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1970 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head Coach Paul Brown
Home Field Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record 8–6–0
Place 1st AFC Central
Playoff Finish Lost AFC Divisional Playoff
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1969 1971

The 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 3rd year in professional football and its 1st with the National Football League.

The NFL-AFL merger took place before the season, and the Bengals made their first NFL campaign a memorable one. After winning their first ever game as a member of the NFL, which happened to be their inaugural game in the brand new Riverfront Stadium, they would lose six games in a row. But they would win out the rest of the way, as they rallied to finish 8–6 and win the new AFC Central Division. In their first playoff game, they lost, 17–0, to eventual Super Bowl-champion Baltimore. QB Greg Cook was forced to the Injured Reserve list in training camp with a shoulder injury that would end his career, and Virgil Carter took over as the starter.

The Bengals record for most points in a game by the special teams is 31 in a 43–14 victory at Buffalo on Nov. 8, 1970. CB 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. K Horst Muhlmann added 15 points on five field goals, and four PATs by Muhlmann completed the special teams onslaught. The offense scored only one TD, a one-yard run by RB Jess Phillips. The defense scored a TD on an eight-yard fumble return by DE Royce Berry.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

1970 Cincinnati Bengals Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 7 7 Mike Reid Defensive Tackle Penn State
2 6 32 Ron Carpenter Defensive Tackle North Carolina State
3 8 60 Chip Bennett Linebacker Abilene Christian
4 7 85 Joe Stevens Guard Jackson State
4 26 104 Billie Hayes Defensive Back San Diego State
6 8 138 Sandy Durko Defensive Back USC
7 7 163 Lemar Parrish Defensive Back Lincoln (MO)
8 6 188 Bill Trout Defensive Tackle Miami (FL)
9 8 216 Bill Bolden Running Back UCLA
10 7 241 Nick Roman Linebacker Ohio State
11 6 266 Samuel Wallace Offensive Tackle Grambling
12 8 294 Thomas Truesdell Defensive End Ohio Wesleyan
13 7 319 Paul Dunn (American Football) Wide Receiver US International
14 3 344 Joe Johnson Wide Receiver Johnson C. Smith
15 8 372 Marvin Weeks Defensive Back Alcorn State
16 7 397 Larry Ely Linebacker Iowa
17 6 422 Richard Smith Running Back Washington State

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

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

Standings[]

Qualified for playoffs
AFC Central
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Cincinnati Bengals 8 6 0 .571 312 255
Cleveland Browns 7 7 0 .500 286 265
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 9 0 .357 210 272
Houston Oilers 3 10 1 .231 217 352

[1]

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)

Roster[]

Cincinnati Bengals rosterview · talk · edit
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

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[]

References[]

  1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296
AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Boston Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles
Buffalo Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
Miami Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Washington
1970 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl V
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