1970 Kansas City Chiefs season

1970 Kansas City Chiefs season
Owner	Lamar Hunt
Head coach	Hank Stram
Home field	Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	7–5–2
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	G Ed Budde T Jim Tyrer DE Jerry Mays DT Buck Buchanan LB Bobby Bell LB Willie Lanier CB Jim Marsalis S Johnny Robinson K Jan Stenerud P Jerrel Wilson

The 1970 Kansas City Chiefs season was the team's 11th, their 8th in Kansas City, and their first in the National Football League. It began with the Chiefs attempting to defend their Super Bowl IV championship, but ended with a 7–5–2 record and no playoff berth.

Following their championship success, the Chiefs traded running back Mike Garrett, who was the club's all-time leading rusher at the time, to San Diego after a week 3 loss in Denver, and replaced him in the lineup with Ed Podolak. Despite a 44–24 win against soon to be Super Bowl V Champion Baltimore on September 28 in just the second-ever telecast of ABC's Monday Night Football, the Chiefs owned a 3–3–1 record at the season's midpoint. One of the season's pivotal junctures came in a 17–17 tie against Oakland on November 1. The Chiefs were ahead 17–14 when Len Dawson apparently sealed the win, running for a first down which would have allowed Kansas City to run out the clock. While on the ground, Dawson was speared by Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson in an infamous incident that cost the Chiefs a victory and further inflamed the already heated Chiefs-Raiders rivalry. Wide receiver Otis Taylor retaliated and a bench-clearing brawl ensued. Offsetting penalties were called, nullifying Dawson's first down. The Chiefs were forced to punt and Raiders kicker George Blanda eventually booted a game-tying field goal with eight seconds remaining. Following the tie with Oakland the Chiefs' defense would permit only 43 points over the next 5 weeks, which included 4 wins and 6-6 tie with the St. Louis Cardinals at Municipal Stadium. The Cardinals had come into that game with a streak of three straight shutout wins. The Chiefs' D held St. Louis to a late FG as the game ended 6-6. After a 16-0 shutout of Denver the Chiefs had played to a 6-1-2 record over the past nine weeks to stand 7-3-2 with two weeks to play and very much looked like a team with a chance to defend its championship. Then came the big one at Oakland, the game that would decide who reigned supreme in pro football's toughest division. The game on December 12 was a Saturday stand-alone NBC national telecast. The Chiefs led early 3-0, and the game was tied 6-6 at the half. But the Raiders, behind the angry running of Marv Hubbard, dominated the 2nd half in a 20-6 AFC West title clinching win for Oakland. The Chiefs still had a slim hope for the AFC Wild Card spot. They however needed a win by a poor Buffalo team in Miami and then a Chiefs' win in San Diego to make the playoffs. Miami jumped to a 28-0 first quarter lead and rolled to a 45-7 win. The Chiefs warming up to play the Chargers saw the Miami blowout and knew their reign as Champions was over. Eliminated, the Chiefs played a uninspired sleep walk game, losing 31-13. In the end it was that tie in November with Oakland that ultimately cost the Chiefs the opportunity to win the AFC West division title as Kansas City finished the year with a 7–5–2 record, while the Raiders went 8–4–2. The rules were changed several years later to assess such penalties as the Davidson-Taylor incident as dead-ball fouls after the play counted.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1970 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	26	Sid Smith	Offensive tackle	USC

Roster

1970 Kansas City Chiefs roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Len Dawson 7 John Huarte 10 Mike Livingston Running backs (RB) 38 Wendell Hayes 45 Robert Holmes 14 Ed Podolak Wide receivers (WR) 6 Warren McVea 25 Frank Pitts 30 Gloster Richardson 89 Otis Taylor Tight ends (TE) 84 Fred Arbanas 80 Billy Cannon 88 Morris Stroud

Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Ed Budde G 60 George Daney G 73 Dave Hill T 55 E. J. Holub C 76 Mo Moorman G 58 Jack Rudnay C 70 Sid Smith T 77 Jim Tyrer T Defensive linemen (DL) 87 Aaron Brown DE 86 Buck Buchanan DT 61 Curley Culp DT 75 Jerry Mays DE 81 Marvin Upshaw DE

Linebackers (LB) 78 Bobby Bell 63 Willie Lanier 85 Chuck Hurston 51 Jim Lynch 50 Mike Oriard 66 Bob Stein 54 Clyde Werner Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}} Special teams  3 Jan Stenerud K 44 Jerrel Wilson P

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 20	at Minnesota Vikings	L 27–10	0–1	47,900
2	September 28	at Baltimore Colts	W 44–24	1–1	53,911
3	October 4	at Denver Broncos	L 26–13	1–2	50,705
4	October 11	Boston Patriots	W 23–10	2–2	50,698
5	October 18	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 27–19	3–2	57,265
6	October 25	Dallas Cowboys	L 27–16	3–3	51,158
7	November 1	Oakland Raiders	T 17–17	3–3–1	51,334
8	November 8	Houston Oilers	W 24–9	4–3–1	49,810
9	November 15	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 31–14	5–3–1	50,081
10	November 22	St. Louis Cardinals	T 6–6	5–3–2	50,711
11	November 29	San Diego Chargers	W 26–14	6–3–2	50,315
12	December 6	Denver Broncos	W 16–0	7–3–2	50,454
13	December 12	at Oakland Raiders	L 20–6	7–4–2	54,596
14	December 20	at San Diego Chargers	L 31–13	7–5–2	41,379

Game summaries

Week 2

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. Game weather: 61°F; wind 9 Referee: Jim Tunney Television network: ABC

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

Standings

AFC West
	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.