1970 Buffalo Bills season

11th season in franchise history, first in the National Football League November 2013 February 2026 Buffalo Bills 1970 3–10–1 4th AFC East John Rauch Ralph Wilson War Memorial Stadium WR Marlin Briscoe Did not qualify Bills seasons 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". This would also mark the final season for Bills punter and linebacker Paul Maguire, as he retired after the season to go into broadcasting. Offseason NFL draft 1970 NFL draft 1970 Buffalo Bills 1 5 Al Cowlings Defensive tackle USC yes 2 30 Dennis Shaw Quarterback San Diego State yes 3 57 Jim Reilly Guard Notre Dame yes 3 67 Glenn Alexander Cornerback Grambling yes 4 82 Jerome Gantt Defensive end North Carolina Central yes 5 109 Steve Starnes Linebacker Tampa no 6 134 Ken Edwards Running back Virginia Tech no 6 135 Grant Guthrie Kicker Florida State yes 7 161 Wayne Fowler Offensive tackle Richmond yes 8 186 Richard Cheek Offensive tackle Auburn yes 9 213 Bill Bridges Guard Houston no 10 238 Willie Dixon Defensive back Albany State no 11 265 Terry Williams Running back Grambling no 12 290 Dave Simpson Offensive tackle Drake no 13 317 Steve Schroeder Kicker Pacific no 14 342 William Costen Offensive tackle Morris Brown no 15 369 Dave Farris Tight end Central Michigan no 16 394 Larry Davis Wide receiver Rice no 17 421 George Bevan Defensive back LSU no no no 1970 NFL Draft https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1970/draft.htm Pro Football Reference 22 November 2021 Undrafted free agents + 1970 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeAl AndrewsLinebackerNew Mexico StateFrank Blackwell, JrWide receiverMemphis StateBill CroneTackleLoyola of Los AngelesDon DeSalleGuardIndianaFran ForemanTackleCincinnatiJim GillGuardMcNeese StateJack MorrisonWide receiverPacificDoug WatkinsRunning backFisk Personnel Coaches/Staff 1970 Buffalo Bills staff Front office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President and General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice President/Minority Owner – Pat McGroder Coaching staff Head Coach - John Rauch Offensive coaches Offensive Line – Marvin Bass & Chuck Gottfried Defensive coaches' Defensive Line – Ray Malavsi Linebackers – Ralph Hawkins Defensive Backfield – Bobby Hunt Kickers - Bugsy Engelberg Source: https://pro-football-history.com/franchise/7/buffalo-bills-coaches Final roster 1970 Buffalo Bills 10 Dan Darragh 12 James Harris 16 Dennis Shaw y 41 Bill Enyart 40 Roland Moss 33 Lloyd Pate 45 Glenn Alexander y 86 Marlin Briscoe 26 Clyde Glosson y 25 Haven Moses 84 Austin Denney 85 Willie Grate 74 Levert Carr T 73 Richard Cheek y G 79 Paul Costa American football T 53 Wayne Fowler y C 69 Jerome Gantt y T 54 Howard Kindig T 75 Art Laster y T 57 Frank Marchlewski C 67 Joe O'Donnell American football G 61 Jim Reilly American football y G 82 Al Cowlings y DE 78 Jim Dunaway DT 65 Waddey Harvey DT 76 Mike McBath DE 72 Ron McDole DE 88 Julian Nunamaker DT 56 Al Andrews y OLB 52 Edgar Chandler MLB 51 Jerald Collins OLB 63 Dick Cunningham American football MLB 59 Paul Guidry OLB 64 Mike McCaffrey OLB 21 Jackie Allen American football FS 42 Butch Byrd CB 28 Ike Hill y CB 20 Robert James defensive back CB 27 Tommy Pharr y SS 48 John Pitts American football SS 47 Pete Richardson FS  7 Grant Guthrie y K 55 Paul Maguire P 22 Max Anderson American football RB IR 36 Greg Jones running back, born 1948 y RB IR 30 Wayne Patrick RB IR 32 O. J. Simpson RB IR 58 Mike Stratton LB IR 71 Bob Tatarek DT IR 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 Broncos 0 5 7 13 Bills 7 3 0 0 September 20 War Memorial Stadium Week 2 Rams 3 13 0 3 Bills 0 0 0 0 September 27 War Memorial Stadium Week 3 Jets 17 7 7 0 Bills 7 6 7 14 October 4 War Memorial Stadium Week 4 Bills 3 0 7 0 Steelers 3 7 3 10 October 11 Three Rivers Stadium Week 5 Dolphins 10 3 7 13 Bills 0 7 7 0 October 18 War Memorial Stadium Week 6 Bills 0 3 0 7 Jets 0 0 6 0 October 25 Shea Stadium Week 7 Bills 10 21 0 14 Patriots 0 0 3 7 November 1 Harvard Stadium Week 8 Bengals 3 20 13 7 Bills 7 7 0 0 November 8 War Memorial Stadium Week 9 Bills 7 7 0 3 Colts 0 7 7 3 November 15 Memorial Stadium Week 10 Bills 6 0 0 7 Bears 0 14 7 10 November 22 Wrigley Field Week 11 Patriots 0 7 7 0 Bills 0 3 0 7 November 29 War Memorial Stadium Week 12 Bills 0 6 0 0 Giants 0 3 3 14 December 6 Yankee Stadium Week 13 Colts 10 0 7 3 Bills 7 7 0 0 December 13 War Memorial Stadium Week 14 Bills 0 0 0 7 Dolphins 21 10 7 7 December 20 Orange Bowl Standings References External links Bills on Pro Football Reference Bills on jt-sw.com Bills Stats on jt-sw.com Category:Buffalo Bills seasons Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills Category:Long stubs with short prose