1970 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1970 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's fifth year in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 6–8, winning only four games. They failed to reach the playoffs for the fifth straight season.^[1] The team began its season by winning two of its first three games. However, following their 21–20 win over the San Francisco 49ers the Falcons went 2–7–2 in their final 11 games. The Falcons are the most recent NFL to have tie games in two straight weeks.

1970 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Norm Van Brocklin
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
Home stadium	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	4–8–2
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1969 Falcons seasons 1971 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1970 NFL draft

1970 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	12	John Small	Linebacker	The Citadel
2	39	Art Malone	Running back	Arizona State
3	64	Andy Maurer	Guard	Oregon
3	65	Todd Snyder	Wide receiver	Ohio	from N. Y. Giants
4	84	Paul Reed	Tackle	Johnson C. Smith	from Philadelphia
5	112	Bruce Van Ness	Running back	Rutgers	from Philadelphia via N. Y. Giants
5	116	Ken Mendenhall	Center	Oklahoma
6	143	Mack Herron	Running back	Kansas State
6	147	Jade Butcher	Wide receiver	Indiana	from Washington
6	152	Randy Marshall	Defensive end	Linfield	from Los Angeles
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1970 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General manager – Norm Van Brocklin Head coaches Head coach – Norm Van Brocklin Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Walt Yowarsky Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive line – Duane Putnam

Defensive coaches Head defensive – Marion Campbell Defensive line – Bob Griffin Defensive backfield – Fred Bruney

Roster

1970 Atlanta Falcons roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Bob Berry 11 Randy Johnson Running backs (RB) 33 Jim Butler 45 Sonny Campbell 40 Paul Gipson 25 Art Malone  5 Harmon Wages Wide receivers (WR) 19 Mike Brunson 85 Paul Flatley 80 Todd Snyder Tight ends (TE) 84 Mike Donohoe 86 Jim Mitchell

Offensive linemen (OL) 63 Dick Enderle G 68 Dave Hettema T 75 George Kunz T 53 John Matlock C 64 Andy Maurer G 62 Gary Roberts G 67 Malcolm Snider T 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen (DL) 88 Glen Condren DT 87 Claude Humphrey DE 72 Greg Lens DT 89 Randy Marshall DE 66 John Small DT 71 John Zook DE

Linebackers (LB) 54 Grady Allen OLB 51 Ted Cottrell OLB 59 Dean Halverson OLB 58 Don Hansen MLB 60 Tommy Nobis OLB Defensive backs (DB) 32 Grady Cavness 28 Mike Freeman CB/FS 49 Al Lavan SS 22 John Mallory SS 20 Tom McCauley FS 36 Ken Reaves CB 47 Rudy Redmond CB Special teams (ST) 26 Billy Lothridge P  8 Ken Vinyard K

Practice squad 24 Kent Lawrence WR 69 Mike Lewis DE Reserve 52 Ron Acks LB (IR) 65 Bob Breitenstein T (IR) 50 Greg Brezina LB (IR) 15 Gail Cogdill WR (IR) 79 Carlton Dabney DT (IR) 61 Bill Sandeman T (IR) 74 Jim Sullivan DT (IR) -- Francis Winkler C (IR) -- Randy Winkler G (Military) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 20	at New Orleans Saints	W 14–3	1–0	Tulane Stadium	77,042	Recap
2	September 27	at Green Bay Packers	L 24–27	1–1	Lambeau Field	56,263	Recap
3	October 4	San Francisco 49ers	W 21–20	2–1	Atlanta Stadium	58,850	Recap
4	October 11	at Dallas Cowboys	L 0–13	2–2	Cotton Bowl	53,611	Recap
5	October 18	at Denver Broncos	L 10–24	2–3	Mile High Stadium	50,705	Recap
6	October 25	New Orleans Saints	W 32–14	3–3	Atlanta Stadium	58,850	Recap
7	November 1	Chicago Bears	L 14–23	3–4	Atlanta Stadium	58,850	Recap
8	November 8	at Los Angeles Rams	T 10–10	3–4–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	67,232	Recap
9	November 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	T 13–13	3–4–2	Franklin Field	55,425	Recap
10	November 22	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–17	3–5–2	Atlanta Stadium	58,850	Recap
11	November 30	Miami Dolphins	L 7–20	3–6–2	Atlanta Stadium	54,036	Recap
12	December 6	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–24	3–7–2	Kezar Stadium	41,387	Recap
13	December 13	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–16	4–7–2	Atlanta Stadium	54,162	Recap
14	December 20	Minnesota Vikings	L 7–37	4–8–2	Atlanta Stadium	57,992	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	10	3	1	.769	3–2–1	6–3–1	352	267	W3
Los Angeles Rams	9	4	1	.692	4–1–1	7–3–1	325	202	W1
Atlanta Falcons	4	8	2	.333	3–2–1	3–6–2	206	261	L1
New Orleans Saints	2	11	1	.154	0–5–1	2–8–1	172	347	L6

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