1970 Detroit Lions season

1970 Detroit Lions season
1970 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Joe Schmidt
Home field	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs; (at Cowboys) 0–5
	← 1969; Lions seasons; 1971 →;

The 1970 Detroit Lions season was the 41st season in franchise history. With a record of 10–4, their best in eight years, the Lions finished in second place in the NFC Central and qualified for the playoffs as the NFC's first ever Wildcard team. Detroit made the postseason for the first time since their championship season in 1957 (they played in three post-season runner-up games (Playoff Bowl) in 1960, 1961, and 1962 and won all three).

One unusual loss during the regular season was at New Orleans in Week 8. The Lions led by a point with only two seconds left, but Saints kicker Tom Dempsey booted a then-record 63-yard field goal as time expired to give the Saints a 19–17 win.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In the divisional round of the playoffs at the Cotton Bowl, the Lions fell 5–0 to the Dallas Cowboys in the lowest scoring game in NFL playoff history, and the first without a touchdown in twenty years.^[4]^[5]

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Team
1	19	Steve Owens	Running back	Oklahoma
2	45	Ray Parson	Tackle	Minnesota
3	71	Jim H. Mitchell	Defensive end	Virginia State
5	123	Bob Parker	Guard	Memphis
6	149	Tony Terry	Defensive tackle	Southern California
7	175	Ken Geddes	Linebacker	Nebraska
9	227	Herman Weaver	Punter	Tennessee
10	253	Bruce Maxwell	Running back	Arkansas
11	279	Roger Laird	Defensive back	Kentucky State
12	305	Emanuel Murrell	Defensive back	California Polytechnic State
13	331	Dave Haverdick	Defensive tackle	Morehead State
14	357	Charlie K. Brown	Wide receiver	Northern Arizona
15	383	Bob Haney	Tackle	Idaho
16	409	Jerry Todd	Defensive back	Memphis
17	435	Jesse Marshall	Defensive tackle	Centenary

^[6]

Roster

Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks

14 Greg Barton

11 Greg Landry

19 Bill Munson

Running backs

40 Nick Eddy

24 Mel Farr

46 Bruce Maxwell

36 Steve Owens

42 Altie Taylor

38 Bill Triplett

Wide receivers

81 Charlie Brown

85 Chuck Hughes

25 Earl McCullouch

49 Larry Walton

23 Phil Odle

Tight ends

87 Craig Cotton

88 Charlie Sanders

Offensive linemen

52 Bill Cottrell C

54 Ed Flanagan C

76 Rocky Freitas T

68 Frank Gallagher G

66 Bob Kowalkowski G

67 Rocky Rasley G

73 Roger Shoals T

71 Chuck Walton G

75 Jim Yarbrough T

Defensive linemen

72 Dan Goich DT

74 Larry Hand DE

80 Dave Haverdick DT

71 Alex Karras DT

83 Jim Mitchell DE

84 Joe Robb DE

82 Jerry Rush DT

Linebackers

53 Mike Lucci

57 Terry Miller

62 Ed Mooney

50 Paul Naumoff

58 Bill Saul

55 Wayne Walker

Defensive backs

20 Lem Barney CB

44 Dick LeBeau CB

47 Wayne Rasmussen FS

48 Tom Vaughn FS

28 Mike Weger SS

45 Bobby Williams

Special teams

12 Errol Mann K

18 Herman Weaver P

Reserve lists

-- George Hoey DB (Military)

-- Bob Bergum DE (Military)

-- Tony Terry DT (IR)

89 John Wright WR (IR)

Practice squad

79 Ray Parson T

rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 20	at Green Bay Packers	W 40–0	1–0	Lambeau Field	56,263	Recap
2	September 27	Cincinnati Bengals	W 38–3	2–0	Tiger Stadium	58,202	Recap
3	October 5	Chicago Bears	W 28–14	3–0	Tiger Stadium	58,210	Recap
4	October 11	at Washington Redskins	L 10–31	3–1	RFK Stadium	50,414	Recap
5	October 18	at Cleveland Browns	W 41–24	4–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	83,577	Recap
6	October 25	at Chicago Bears	W 16–10	5–1	Wrigley Field	45,632	Recap
7	November 1	Minnesota Vikings	L 17–30	5–2	Tiger Stadium	58,210	Recap
8	November 8	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–19	5–3	Tulane Stadium	66,910	Recap
9	November 15	at Minnesota Vikings	L 20–24	5–4	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900	Recap
10	November 22	San Francisco 49ers	W 28–7	6–4	Tiger Stadium	56,232	Recap
11	November 26	Oakland Raiders	W 28–14	7–4	Tiger Stadium	56,597	Recap
12	December 6	St. Louis Cardinals	W 16–3	8–4	Tiger Stadium	56,362	Recap
13	December 14	at Los Angeles Rams	W 28–23	9–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	79,441	Recap
14	December 20	Green Bay Packers	W 20–0	10–4	Tiger Stadium	57,387	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 3

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	0	7	14
• Lions	0	0	21	7	28

Date: October 5
Location: Tiger Stadium • Detroit, Michigan
Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind 13 mph (21 km/h)
Referee: Jack Vest
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell & Don Meredith

^[7]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	12	2	0	.857	5–1	10–1	335	143	W3
Detroit Lions	10	4	0	.714	4–2	7–4	347	202	W5
Green Bay Packers	6	8	0	.429	2–4	4–7	196	293	L2
Chicago Bears	6	8	0	.429	1–5	5–6	256	261	W2

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

Playoffs

NFC Playoff, Dallas Cowboys 5, Detroit Lions 0

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	0	0	0	0
Cowboys	3	0	0	2	5

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Date: December 26, 1970
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 69,613
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Frank Gifford

Game information
Scoring DAL – field goal Clark 26 DAL 3–0 DAL – Safety, Andrie tackled Landry in end zone DAL 5–0

References

^ "Detroit Lions (1934-Present)". www.sportsecyclopedia.com.
^ "Saints upset Lions, 19-17 on Dempsey's 63-yard FG". Ludington Daily News. (Michigan). UPI. November 9, 1970. p. 5.
^ Rappaport, Ken (November 9, 1970). "Still plenty of foot in football". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 22.
^ "Colts, Cowboys advance in playoffs". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. December 27, 1970. p. 65.
^ "Detroit looking ahead to 1971". Ludington Daily News. (Michigan). UPI. December 28, 1970.
^ "1970 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
^ "Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions - October 5th, 1970 - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

[1] "Detroit Lions (1934-Present)". www.sportsecyclopedia.com.

[supsli-2] "Saints upset Lions, 19-17 on Dempsey's 63-yard FG". Ludington Daily News. (Michigan). UPI. November 9, 1970. p. 5.

[pfifb-3] Rappaport, Ken (November 9, 1970). "Still plenty of foot in football". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 22.

[cocoadv-4] "Colts, Cowboys advance in playoffs". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. December 27, 1970. p. 65.

[dlahd-5] "Detroit looking ahead to 1971". Ludington Daily News. (Michigan). UPI. December 28, 1970.

[6] "1970 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2018.

[7] "Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions - October 5th, 1970 - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

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