1970 Atlanta Falcons season

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

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..

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
2	39	Art Malone	Fullback	Arizona State
3	64	Andy Maurer	Guard	Oregon
3	65	Todd Snyder	Wide Receiver	Ohio

^[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 final roster**

	Quarterbacks 17 Bob Berry 11 Randy Johnson Running backs 19 Mike Brunson 33 Cannonball Butler FB 45 Sonny Campbell 40 Paul Gipson 25 Art Malone 5 Harmon Wages Wide receivers 15 Gail Cogdill 85 Paul Flatley 24 Kent Lawrence 80 Todd Snyder Tight ends 84 Mike Donohoe 86 Jim Mitchell		Offensive linemen 63 Dick Enderle G 68 Dave Hettema T 75 George Kunz T 53 John Matlock 64 Andy Maurer G 62 Gary Roberts G 61 Bill Sandeman T 67 Malcolm Snider G 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen 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 52 Ron Acks 54 Grady Allen 59 Dean Halverson 58 Don Hansen 60 Tommy Nobis Defensive backs 32 Grady Cavness 28 Mike Freeman 49 Al Lavan 22 John Mallory SS 20 Tom McCauley FS 36 Ken Reaves CB 47 Rudy Redmond CB Special teams 26 Billy Lothridge P 8 Ken Vinyard K		Reserve lists 65 Bob Breitenstein T (IR) 50 Greg Brezina LB (IR) Practice squad 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	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.

References[]

^ 1970 Atlanta Falcons
^ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1970.htm^{[bare URL]}

External links[]

1970 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[1] 1970 Atlanta Falcons

[2] ttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1970.htm^{[bare URL]}

[1]

[2]

v t Atlanta Falcons
Founded in 1966 Based in Atlanta, Georgia Headquartered in Flowery Branch, Georgia
Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons Players Quarterbacks Head coaches Expansion draft Draft history First-round draft picks
Stadiums	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Culture	Rankin M. Smith Sr. Arthur Blank Freddie Falcon Cheerleaders The "Dirty Bird" (dance) "2 Legit 2 Quit"
Lore	Grits Blitz Gary Anderson's missed field goal Michael Vick dog fighting investigation 28–3
Rivalries	Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Philadelphia Eagles
Wild card / First round berths (8)	1978 1982 1991 1995 2002 2008 2011 2017
Division championships (6)	1980 1998 2004 2010 2012 2016
Conference championships (2)	1998 2016
Ring of Honor	10 21 28 31 42 57 58 60 78 84 87
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division
Category

v t Atlanta Falcons seasons
1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance