1970 Los Angeles Rams season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Los Angeles Rams 1970 9–4–1 2nd NFC West George Allen Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Did not qualify Rams seasons The 1970 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 33rd year with the National Football League and the 25th season in Los Angeles. The team looked to improve on its 11–3 record from 1969. However, the Rams missed their mark by two games and finished with a respectable 9–4–1 record. Despite the winning record, the team missed the playoffs for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. Draft 1970 NFL draft 1970 Los Angeles Rams 1 22 Jack Reynolds LB Tennessee yes yes 2 35 Donnie Williams WR Prairie View A&M yes 7 162 Ted Provost DB Ohio State 7 168 Bill Nelson DT Oregon State 8 204 Rich Saul C Michigan State yes yes 9 230 Dave Graham OT New Mexico Highlands 10 256 Vince Opalsky RB Miami (FL) 11 282 David Bookert RB New Mexico 12 308 Larry Arnold QB Hawaii 13 334 Melvin Jones WR Florida A&M 14 360 Bob Geddes LB UCLA 15 386 Dag Azam OG West Texas A&M 16 412 Roland Reichardt K West Texas A&M 17 437 Don Crenshaw DB USC The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Dec-14. Personnel Staff / Coaches 1970 Los Angeles Rams staffFront Office Owner – Dan Reeves General manager – Jack Teele Coaching Staff Head coach - George Allen Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line - Ray Procshaska Offensive Backs - Ted Marchibroda Wide Receivers - Boyd Dowler Defensive Coaches Defensive Line - Lavern Torgeson Linebackers - Tom Catlin Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Assistant – Marv Levy Strength and Conditioning None - N/A Other Assistants Garrett Giemont - Training Assistant Roster 1970 Los Angeles Rams 18 Roman Gabriel 10 Karl Sweetan 33 Willie Ellison 31 Jeff Jordan running back 34 Les Josephson 36 Larry Smith running back 84 Jack Snow American football 28 Pat Studstill P 14 Wendell Tucker 83 Donnie Williams American football y 88 Pat Curran American football 87 Billy Truax 76 Bob Brown offensive lineman T 51 George Burman C 73 Charley Cowan T 50 Ken Iman C 70 Mitch Johnson American football T 65 Tom Mack G 71 Joe Scibelli G 79 Coy Bacon DE 89 Rick Cash DE 82 Dick Evey DT 75 Deacon Jones DE 74 Merlin Olsen DT 72 Diron Talbert DT 55 Maxie Baughan OLB 32 Jack Pardee OLB 52 John Pergine OLB 66 Myron Pottios MLB 53 Jim Purnell OLB 54 Jack Reynolds MLB 61 Rich Saul y OLB 39 Kermit Alexander CB 23 Alvin Haymond FS 21 Eddie Meador FS 19 Jim Nettles American football CB 17 Richie Petitbon SS 44 Nate Shaw SS 24 Clancy Williams CB 27 David Ray American football K 80 Bob Klein TE IR 86 Bob Long WR IR 20 Tommy Mason RB IR -- Creston Whitaker y WR Military 60 John Wilbur American football G IR 77 Jim Wilson no T IR 57 Doug Woodlief LB IR -- Sam Adams Sr. y G -- Tommy Joe Crutcher LB -- Bob Geddes y LB -- Bill Nelson American football y DT -- John Walton American football QB Regular season With the completion of the AFL–NFL merger, the league was realigned into 2 conferences with 3 divisions each. The Rams were placed in the NFC Western Division with the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and San Francisco 49ers, none of whom had a winning record for any of the prior two seasons. The Rams, 49ers and Falcons were members of the Coastal Division of the Western Conference from 1967 to 1969, while the Saints came from the Eastern Conference, where they were in the Capitol Division in 1967 and '69 and the Century Division in 1968. Gone from the Rams' division were the Baltimore Colts, with whom the Rams battled for a division title for the past 3 seasons, shifted to the AFC East. Consequently, the Rams were heavy favorites to win what was considered the weakest of the new divisions. As it turned out, the prognosticators did not anticipate that 49er quarterback John Brodie would have an MVP season, that the 49ers had acquired some skilled young players, and the Rams veteran roster began to show signs of aging and suffered a number of injuries. Thus, instead of battling the Colts, the Rams would stage a season long battle for the NFC West with their California archrivals. The Rams started the season as expected, with easy wins vs. the St. Louis Cardinals 34-13, at the Buffalo Bills 19-0, and against the San Diego Chargers 37-10. The 49ers came to L.A. in week 4 with a 2–1 record, having lost at Atlanta the week before, 21-20. The Rams were prohibitive favorites, but the 49ers forced 4 turnovers and had 3 sacks to win 20-6 and gain a share of the division lead. The Rams regained the division lead the very next week with a 31–21 win in Green Bay, while the 49ers tied the Saints at San Francisco. The 49ers then won 4 games in a row, while the Rams struggled to find consistency. They lost in the mud and rain on a Monday night in Minnesota to the powerful Vikings 13-3, beat the Saints in New Orleans 30-17, needed a last second touchdown to tie the Falcons in L.A. 10-10, had 4 turnovers in an upset loss at home to the New York Jets (playing without an injured Joe Namath), then beat the Falcons in Atlanta 17-7, gaining ground after that win when the 49ers lost to the Lions in Detroit. Week 11 was a showdown in San Francisco between the 7-2-1 49ers and the 6-3-1 Rams. The Rams played perhaps their best game of the season in winning 30-13, and were now tied with the 49ers for 1st place with three games to play. More importantly, the Rams held the tiebreaker over San Francisco due to having a better division record (4-1-1 to 3–2–1). After beating the Saints 34–16 in week 10, the 8-3-1 Rams faced the 8-4 Detroit Lions on a Monday night game in Los Angeles. The Lions won what would prove to be a pivotal game by the score of 28-23, dropping the Rams 1 game behind the 49ers and 1/2 game behind the Lions for the wild card spot. The Rams crushed the New York Giants 31–3 in New York (costing the Giants both the NFC East title and the wild card spot), then awaited the result of the 49ers and Lions games. The Lions won easily at home vs. Green Bay 20-0, and the 49ers crushed the Oakland Raiders, 38-7 (the homestanding Raiders, having already won their division and guaranteed to host their first playoff game, rested most of their regulars). Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 18 St. Louis Cardinals W 34–13 1–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 63,130 2 September 27 at Buffalo Bills W 19–0 2–0 War Memorial Stadium 46,206 3 October 4 San Diego Chargers W 37–10 3–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 69,564 4 October 11 San Francisco 49ers L 6–20 3–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 77,272 5 October 18 at Green Bay Packers W 31–21 4–1 Lambeau Field 56,263 6 October 26 at Minnesota Vikings L 3–13 4–2 Metropolitan Stadium 47,900 7 November 1 at New Orleans Saints W 30–17 5–2 Tulane Stadium 77,861 8 November 8 Atlanta Falcons T 10–10 5–2–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 67,232 9 November 15 New York Jets L 20–31 5–3–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 76,378 10 November 22 at Atlanta Falcons W 17–7 6–3–1 Atlanta Stadium 58,850 11 November 29 at San Francisco 49ers W 30–13 7–3–1 Kezar Stadium 59,602 12 December 6 New Orleans Saints W 34–16 8–3–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 66,410 13 December 14 Detroit Lions L 23–28 8–4–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 79,441 14 December 20 at New York Giants W 31–3 9–4–1 Yankee Stadium 62,870 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1: vs. St. Louis Cardinals Cardinals 3 0 3 7 Rams 3 14 7 10 September 18 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles 8:00 p.m. PST 63 F, wind 10 mph on Fred Swearingen Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com yes 1 Rams David Ray 27-yard field goal Rams 3–0 1 Cardinals Jim Bakken 9-yard field goal Tie 3–3 2 Rams Willie Ellison 3-yard pass from Roman Gabriel (David Ray kick) Rams 10–3 2 Rams Billy Truax 3-yard pass from Roman Gabriel (David Ray kick) Rams 17–3 3 Rams Alvin Haymond 98-yard kickoff return (David Ray kick) Rams 24–3 3 Cardinals Jim Bakken 17-yard field goal Rams 24–6 4 Cardinals Jackie Smith 59-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) Rams 24–13 4 Rams David Ray 11-yard field goal Rams 27–13 4 Rams Jack Snow 15-yard pass from Roman Gabriel (David Ray kick) Rams 34–13 yes Week 2: at Buffalo Bills Rams 3 13 0 3 Bills 0 0 0 0 September 27 War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York 1:00 p.m. EST 56 F, wind 11 mph on Jack Reader Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com yes 1 Rams David Ray 21-yard field goal Rams 3–0 2 Rams David Ray 19-yard field goal Rams 6–0 2 Rams Willie Ellison 4-yard run (David Ray kick) Rams 13–0 2 Rams David Ray 46-yard field goal Rams 16–0 4 Rams David Ray 21-yard field goal Rams 19–0 yes Week 14 Rams 7 17 7 0 Giants 3 0 0 0 December 22 Yankee Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST Jim Tunney Jack Whitaker and Frank Gifford CBS Standings References 30em External links 1970 Los Angeles Rams at jt-sw.com 1970 Los Angeles Rams at Pro-Football-Reference.com Los Angeles Rams Category:Los Angeles Rams seasons Los Angeles Rams