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, however, the Bengals would win the rest of their games, rallying to an 8–6 finish and champions of the newly formed AFC Central division qualifying for their first playoff appearance in franchise history. In their first playoff game, they 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.[1] 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,[2] the 2018 Indianapolis Colts, and the 2020 Washington Football Team.

1970 Cincinnati Bengals season
General managerPaul Brown
Head coachPaul Brown
Home fieldRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record8–6
Division place1st AFC Central
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Colts) 0–17

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1970 NFL Draft
1970 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
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

[3]

Personnel

Staff / Coaches
1970 Cincinnati Bengals staff
Front office
  • Owner/General Manager - Paul Brown
  • President – John Sawyer
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches



Final roster
1970 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • -- Chip Bennett LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 12 Greg Cook QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 81 Nick Roman DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad


Rookies in italics

[4]

Regular season
The Bengals began playing home games at Riverfront Stadium in 1970

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
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.

[5]

Week 1 vs Raiders
See also: 1970 Oakland Raiders season
Week One: Oakland Raiders (0–0) at Cincinnati Bengals (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Raiders 7 0 14021
Bengals 7 7 14331

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Game information

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

References
  1. The record stood until being eclipsed in 1996 by both the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, who each made the playoffs in their second seasons.
  2. "Chiefs clinch playoffs on nailbiter, win ninth straight after 1-5 start". Sports.Yahoo.com.
  3. "1970 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  4. "1970 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296
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