11th season in franchise history, first in the National Football League
The 1970 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's first season in the National Football League, and eleventh overall. The team looked to improve on its 4–10 record from 1969 and make the playoffs for the first time since 1966. However, the Bills started out on the wrong foot, losing four of their first five games. After winning two consecutive road games against the Patriots and Jets and suffering a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills and Colts played to a 17–17 draw in week 9, Buffalo's first tie since 1968. The Bills would then lose five straight to end the season and finished 3–10–1, for fourth place in the AFC East. Their Week 5 game against the Miami Dolphins would start an era of futility during which the Bills would lose twenty consecutive games against the Dolphins. The Bills would not defeat the Dolphins at any point during the 1970s and next beat Miami in 1980. This would become known as "The Streak".
Offseason
NFL Draft
[1]
Personnel
Coaches/Staff
1970 Buffalo Bills staff |
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| Front office Coaching staff Offensive coaches Defensive coaches' - Defensive Line – Ray Malavsi
- Linebackers – Ralph Hawkins
- Defensive Backfield – Bobby Hunt
- Kickers - Bugsy Engelberg
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- Source: https://pro-football-history.com/franchise/7/buffalo-bills-coaches
Final roster
1970 Buffalo Bills roster |
| Quarterbacks Running backs Wide receivers Tight ends | | Offensive linemen Defensive linemen | | Linebackers Defensive backs Special teams | | Reserve lists - 22 Max Anderson RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
Practice squad
Rookies in italics |
Regular season
Schedule
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
1 | September 20 | Denver Broncos | L 10–25 | 0–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 34,882 |
2 | September 27 | Los Angeles Rams | L 0–19 | 0–2 | War Memorial Stadium | 46,206 |
3 | October 4 | New York Jets | W 34–31 | 1–2 | War Memorial Stadium | 46,206 |
4 | October 11 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 10–23 | 1–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | 42,140 |
5 | October 18 | Miami Dolphins | L 14–33 | 1–4 | War Memorial Stadium | 41,312 |
6 | October 25 | at New York Jets | W 10–6 | 2–4 | Shea Stadium | 62,712 |
7 | November 1 | at Boston Patriots | W 45–10 | 3–4 | Harvard Stadium | 31,148 |
8 | November 8 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 14–43 | 3–5 | War Memorial Stadium | 43,587 |
9 | November 15 | at Baltimore Colts | T 17–17 | 3–5–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 |
10 | November 22 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–31 | 3–6–1 | Wrigley Field | 41,015 |
11 | November 29 | Boston Patriots | L 10–14 | 3–7–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 31,427 |
12 | December 6 | at New York Giants | L 6–20 | 3–8–1 | Yankee Stadium | 62,870 |
13 | December 13 | Baltimore Colts | L 14–20 | 3–9–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 34,346 |
14 | December 20 | at Miami Dolphins | L 7–45 | 3–10–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 70,990 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |
Season summary
Week 1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Broncos | 0 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 25 | Bills | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | - Date: September 20
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 2
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Rams | 3 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 19 | Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - Date: September 27
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Jets | 17 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 31 | • Bills | 7 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 34 | - Date: October 4
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 4
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Bills | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | • Steelers | 3 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 23 | |
Week 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Dolphins | 10 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 33 | Bills | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | - Date: October 18
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 6
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Bills | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | Jets | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
Week 7
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Bills | 10 | 21 | 0 | 14 | 45 | Patriots | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | |
Week 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Bengals | 3 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 43 | Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | - Date: November 8
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 9
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 | Colts | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 | - Date: November 15
- Location: Memorial Stadium
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Week 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Bills | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 | • Bears | 0 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 31 | |
Week 11
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Patriots | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | Bills | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | - Date: November 29
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 12
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Bills | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | • Giants | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 20 | - Date: December 6
- Location: Yankee Stadium
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Week 13
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | • Colts | 10 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 20 | Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | - Date: December 13
- Location: War Memorial Stadium
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Week 14
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | • Dolphins | 21 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 45 | - Date: December 20
- Location: Orange Bowl
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Standings
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Awards and honors
References
- ^ "1970 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- Bills on Pro Football Reference
- Bills on jt-sw.com
- Bills Stats on jt-sw.com
Buffalo Bills |
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- Founded in 1960
- Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York
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Division championships (14) | |
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League championships (2) | |
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Wall of Fame | |
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Media | |
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Owners | |
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Current league affiliations | |
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Former league affiliation | |
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