28.
  5. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  7. ↑ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)
  8. ↑ http://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/content/awards/bell/past_bell.htm
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