1970 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1970 10–4 2nd NFC Central Joe Schmidt Tiger Stadium Lost Divisional Playoffs(at Cowboys) 0–5 Lions seasons The 1970 Detroit Lions season was the 41st season in franchise history. With a record of 10–4, their best in eight years, the Lions finished in second place in the NFC Central and qualified for the playoffs as the NFC's first ever Wildcard team. Detroit made the postseason for the first time since their championship season in 1957 (they played in three post-season runner-up games (Playoff Bowl) in 1960, 1961, and 1962 and won all three). One unusual loss during the regular season was at New Orleans in Week 8. The Lions led by a point with only two seconds left, but Saints kicker Tom Dempsey booted a then-record 63-yard field goal as time expired to give the Saints a 19–17 win.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/det/lions.html Detroit Lions (1934-Present) www.sportsecyclopedia.comhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A5BaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GUoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4775%2C2255486 Ludington Daily News Michigan UPI Saints upset Lions, 19-17 on Dempsey's 63-yard FG November 9, 1970 5https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LQMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s5cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5152%2C6789192 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Rappaport Ken Still plenty of foot in football November 9, 1970 22 In the divisional round of the playoffs at the Cotton Bowl, the Lions fell 5–0 to the Dallas Cowboys in the lowest scoring game in NFL playoff history, and the first without a touchdown in twenty years.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gAsrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e5oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3980%2C2701265 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Colts, Cowboys advance in playoffs December 27, 1970 65https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JpBaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GUoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2375%2C5049876 Ludington Daily News Michigan UPI Detroit looking ahead to 1971 December 28, 1970 Offseason NFL draft 1970 NFL draft 1970 Detroit Lions 1 19 Steve Owens Running back Oklahoma yes yes 2 45 Ray Parson Offensive tackle Minnesota yes 3 71 Jim Mitchell Defensive end Virginia State yes 5 123 Bob Parker Guard Memphis State no 6 149 Tony Terry Defensive tackle USC no 7 175 Ken Geddes Linebacker Nebraska yes 9 227 Herman Weaver Punter Tennessee yes 10 253 Bruce Maxwell Running back Arkansas yes 11 279 Roger Laird Defensive back Kentucky State no 12 305 Emanuel Murrell Defensive back Cal Poly no 13 331 Dave Haverdick Defensive tackle Morehead State yes 14 357 Charlie Brown Wide receiver Northern Arizona yes 15 383 Bob Haney Offensive tackle Idaho no 16 409 Jerry Todd Defensive back Memphis State no 17 435 Jesse Marshall Defensive tackle Centenary no yes nohttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1970.htm 1970 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com 2018-03-27 2007-12-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20071221231832/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1970.htm dead Personnel Staff / Coaches 1970 Detroit Lions Owner - William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice President / General manager - Russ Thomas Executive Vice President - Edwin J. Anderson Treasurer - Newton S. Peters Publicity Director / Business Manager - Lyall Smith Assistant Publicity Director - Elliott Trumbull Equipment manager - Roy Marklem Assistant equipment manager - Charles "Rip" Collins Head coach – Joe Schmidt Offensive Coordinator / Backs - Bill McPeak Offensive Line - Chuck Knox Wide Receivers - Johnny North Defensive Coordinator / Secondary - Jim David Defensive Line / Linebackers - Jim Martin Trainer - Kent Falb Assistant Trainer - Dave Smith https://archive.org/details/lions-1970-media-guide-detroit-c/page/n3/mode/2up 1970 Detroit Lions official guide July 11, 2026 https://www.profootballarchives.com/1970nfldet.html#gsc.tab=0 1970 Detroit Lions ProFootballArchives.com July 11, 2026 Roster 1970 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks 11 Greg Landry 19 Bill Munson Running backs 24 Mel Farr 46 Bruce Maxwell American football y 36 Steve Owens American football y 42 Altie Taylor 38 Bill Triplett Wide receivers 81 Charlie Brown wide receiver, born 1948 y 85 Chuck Hughes 25 Earl McCullouch 49 Larry Walton Tight ends 87 Craig Cotton 88 Charlie Sanders Offensive linemen 52 Bill Cottrell C 54 Ed Flanagan American football C 76 Rocky Freitas T 68 Frank Gallagher American football G 67 Rocky Rasley G 73 Roger Shoals T 71 Chuck Walton G 75 Jim Yarbrough T offensive lineman Defensive linemen 72 Dan Goich DT 74 Larry Hand DE 80 Dave Haverdick y DT/DE 71 Alex Karras DT 83 Jim Mitchell defensive lineman y DE 82 Jerry Rush DT Linebackers 53 Mike Lucci MLB 57 Terry Miller linebacker MLB 62 Ed Mooney OLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 55 Wayne Walker linebacker OLB Defensive backs 20 Lem Barney CB 44 Dick LeBeau CB 47 Wayne Rasmussen FS 48 Tom Vaughn American football FS 28 Mike Weger SS 45 Bobby Williams defensive back CB Special teams 12 Errol Mann K 18 Herman Weaver y P Reserve lists -- Bob Bergum DE no Military -- Wilson Bowie no RB IR 26 George Hoey CB Military 66 Bob Kowalkowski G IR 79 Ray Parson y T IR 84 Joe Robb DE IR -- Tony Terry y DT IR 89 John Wright wide receiver WR IR Taxi squad 14 Greg Barton American football QB 40 Nick Eddy RB -- Manuel Murrell y no CB 23 Phil Odle WR 58 Bill Saul LB 39 active, 8 reserve, 5 taxi / practice squad Rookies in italics Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 20 at Green Bay Packers W 40–0 1–0 Lambeau Field 56,263 Recap 2 September 27 Cincinnati Bengals W 38–3 2–0 Tiger Stadium 58,202 Recap 3 October 5, 1970 Chicago Bears W 28–14 3–0 Tiger Stadium 58,210 Recap 4 October 11 at Washington Redskins L 10–31 3–1 RFK Stadium 50,414 Recap 5 October 18 at Cleveland Browns W 41–24 4–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 83,577 Recap 6 October 25 at Chicago Bears W 16–10 5–1 Wrigley Field 45,632 Recap 7 November 1 Minnesota Vikings L 17–30 5–2 Tiger Stadium 58,210 Recap 8 November 8 at New Orleans Saints L 17–19 5–3 Tulane Stadium 66,910 Recap 9 November 15 at Minnesota Vikings L 20–24 5–4 Metropolitan Stadium 47,900 Recap 10 November 22 San Francisco 49ers W 28–7 6–4 Tiger Stadium 56,232 Recap 11 November 26 Oakland Raiders W 28–14 7–4 Tiger Stadium 56,597 Recap 12 December 6 St. Louis Cardinals W 16–3 8–4 Tiger Stadium 56,362 Recap 13 December 14, 1970 at Los Angeles Rams W 28–23 9–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 79,441 Recap 14 December 20 Green Bay Packers W 20–0 10–4 Tiger Stadium 57,387 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Season summary Week 3 Bears 7 0 0 7 Lions 0 0 21 7 October 5 Tiger Stadium • Detroit, Michigan 8:00 p.m. EST 55 F • Wind 13 mph on Jack Vest Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell & Don Meredith ABC yes 1 CHI Dick Gordon 20-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Bears 7–0 3 DET Mel Farr 3-yard run (Errol Mann kick) Tie 7–7 3 DET Altie Taylor 7-yard run (Errol Mann kick) Lions 14–7 3 DET Larry Walton 13-yard pass from Bill Munson (Errol Mann kick) Lions 21–7 3 CHI Dick Gordon 60-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick) Lions 21–14 4 DET Mel Farr 20-yard run (Errol Mann kick) Lions 28–14 yes https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197010050det.htm Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions - October 5th, 1970 - Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings Playoffs NFC Playoff, Dallas Cowboys 5, Detroit Lions 0 Lions 0 0 0 0 Cowboys 3 0 0 2 December 26, 1970 Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST CBS Frank Glieber and Frank Gifford 69,613 Jim Tunney Scoring DAL – field goal Clark 26 DAL 3–0 DAL – Safety, Andrie tackled Landry in end zone DAL 5–0 References 2 Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com Detroit Lions on The Football Database Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Category:1970 in Detroit