1970 Oakland Raiders season

1970 Oakland Raiders season
Head coach	John Madden
Owner	F. Wayne Valley
Home field	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	8–4–2
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost AFC Championship Game

The 1970 Oakland Raiders season was the team’s 11th season in Oakland. It was also their first season as members of the NFL. The Raiders would ultimately win their fourth consecutive division title (as well as their first AFC West title). They advanced to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Baltimore Colts.

The Raiders' 1970 season is best remembered for a series of clutch performances by veteran placekicker/quarterback George Blanda. Blanda, despite being cut during the 1970 preseason, eventually re-joined the Raiders' roster. His ensuing season (the twenty-first of his professional career) would rank as one of the more dramatic comebacks in sports history. Over a span of five consecutive games, Blanda would come off the bench to spark a series of dramatic rallies. The Raiders went an impressive 4–0–1 over this span.

Blanda's five-game "streak" began on October 25, 1970. In an away game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Blanda threw for two touchdowns in relief of an injured Daryle Lamonica. One week later, his 48-yard field goal (with three seconds remaining on the clock) salvaged a 17–17 tie with the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. One week later, on November 8, Blanda would come off the bench against the Cleveland Browns. His late touchdown pass (with 1:34 remaining in the game) tied the game at 20–20. He would ultimately kick a 53-yard field goal, as time expired, to give the Raiders a stunning 23–20 victory. The following week, against the Denver Broncos, Blanda again replaced Lamonica in the fourth quarter. His touchdown pass to Fred Biletnikoff, with 2:28 left in the game, gave the Raiders an unlikely 24–19 win. The incredible streak concluded one week later against the San Diego Chargers. The Raiders managed to drive deep into Chargers territory in the game's final seconds. Blanda's last-minute 16-yard field goal would seal a dramatic 20–17 triumph.

Blanda's streak played a huge role in the Raiders' 1970 division title, as the team went a mediocre 4–4–1 in "non-streak" games. Indeed, their final record of 8–4–2 (itself a four-win drop from a 12–1–1 finish in 1969) placed them only one game ahead of the Chiefs at season's end.

The Raiders would ultimately advance to the 1970 AFC Championship Game, where they met the heavily favored 11–2–1 Baltimore Colts. During this game, Blanda again came off the bench in relief of an injured Lamonica. Blanda's solid play (17 of 32 passes for 217 yards, two touchdowns, and a 48-yard field goal) kept the Raiders in the game until the final quarter, when he was intercepted twice. At age 43, Blanda became the oldest quarterback to ever play in a championship game.

Blanda's eye-opening achievements resulted in his winning the Bert Bell Award. Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt quipped that "...this George Blanda is as good as his father, who used to play for Houston." While he never again played a major role at quarterback, Blanda would serve as the Raiders' kicker for five more seasons.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	24	Raymond Chester	Tight End	Morgan State
2	50	Ted Koy	Tight End	Texas

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Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	First Downs	Record	Streak	Attendance
1	Sep 20	at Cincinnati Bengals	Loss	21–31	13	0–1	Lost 1	56,616
2	Sep 27	at San Diego Chargers	Tie	27–27	23	0–1–1	Tied 1	42,109
3	Oct 3	at Miami Dolphins	Loss	13–20	14	0–2–1	Lost 1	57,140
4	Oct 11	Denver Broncos	Win	35–23	25	1–2–1	Won 1	54,436
5	Oct 19	Washington Redskins	Win	34–20	25	2–2–1	Won 2	54,471
6	Oct 25	Pittsburgh Steelers	Win	31–14	15	3–2–1	Won 3	54,423
7	Nov 1	at Kansas City Chiefs	Tie	17–17	22	3–2–2	Tie 1	51,334
8	Nov 8	Cleveland Browns	Win	23–20	21	4–2–2	Won 1	54,463
9	Nov 15	at Denver Broncos	Win	24–19	16	5–2–2	Won 2	50,959
10	Nov 22	San Diego Chargers	Win	20–17	22	6–2–2	Won 3	54,594
11	Nov 26	at Detroit Lions	Loss	14–28	18	6–3–2	Lost 1	56,597
12	Dec 6	at New York Jets	Win	14–13	16	7–3–2	Won 1	62,905
13	Dec 12	Kansas City Chiefs	Win	20–6	23	8–3–2	Won 2	54,596
14	Dec 20	San Francisco 49ers	Loss	7–38	17	8–4–2	Lost 1	54,535

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Game summaries

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 10 7 6 0 23 • Raiders 7 14 0 14 35 Date: October 11 Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 60°F; wind 9

Scoring summary Q1 DEN Bobby Howfield 23 yard field goal DEN 3–0 Q1 OAK Raymond Chester 24 yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) OAK 7–3 Q1 DEN Floyd Little 54 yard run (Bobby Howfield kick) DEN 10–7 Q2 DEN Mike Haffner 28 yard pass from Pete Liske (Bobby Howfield kick) DEN 17–7 Q2 OAK Warren Wells 32 yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) DEN 17–14 Q2 OAK Warren Wells 60 yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) OAK 21–17 Q3 DEN Bobby Howfield 47 yard field goal OAK 21–20 Q3 DEN Bobby Howfield 34 yard field goal DEN 23–21 Q4 OAK Warren Wells 20 yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) OAK 28–23 Q4 OAK Charlie Smith 5 yard run (George Blanda kick) OAK 35–23

• OAK: Daryle Lamonica 20/37, 364 Yds, 4 TD, INT
• OAK: Warren Wells 7 Rec, 198 Yds, 3 TD

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Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 3 10 0 7 20 • Raiders 14 6 14 0 34 Date: October 19 Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game weather: 58°F; wind 6 Referee: Jack Reader Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 OAK Dixon 39 yard run (Blanda kick) OAK 7–0 Q1 OAK Wells 28 yard pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick) OAK 14–0 Q1 WSH Knight 14 yard field goal OAK 14–3 Q2 OAK Blanda 35 yard field goal OAK 17–3 Q2 WSH Knight 34 yard field goal OAK 17–6 Q2 WSH Taylor 39 yard pass from Jurgensen (Knight kick) OAK 17–13 Q2 OAK Blanda 21 yard field goal OAK 20–13 Q3 OAK Wells 24 yard pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick) OAK 27–13 Q3 OAK Smith 16 yard pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick) OAK 34–13 Q4 WSH Smith 23 yard pass from Jurgensen (Knight kick) OAK 34–20

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Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 7 7 0 14 • Raiders 7 17 7 0 31 Date: October 25 Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 55°F • Wind 8

Scoring summary 1 OAK Raymond Chester 37-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Raiders 7–0 2 PIT Preston Pearson 2-yard run (Gene Mingo kick) Tie 7–7 2 OAK Warren Wells 44-yard pass from George Blanda (George Blanda kick) Raiders 14–7 2 OAK George Blanda 27-yard field goal Raiders 17–7 2 OAK Raymond Chester 19-yard pass from George Blanda (George Blanda kick) Raiders 24–7 3 PIT Dennis Hughes 12-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Gene Mingo kick) Raiders 24–14 3 OAK Raymond Chester 34-yard pass from George Blanda (George Blanda kick) Raiders 31–14

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Week 7

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 7 7 3 17 Chiefs 0 7 3 7 17 Date: November 1 Location: Kansas City Municipal Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 51,334 Game weather: 40°F, wind 4 mph Referee: Bob Finley Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 2 Chiefs Wendell Hayes 4-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick) Chiefs 7–0 2 Raiders Raymond Chester 3-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Tie 7–7 3 Raiders Raymond Chester 8-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Raiders 14–7 3 Chiefs Jan Stenerud 33-yard field goal Raiders 14–10 4 Chiefs Otis Taylor 13-yard pass from Len Dawson (Jan Stenerud kick) Chiefs 17–14 4 Raiders George Blanda 48-yard field goal Tie 17–17

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 0 10 7 3 20 • Raiders 3 10 0 10 23 Date: November 8 Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum • Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 60°F • Wind 5 Referee: Jack Vest

Scoring summary 1 OAK George Blanda 43-yard field goal Raiders 3–0 2 OAK Charlie Smith 27-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Raiders 10–0 2 OAK George Blanda 9-yard field goal Raiders 13–0 2 CLE Leroy Kelly 10-yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Don Cockroft kick) Raiders 13–7 2 CLE Don Cockroft 42-yard field goal Raiders 13–10 3 CLE Bo Scott 63-yard run (Don Cockroft kick) Browns 17–13 4 CLE Don Cockroft 32-yard field goal Browns 20–13 4 OAK Warren Wells 14-yard pass from George Blanda (George Blanda kick) Tie 20–20 4 OAK George Blanda 52-yard field goal Raiders 23–20

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Standings

AFC West
	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.

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoffs

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	0	7	0	7	14
Raiders	0	7	7	7	21

at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

• Date: December 27
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 45 F, wind 8 mph
• Game attendance: 52,594
• Referee: John McDonough
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote
• Box Score

Game information

Second Quarter MIA – Paul Warfield 16-yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) OAK – Fred Biletnikoff 22-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Third Quarter OAK – Willie Brown 50-yard interception return (George Blanda kick) 4th Quarter OAK – Rod Sherman 82-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) MIA – Willie Richardson 7-yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) Passing MIA – Bob Griese 13/27, 155 yards, 2 TD, INT OAK – Daryle Lamonica 8/16, 187 yards, 2 TD Rushing MIA – Jim Kiick 14 att, 64 yards OAK – Marv Hubbard 18 att, 58 yards Receiving MIA – Paul Warfield 4 rec, 64 yards, TD OAK – Rod Sherman 1 rec, 82 yards, TD

AFC Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	3	7	7	17
Colts	3	7	10	7	27

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

• Date: January 3
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 34 F, wind 6 mph
• Game attendance: 54,799
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote
• Box Score

Game information

First Quarter BAL – Jim O'Brien 16-yard field goal Second Quarter BAL – Norm Bulaich 2-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick) OAK – George Blanda 48-yard field goal Third Quarter OAK – Fred Biletnikoff 38-yard pass from George Blanda (George Blanda kick) BAL – Jim O'Brien 23-yard field goal BAL – Norm Bulaich 11-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick) Fourth Quarter OAK – Warren Wells 15-yard pass from George Blanda (George Blanda kick) BAL – Ray Perkins 68-yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Jim O'Brien kick) Passing OAK – George Blanda 17/32, 271 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT BAL – Johnny Unitas 11/30, 245 yards, TD Rushing OAK – Hewritt Dixon 10 att, 51 yards BAL – Norm Bulaich 22 att, 71 yards, 2 TD Receiving OAK – Warren Wells 5 rec, 108 yards, TD BAL – Eddie Hinton 5 rec, 115 yards

Awards and honors

• George Blanda, Associated Press Athlete of the Year^[7]
• George Blanda, Bert Bell Award^[8]

References

1. 1970 NFL Draft on databaseFootball.com
2. 1970 Oakland Raiders Statistics & Players – Pro-Football-Reference.com
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Apr-20.
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jul-28.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com
7. Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)
8. http://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/content/awards/bell/past_bell.htm

• Raiders on Pro Football Reference
• Raiders on Database Football