1970 Oakland Raiders season

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) ranked as one of the more dramatic comebacks in sports history. Over a span of five consecutive games, Blanda came 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 a home 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 came 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 ultimately kicked 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 sealed 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 ultimately advanced 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 served as the Raiders' kicker for five more seasons.

Offseason

Draft

1970 Oakland Raiders draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	24	Raymond Chester *	TE	Morgan State
2	50	Ted Koy	TE	Texas
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Roster

1970 Oakland Raiders roster

	Quarterbacks 3 Daryle Lamonica 12 Ken Stabler 16 George Blanda QB/K Running backs 40 Pete Banaszak 35 Hewritt Dixon FB 32 Don Highsmith 44 Marv Hubbard 23 Charlie Smith 22 Larry Todd Wide receivers 25 Fred Biletnikoff 89 Drew Buie 13 Rod Sherman 81 Warren Wells Tight ends 87 Raymond Chester 38 Ted Koy 38 Jacque MacKinnon		Offensive linemen 64 George Buehler G 70 Jim Harvey G 00 Jim Otto C 79 Harry Schuh T 78 Art Shell T 76 Bob Svihus T 63 Gene Upshaw G Defensive linemen 84 Tony Cline DE 83 Ben Davidson DE 71 Al Dotson DT 74 Tom Keating DT 80 Art Thoms DT		Linebackers 50 Duane Benson 48 Bill Budness 55 Dan Conners 86 Gerald Irons 42 Bill Laskey 34 Gus Otto 49 Carl Weathers Defensive backs 43 George Atkinson S 24 Willie Brown CB 45 Dave Grayson S 47 Kent McCloughan CB 20 Jimmy Warren 26 Nemiah Wilson CB 41 Alvin Wyatt PR Special teams 11 Mike Eischeid P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 20	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–31	0–1	Riverfront Stadium	56,616	Recap
2	September 27	at San Diego Chargers	T 27–27	0–1–1	San Diego Stadium	42,109	Recap
3	October 3	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–20	0–2–1	Miami Orange Bowl	57,140	Recap
4	October 11	Denver Broncos	W 35–23	1–2–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,436	Recap
5	October 19	Washington Redskins	W 34–20	2–2–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,471	Recap
6	October 25	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–14	3–2–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,423	Recap
7	November 1	at Kansas City Chiefs	T 17–17	3–2–2	Municipal Stadium	51,334	Recap
8	November 8	Cleveland Browns	W 23–20	4–2–2	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,463	Recap
9	November 15	at Denver Broncos	W 24–19	5–2–2	Mile High Stadium	50,959	Recap
10	November 22	San Diego Chargers	W 20–17	6–2–2	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,594	Recap
11	November 26	at Detroit Lions	L 14–28	6–3–2	Tiger Stadium	56,597	Recap
12	December 6	at New York Jets	W 14–13	7–3–2	Shea Stadium	62,905	Recap
13	December 12	Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–6	8–3–2	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,596	Recap
14	December 20	San Francisco 49ers	L 7–38	8–4–2	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,535	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 at Bengals

Week 2 at Chargers

Week 3 at Dolphins

Week 4 vs Broncos

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, California Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Referee: Jack Reader TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith

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 (13 °C) • Wind 8 mph (13 km/h) Referee: Norm Schachter

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 at Chiefs

Ben Davidson speared Len Dawson causing a massive brawl between the two teams.

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 (16 °C) • Wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h) 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
view talk edit	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

AFC Championship Game

Awards and honors

• George Blanda, Associated Press Athlete of the Year^[5]
• George Blanda, Bert Bell Award^[6]

References

• Raiders on Pro Football Reference
• Raiders on Database Football