1970 Cincinnati Bengals season

1970 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Paul Brown
General manager	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	1st AFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost AFC Divisional Playoff

The 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's third year in professional football and the first with the National Football League (NFL). 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. In their first playoff game, they lost, 17–0, to eventual Super Bowl-champion Baltimore. 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 2 teams since the 1970 merger to start the season 1-5 or worse and qualify for the playoffs. The other is the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs.^[2]

Offseason

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

1970 Cincinnati Bengals staff
	Front office President – John Sawyer Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach/General Manager – Paul Brown Offensive coaches Offensive Backfield – Jack Donaldson Receivers – Bill Walsh Offensive Line – Bill Johnson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backfield – Chuck Weber Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Vince Costello

Roster

1970 Cincinnati Bengals roster
	Quarterbacks 11 Virgil Carter 14 Sam Wyche Running backs 44 Doug Dressler 21 Paul Dunn 19 Essex Johnson 40 Ron Lamb 30 Jess Phillips 18 Paul Robinson Wide receivers 10 Eric Crabtree 25 Chip Myers 17 Speedy Thomas		Tight ends 88 Bruce Coslet 87 Mike Kelly 84 Bob Trumpy Offensive linemen 63 Guy Dennis G 72 Howard Fest T 54 Bob Johnson C 73 Pat Matson G 71 Rufus Mayes G 67 Mike Wilson T 75 Ernie Wright T		Defensive linemen 89 Marty Amsler 85 Martin Baccaglio DE 82 Royce Berry DE 70 Ron Carpenter DE 79 Steve Chomyszak DT 76 Frank Cornish 78 Willie Jones DT 74 Mike Reid DT 81 Nick Roman Linebackers 51 Ken Avery OLB 58 Al Beauchamp OLB 66 Bill Bergey MLB 59 Larry Ely 65 Wayne McClure 53 Bill Peterson OLB		Defensive backs 23 Al Coleman 29 Sandy Durko 27 Ken Dyer S 33 Kenny Graham 28 John Guillory 20 Lemar Parrish CB 13 Ken Riley CB 31 Fletcher Smith S Special teams 15 Dave Lewis P 16 Horst Muhlmann K Rookies in italics

^[4]

Regular season

Riverfront Stadium, the new home stadium for the Cincinnati Bengals

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 Nov 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

1970 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance	Stadium
1	September 20	Oakland Raiders	W 31–21	56,616	Riverfront Stadium
2	September 27	at Detroit Lions	L 3–38	58,202	Tiger Stadium
3	October 4	Houston Oilers	L 13–20	55,094	Riverfront Stadium
4	October 11	at Cleveland Browns	L 27–30	83,520	Cleveland Stadium
5	October 18	Kansas City Chiefs	L 19–27	57,265	Riverfront Stadium
6	October 25	at Washington Redskins	L 0–20	50,415	RFK Stadium
7	November 2	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–21	38,968	Three Rivers Stadium
8	November 8	at Buffalo Bills	W 43–14	43,587	War Memorial Stadium
9	November 15	Cleveland Browns	W 14–10	60,007	Riverfront Stadium
10	November 22	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–7	59,276	Riverfront Stadium
11	November 29	New Orleans Saints	W 26–6	59,342	Riverfront Stadium
12	December 6	at San Diego Chargers	W 17–14	41,461	San Diego Stadium
13	December 13	at Houston Oilers	W 30–20	34,435	Astrodome
14	December 20	Boston Patriots	W 45–7	60,157	Riverfront Stadium

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]

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

1970 AFC Divisional Playoffs
Date	Opponent	W-L	Score	ATT.	Stadium
December 26	Baltimore	L	0–17	51,127	Memorial

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selections

• CB Lemar Parrish
• TE Bob Trumpy (3rd overall selection, 1st in NFL)

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

External links

• 1970 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com