1970 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Carroll Rosenbloom
General manager	Don Klosterman
Head coach	Don McCafferty
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	11–2–1
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Bengals) 17–0 Won AFC Championship (vs. Raiders) 27–17 Won Super Bowl V (vs. Cowboys) 16–13
← 1969 Colts seasons 1971 →

The 1970 Baltimore Colts season was the 18th season of the second Colts franchise in the National Football League (NFL). Led by first-year head coach Don McCafferty, the Colts finished the 1970 season with a regular season record of 11 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie to win the first AFC East title. The Colts completed the postseason in Miami with a victory over the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, their first Super Bowl title and fourth NFL championship (1958, 1959, 1968, and 1970).

Behind a offense constructed around short, ball-control throws, the 1970 Colts were the first team in NFL history to win a championship after gaining more yards passing than running over the course of the year.^[1]

In February 1970, head coach Don Shula departed after seven seasons for the Miami Dolphins,^[2][3] now in the same division, and offensive backfield coach McCafferty was promoted in early April.^[4][5][6]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	18	Norm Bulaich	Running Back	TCU
2	44	Jim Bailey	Defensive tackle	Kansas
3	70	Jim O'Brien	Wide Receiver / Kicker	Cincinnati
3	74	Ara Person	Tight End	Morgan State
4	95	Steve Smear	Linebacker	Penn State
5	122	Billy Newsome	Defensive End	Grambling State
6	148	Ron Gardin	Defensive Back	Arizona
7	174	Gordon Slade	Quarterback	Davidson
8	199	Bob Bouley	Tackle	Boston College
9	226	Barney Harris	Defensive Back	Texas A&M

1970 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office Owner/president and treasurer – Carroll Rosenbloom General manager – Don Klosterman Coaching staff Head coach – Don McCafferty Offensive coaches Receivers/offensive ends – Dick Bielski Offensive coordinator – John Idzik Offensive line coach – Lou Rymkus		Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/defensive line – John Sandusky Defensive backfield – Bobby Boyd Linebackers coach – Hank Bullough

1970 Baltimore Colts roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Earl Morrall 19 Johnny Unitas Running backs (RB) 36 Norm Bulaich 48 Larry Conjar 45 Jerry Hill 40 Jack Maitland 41 Tom Matte 34 Tom Nowatzke Wide receivers (WR) 17 Sam Havrilak 45 Jerry Hill 33 Eddie Hinton 87 Roy Jefferson 28 Jimmy Orr 27 Ray Perkins Tight ends (TE) 88 John Mackey 84 Tom Mitchell

Offensive linemen (OL) 73 Sam Ball T 50 Bill Curry C 54 Tom Goode C 61 Cornelius Johnson G 68 Dennis Nelson T 62 Glenn Ressler G 71 Dan Sullivan G 72 Bob Vogel T 65 John Williams G Defensive linemen (DL) 65 Jim Bailey DT 85 Roy Hilton DE 76 Fred Miller DT 81 Billy Newsome DE 74 Billy Ray Smith DT 78 Bubba Smith DE 60 George Wright DT

Linebackers (LB) 32 Mike Curtis 51 Bob Grant 83 Ted Hendricks 56 Ray May 52 Robbie Nichols Defensive backs (DB) 35 Jim Duncan 25 Tom Curtis SS 20 Jerry Logan S 42 Tommy Maxwell CB 47 Charlie Stukes CB 21 Rick Volk S Special teams 30 Ron Gardin 54 Tom Goode LS 49 David Lee P 80 Jim O'Brien K

Practice squad 67 Lynn Larson T -- George Mira QB Rookies in italics

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	August 8	at Oakland Raiders	W 33–21	1–0	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,519	Recap
2	August 14	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–3	2–0	Municipal Stadium	34,341	Recap
3	August 22	at Denver Broncos	W 24–7	3–0	Mile High Stadium	42,499	Recap
4	August 29	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–20	3–1	Miami Orange Bowl	73,533	Recap
5	September 5	vs. Detroit Lions	W 20–14	4–1	Carter–Finley Stadium (Raleigh, NC)	34,500	Recap
6	September 12	at Washington Redskins	L 14–17	4–2	RFK Stadium	46,045	Recap

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 20	at San Diego Chargers	W 16–14	1–0	San Diego Stadium	47,782
2	September 28	Kansas City Chiefs	L 24–44	1–1	Memorial Stadium	53,911
3	October 4	at Boston Patriots	W 14–6	2–1	Harvard Stadium	38,235
4	October 11	at Houston Oilers	W 24–20	3–1	Astrodome	48,050
5	October 18	at New York Jets	W 29–22	4–1	Shea Stadium	63,301
6	October 25	Boston Patriots	W 27–3	5–1	Memorial Stadium	60,240
7	November 1	Miami Dolphins	W 35–0	6–1	Memorial Stadium	60,240
8	November 9	at Green Bay Packers	W 13–10	7–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	48,063
9	November 15	Buffalo Bills	T 17–17	7–1–1	Memorial Stadium	60,240
10	November 22	at Miami Dolphins	L 17–34	7–2–1	Miami Orange Bowl	67,699
11	November 29	Chicago Bears	W 21–20	8–2–1	Memorial Stadium	60,240
12	December 6	Philadelphia Eagles	W 29–10	9–2–1	Memorial Stadium	60,240
13	December 13	at Buffalo Bills	W 20–14	10–2–1	War Memorial Stadium	34,346
14	December 19	New York Jets	W 35–20	11–2–1	Memorial Stadium	60,240
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 0 3 7 6 16 Chargers 0 0 7 7 14 Date: September 20 Location: San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. PDT Game attendance: 47,782 Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C) • Wind 8 mph (13 km/h) Referee: Jack Vest

Scoring summary 2 BAL Jim O'Brien 25-yard field goal Colts 3–0 3 SD Gary Garrison 65-yard pass from John Hadl (Mike Mercer kick) Chargers 7–3 3 BAL Norm Bulaich 1-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick) Colts 10–7 4 BAL Jim O'Brien 34-yard field goal Colts 13–7 4 SD Gary Garrison 43-yard pass from John Hadl (Mike Mercer kick) Chargers 14–13 4 BAL Jim O'Brien 28-yard field goal Colts 16–14

^[7]

1 2 3 4 Total • Chiefs 10 21 3 10 44 Colts 0 7 3 14 24 Date: September 28 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 9:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 53,911 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h) Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell

Scoring summary Q1 KC Richardson 48 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 7–0 Q1 KC Stenerud 28 yard field goal KC 10–0 Q2 KC Holmes 13 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 17–0 Q2 KC Robinson 46 yard fumble return (Stenerud kick) KC 24–0 Q2 KC Pitts 54 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 31–0 Q2 BAL Jefferson 3 yard pass from Morall (O'Brien kick) KC 31–7 Q3 BAL O'Brien 26 yard field goal KC 31–10 Q3 KC Stenerud 17 yard field goal KC 34–10 Q4 KC Pitts 4 yard pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 41–10 Q4 BAL Hinton 21 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) KC 41–17 Q4 BAL Mitchell 2 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) KC 41–24 Q4 KC Stenerud 48 yard field goal KC 44–24

^[8]

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 0 7 0 7 14 Patriots 0 3 0 3 6 Date: October 4 Location: Harvard Stadium, Boston Game start: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 38,235 Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C); wind 17 mph (27 km/h) Referee: Bernie Ulman

Scoring summary Q2 BAL Hinton 13 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) BAL 7–0 Q2 BOS Cappelletti 13 yard field goal BAL 7–3 Q4 BOS Cappelletti 25 yard field goal BAL 7–6 Q4 BAL Jefferson 55 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 14–6

^[9]

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 7 10 0 7 24 Oilers 0 7 7 6 20 Date: October 11 Location: Houston Astrodome, Houston Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 48,050 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: George Rennix

Scoring summary Q1 BAL Maitland 2 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 7–0 Q2 BAL Jefferson 17 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 14–0 Q2 HOU LeVias 7 yard pass from Johnson (Gerela kick) BAL 14–7 Q2 BAL O'Brien 43 yard field goal BAL 17–7 Q3 HOU Hopkins 1 yard run (Gerela kick) BAL 17–14 Q4 HOU Gerela 27 yard field goal Tie 17–17 Q4 HOU Gerela 9 yard field goal HOU 20–17 Q4 BAL Jefferson 31 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 24–20

^[10]

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 17 3 6 3 29 Jets 3 2 14 3 22 Date: October 18 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 63,601 Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h) Referee: Pat Haggerty

Scoring summary Q1 BAL O'Brien 28 yard field goal BAL 3–0 Q1 BAL Logan 31 yard interception return (O'Brien kick) BAL 10–0 Q1 BAL Mitchell 11 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 17–0 Q1 NYJ Turner 41 yard field goal BAL 17–3 Q2 BAL O'Brien 18 yard field goal BAL 20–3 Q2 NYJ Safety, Maitland tackled by Elliot in end zone BAL 20–5 Q3 BAL Grant 27 yard interception return (kick failed) BAL 26–5 Q3 NYJ Bell 17 yard pass from Namath (Turner kick) BAL 26–12 Q3 NYJ Boozer 1 yard run (Turner kick) BAL 26–19 Q4 BAL O'Brien 28 yard field goal BAL 29–19 Q4 NYJ Turner 42 yard field goal BAL 29–22

^[11]

This was the Super Bowl III rematch and it was truly a rematch but this time it favors the Colts as they opened up a 19–0 lead and never looked back. The Jets did mount a challenge led by Joe Namath's 392 yards passing, but he also had 6 interceptions as the Colts gain some revenge on this day.

1 2 3 4 Total Patriots 0 3 0 0 3 • Colts 3 14 3 7 27 Date: October 25 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,240 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Referee: Bob Finley

Scoring summary Q1 BAL O'Brien 12 yard field goal BAL 3–0 Q2 BOS Gogolak 15 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 BAL Maitland 5 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 10–3 Q2 BAL Jefferson 15 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 17–3 Q3 BAL O'Brien 48 yard field goal BAL 20–3 Q4 BAL Orr 26 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 27–3

^[12]

1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 0 0 0 0 0 • Colts 7 7 14 7 35 Date: November 1 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,240 Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h) Referee: Norm Schachter TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Al DeRogatis

Scoring summary Q1 BAL Gardin 80 yard punt return (O'Brien kick) BAL 7–0 Q2 BAL Bulaich 1 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 14–0 Q3 BAL Duncan 99 yard kickoff return (O'Brien kick) BAL 21–0 Q3 BAL Hinton 32 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 28–0 Q4 BAL Mitchell 15 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) BAL 35–0

^[13]

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 0 7 6 0 13 Packers 3 0 0 7 10 Date: November 9 Location: Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 48,063 Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C); wind 14 mph (23 km/h) Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell

Scoring summary Q1 GB Livingston 20 yard field goal GB 3–0 Q2 BAL Hill 15 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 7–3 Q3 BAL O'Brien 42 yard field goal BAL 10–3 Q3 BAL O'Brien 29 yard field goal BAL 13–3 Q4 GB Grabowski 1 yard run (Livingston kick) BAL 13–10

^[14]

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 17 0 0 3 20 • Colts 0 14 0 7 21 Date: November 29 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,240 Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Referee: Jack Vest

Scoring summary Q1 CHI Farmer 20 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick) CHI 7–0 Q1 CHI Percival 28 yard field goal CHI 10–0 Q1 CHI Coady 1 yard pass from Concannon (Percival kick) CHI 17–0 Q2 BAL Hill 1 yard run (O'Brien kick) CHI 17–7 Q2 BAL Jefferson 7 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) CHI 17–14 Q4 CHI Percival 27 yard field goal CHI 20–14 Q4 BAL Mackey 54 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 21–20

^[15]

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 3 7 0 10 • Colts 13 10 3 3 29 Date: December 6 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,240 Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C); wind 22 mph (35 km/h) Referee: Bernie Ulman TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson and Don Perkins

Scoring summary Q1 BAL Mackey 14 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 7–0 Q1 BAL Hinton 9 yard run (kick failed) BAL 13–0 Q2 BAL O'Brien 45 yard field goal BAL 16–0 Q2 PHI Moseley 38 yard field goal BAL 16–3 Q2 BAL Logan 33 yard interception return (O'Brien kick) BAL 23–3 Q3 BAL O'Brien 44 yard field goal BAL 26–3 Q3 PHI Snead 1 yard run (Moseley kick) BAL 26–10 Q4 BAL O'Brien 47 yard field goal BAL 29–10

^[16]

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 10 0 7 3 20 Bills 7 7 0 0 14 Date: December 13 Location: War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 34,346 Game weather: Snow • 28 °F (−2 °C) • Wind 11 mph (18 km/h) Referee: Bob Finley

Scoring summary 1 BAL Jim O'Brien 32-yard field goal Colts 3–0 1 BUF Lloyd Pate 1-yard run (Grant Guthrie kick) Bills 7–3 1 BAL Tom Nowatzke 1-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick) Colts 10–7 2 BUF Marlin Briscoe 10-yard pass from Dennis Shaw (Grant Guthrie kick) Bills 14–10 3 BAL Norm Bulaich 2-yard run (Jim O'Brien kick) Colts 17–14 4 BAL Jim O'Brien 38-yard field goal Colts 20–14

^[17]

The Colts clinched the division title with the win.

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 7 7 3 3 20 • Colts 0 14 7 14 35 Date: December 19 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 3:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 60,240 Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C); wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h) Referee: Tommy Bell TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote

Scoring summary Q1 NYJ Caster 15 yard pass from Woodall (Turner kick) NYJ 7–0 Q2 BAL Hinton 25 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 NYJ Grantham 41 yard interception return (Turner kick) NYJ 14–7 Q2 BAL Hinton 7 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) Tie 14–14 Q3 BAL Orr 18 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) BAL 21–14 Q3 NYJ Turner 25 yard field goal BAL 21–17 Q4 NYJ Turner 29 yard field goal BAL 21–20 Q4 BAL Perkins 41 yard pass from Morrall (O'Brien kick) BAL 28–20 Q4 BAL Hendricks recovered fumble in end zone (O'Brien kick) BAL 35–20

• Earl Morrall 18/33, 348 Yds

^[18]

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	11	2	1	.846	6–1–1	8–2–1	321	234	W4
Miami Dolphins	10	4	0	.714	6–2	8–3	297	228	W6
New York Jets	4	10	0	.286	2–6	2–9	255	286	L3
Buffalo Bills	3	10	1	.231	3–4–1	3–7–1	204	337	L5
Boston Patriots	2	12	0	.143	2–6	2–9	149	361	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals	8	6	0	.571	3–3	7–4	312	255	W7
Cleveland Browns	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–4	286	265	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–6	210	272	L3
Houston Oilers	3	10	1	.231	2–4	3–7–1	217	352	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

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.

The team made it to the playoffs with the best record in the AFC. The Colts hosted both AFC playoff games that they played in. (It wasn't until the 1975 season that playoff teams were seeded by record; the fact that the Colts hosted both playoff games was just due to the rotation set up with the AFL–NFL merger.) The team won both AFC playoff games as well as Super Bowl V.

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 26	Cincinnati Bengals	W 17–0	1–0	Memorial Stadium	51,127
AFC Championship	January 3, 1971	Oakland Raiders	W 27–17	2–0	Memorial Stadium	56,368
Super Bowl V	January 17, 1971	Dallas Cowboys	W 16–13	3–0	Miami Orange Bowl	80,055

1 2 3 4 Total Bengals 0 0 0 0 0 • Colts 7 3 0 7 17 Date: December 26 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h) Referee: Jack Vest TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Al DeRogatis

Scoring summary Q1 BAL Jefferson 45 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 7–0 Q2 BAL O'Brien 44 yard field goal BAL 10–0 Q4 BAL Hinton 53 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 17–0

The Colts hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round. The Colts relied on their defense, which had carried them all season, to best the Bengals 17–0, holding Cincinnati to only 139 total yards.^[19]

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 3 7 7 17 • Colts 3 7 10 7 27 Date: January 3 Location: Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote

Scoring summary Q1 BAL O'Brien 16 yard field goal BAL 3–0 Q2 BAL Bulaich 2 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 10–0 Q2 OAK Blanda 48 yard field goal BAL 10–3 Q3 OAK Biletnikoff 38 yard pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) Tie 10–10 Q3 BAL O'Brien 23 yard field goal BAL 13–10 Q3 BAL Bulaich 11 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 20–10 Q4 OAK Wells 15 yard pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) BAL 20–17 Q4 BAL Perkins 68 yard pass from Unitas (O'Brien kick) BAL 27–17

The Colts next hosted the Oakland Raiders for the AFC Championship game. The Colts jumped out to an early lead over the Raiders, 10–3 at halftime. Oakland came back to tie it up early in the 3rd quarter. The Colts would respond with a Jim O'Brien field goal and a second Bulaich touchdown. Johnny Unitas extended the lead with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Ray Perkins that made the score 27–17. The Colts would seal the win with an interception in the end zone.^[20]

1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 0 6 0 10 16 Cowboys 3 10 0 0 13 Date: January 17 Location: Miami Orange Bowl, Miami Game start: 1:50 p.m. EST Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C); wind 11 mph (18 km/h) Referee: Norm Schachter TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, Kyle Rote, and Bill Enis

Scoring summary Q1 DAL Clark 14 yard field goal DAL 3–0 Q2 DAL Clark 30 yard field goal DAL 6–0 Q2 BAL Mackey 75 yard pass from Unitas (kick failed) Tie 6–6 Q2 DAL Thomas 7 yard pass from Morton (Clark kick) DAL 13–6 Q4 BAL Nowatzke 2 yard run (O'Brien kick) Tie 13–13 Q4 BAL O'Brien 32 yard field goal BAL 16–13

The Colts made it to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history and played the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL championship. In the 2nd quarter, Johnny Unitas threw a pass that was tipped twice before John Mackey caught it for a 75-yard score. Later in the quarter Unitas was injured and Earl Morrall completed a sloppy and turnover-filled game: the Colts committed a total of 7 turnovers, the Cowboys 4. Following an interception by Mike Curtis, Jim O'Brien kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal, giving Baltimore a 16–13 lead with 5 seconds left in the game, and the victory.^[21]

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry

• Colts Crusade: The Story of the 1970 Baltimore Colts. Dave Volsky via YouTube.com (Video.)
• 1970 Baltimore Colts Season, NFL Films via YouTube.com (Video.)
• Ted Moore (narrator), Game of the Week: Colts at Jets, 1970 Week 5. Dave Volsky, YouTube.com (Video.)