# 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's first season in the National Football League (NFL), and the third overall. The NFL-AFL merger took place before the season and the Bengals, who were placed in the same division as the "old-guard NFL" Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, were not expected to be playoff contenders. Nevertheless, 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, 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, the Bengals lost 17–0, to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts. 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. The team is one of only four teams since the 1970 merger to start the season 1–5 or worse and qualify for the playoffs, the others being the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs, the 2018 Indianapolis Colts, and the 2020 Washington Football Team.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1970 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## Regular season

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 November 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

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 20 | Oakland Raiders | W 31–21 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 27 | at Detroit Lions | L 3–38 | 1–1 | Tiger Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | October 4 | Houston Oilers | L 13–20 | 1–2 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 11 | at Cleveland Browns | L 27–30 | 1–3 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 18 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 19–27 | 1–4 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 25 | at Washington Redskins | L 0–20 | 1–5 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | November 2 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 10–21 | 1–6 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | November 8 | at Buffalo Bills | W 43–14 | 2–6 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 15 | Cleveland Browns | W 14–10 | 3–6 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 22 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 34–7 | 4–6 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 29 | New Orleans Saints | W 26–6 | 5–6 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | December 6 | at San Diego Chargers | W 17–14 | 6–6 | San Diego Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 13 | at Houston Oilers | W 30–20 | 7–6 | Astrodome | Recap |
| 14 | December 20 | Boston Patriots | W 45–7 | 8–6 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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.

### Season summary
#### Week 1 vs Raiders

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Bengals | 7 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 31 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Date: September 20, 1970
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C)
* Game attendance: 56,616
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
CIN – Sam Wyche 5-yard run (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 7–0. Drive:
OAK – Fred Biletnikoff 20-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick). Tie 7–7. Drive:
Second quarter
CIN – Essex Johnson 51-yard pass from Sam Wyche (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 14–7. Drive:
Third quarter
CIN – Paul Robinson 3-yard run (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 21–7. Drive:
OAK – Fred Biletnikoff 18-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick). Bengals 21–14. Drive:
OAK – Alvin Wyatt 63-yard punt return (George Blanda kick). Tie 21–21.
CIN – Jess Phillips 76-yard run (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 28–21. Drive:
Fourth quarter
CIN – Horst Muhlmann 38-yard field goal. Bengals 31–21. Drive:
Top passers
OAK – Daryle Lamonica – 17/36, 265 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
CIN – Sam Wyche – 8/18, 147 yards, TD
Top rushers
OAK – Charlie Smith – 8 rushes, 29 yards
CIN – Jess Phillips – 15 rushes, 130 yards, TD
Top receivers
OAK – Fred Biletnikoff – 6 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD
CIN – Bob Trumpy – 4 receptions, 67 yards :

### Team stats

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

* Passing: Virgil Carter (278 Att, 143 Comp, 1647 Yds, 51.4 Pct, 9 TD, 9 Int, 66.9 Rating)
* Rushing: Jess Phillips (163 Att, 648 Yds, 4.0 Avg, 76 Long, 4 TD)
* Receiving: Chip Myers (32 Rec, 542 Yds, 16.9 Avg, 56 Long, 1 TD)
* Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 108 points (25 FG; 33 PAT)

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| Divisional | December 26 | at Baltimore Colts | L 0–17 | 0–1 | Memorial Stadium | Recap |

## Awards and records
### Pro Bowl selections

* CB Lemar Parrish
* TE Bob Trumpy