# 1970 Baltimore Colts season

The 1970 Baltimore Colts season was the 18th season of the second Colts franchise in the National Football League (NFL). Led by first-year head coach Don McCafferty, the Colts finished the 1970 season with a regular season record of 11 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie to win the first AFC East title. The Colts completed the postseason in Miami with a victory over the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, their first Super Bowl title and fourth NFL championship (1958, 1959, 1968, and 1970).

## Season history

In February 1970, head coach Don Shula departed after seven seasons for the Miami Dolphins, now in the same division, and offensive backfield coach McCafferty was promoted in early April.

## NFL draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 18 | Norm Bulaich | Running Back | TCU |
| 2 | 44 | Jim Bailey | Defensive tackle | Kansas |
| 3 | 70 | Jim O'Brien | Wide Receiver / Kicker | Cincinnati |
| 3 | 74 | Ara Person | Tight End | Morgan State |
| 4 | 95 | Steve Smear | Linebacker | Penn State |
| 5 | 122 | Billy Newsome | Defensive End | Grambling State |
| 6 | 148 | Ron Gardin | Defensive Back | Arizona |
| 7 | 174 | Gordon Slade | Quarterback | Davidson |
| 8 | 199 | Bob Bouley | Tackle | Boston College |
| 9 | 226 | Barney Harris | Defensive Back | Texas A&M |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | August 8 | at Oakland Raiders | W 33–21 | 1–0 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,519 | Recap |
| 2 | August 14 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–3 | 2–0 | Municipal Stadium | 34,341 | Recap |
| 3 | August 22 | at Denver Broncos | W 24–7 | 3–0 | Mile High Stadium | 42,499 | Recap |
| 4 | August 29 | at Miami Dolphins | L 13–20 | 3–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 73,533 | Recap |
| 5 | September 5 | vs. Detroit Lions | W 20–14 | 4–1 | Carter–Finley Stadium (Raleigh, NC) | 34,500 | Recap |
| 6 | September 12 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–17 | 4–2 | RFK Stadium | 46,045 | Recap |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 20 | at San Diego Chargers | W 16–14 | 1–0 | San Diego Stadium | 47,782 |
| 2 | September 28 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 24–44 | 1–1 | Memorial Stadium | 53,911 |
| 3 | October 4 | at Boston Patriots | W 14–6 | 2–1 | Harvard Stadium | 38,235 |
| 4 | October 11 | at Houston Oilers | W 24–20 | 3–1 | Astrodome | 48,050 |
| 5 | October 18 | at New York Jets | W 29–22 | 4–1 | Shea Stadium | 63,301 |
| 6 | October 25 | Boston Patriots | W 27–3 | 5–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
| 7 | November 1 | Miami Dolphins | W 35–0 | 6–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
| 8 | November 9 | at Green Bay Packers | W 13–10 | 7–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 48,063 |
| 9 | November 15 | Buffalo Bills | T 17–17 | 7–1–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
| 10 | November 22 | at Miami Dolphins | L 17–34 | 7–2–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 67,699 |
| 11 | November 29 | Chicago Bears | W 21–20 | 8–2–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
| 12 | December 6 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 29–10 | 9–2–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
| 13 | December 13 | at Buffalo Bills | W 20–14 | 10–2–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 34,346 |
| 14 | December 19 | New York Jets | W 35–20 | 11–2–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| Chargers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Chiefs | 10 | 21 | 3 | 10 | 44 |
| Colts | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Patriots | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Oilers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 17 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 29 |
| Jets | 3 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 22 |
This was the Super Bowl III rematch and it was truly a rematch but this time it favors the Colts as they opened up a 19–0 lead and never looked back. The Jets did mount a challenge led by Joe Namath's 392 yards passing, but he also had 6 interceptions as the Colts gain some revenge on this day.

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Patriots | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Colts | 3 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 27 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Colts | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Packers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 17 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| • Colts | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| • Colts | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 29 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 10 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
The Colts clinched the division title with the win.

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| • Colts | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
* Earl Morrall 18/33, 348 Yds

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | 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.
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.
AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | 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.

## Postseason

The team made it to the playoffs with the best record in the AFC. The Colts hosted both AFC playoff games that they played in. (It wasn't until the 1975 season that playoff teams were seeded by record; the fact that the Colts hosted both playoff games was just due to the rotation set up with the AFL–NFL merger.) The team won both AFC playoff games as well as Super Bowl V.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Divisional | December 26 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 17–0 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | 51,127 |
| AFC Championship | January 3, 1971 | Oakland Raiders | W 27–17 | 2–0 | Memorial Stadium | 56,368 |
| Super Bowl V | January 17, 1971 | Dallas Cowboys | W 16–13 | 3–0 | Miami Orange Bowl | 80,055 |

### Divisional

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Colts | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
The Colts hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round. The Colts relied on their defense, which had carried them all season, to best the Bengals 17–0, holding Cincinnati to only 139 total yards.

### Conference Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| • Colts | 3 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
The Colts next hosted the Oakland Raiders for the AFC Championship game. The Colts jumped out to an early lead over the Raiders, 10–3 at halftime. Oakland came back to tie it up early in the 3rd quarter. The Colts would respond with a Jim O'Brien field goal and a second Bulaich touchdown. Johnny Unitas extended the lead with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Ray Perkins that made the score 27–17. The Colts would seal the win with an interception in the end zone.

### Super Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colts | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| Cowboys | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
The Colts made it to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history and played the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL championship. In the 2nd quarter, Johnny Unitas threw a pass that was tipped twice before John Mackey caught it for a 75-yard score. Later in the quarter Unitas was injured and Earl Morrall completed a sloppy and turnover-filled game: the Colts committed a total of 7 turnovers, the Cowboys 4. Following an interception by Mike Curtis, Jim O'Brien kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal, giving Baltimore a 16–13 lead with 5 seconds left in the game, and the victory.