1970 Dallas Cowboys season

1970 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Head coach	Tom Landry
Home field	Cotton Bowl
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Lions) 5–0 Won NFC Championship (at 49ers) 17–10 Lost Super Bowl V (vs. Colts) 13–16
← 1969 Cowboys seasons 1971 →

The 1970 Dallas Cowboys season was the team's 11th in the National Football League.

The Cowboys scored 299 points and allowed 221 points. For the fifth consecutive season, the Cowboys finished first in their division. In 1970, the club made its debut on Monday Night Football. The Cowboys lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 38–0. The Cowboys made it to their first Super Bowl and lost to the Baltimore Colts.

NFL Draft[]

1970 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	23	Duane Thomas	RB	West Texas State
2	29	Bob Asher	OT	Vanderbilt
2	49	Margene Adkins	WR	Henderson County J.C.
3	66	Charlie Waters *	S	Clemson
3	73	Steve Kiner	LB	Tennessee
3	75	Denton Fox	DB	Texas Tech
4	101	John Fitzgerald	C	Boston College
6	153	Pat Toomay	DE	Vanderbilt
7	179	Don Abbey	LB	Penn State
8	205	Jerry Dossey	OG	Arkansas
9	231	Zenon Andrusyshyn	K	UCLA
10	257	Pete Athas	CB	Tennessee
11	283	Ivan Southerland	OT	Clemson
12	309	Joe Williams	RB	Wyoming
13	335	Mark Washington	CB	Morgan State
14	361	Julian Martin	WR	North Carolina Central
15	387	Ken DeLong	TE	Tennessee
16	413	Seabern Hill	DB	Arizona State
17	439	Glenn Patterson	C	Nebraska
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Regular season[]

The Cowboys had to overcome many obstacles during the regular season. Fullback Calvin Hill, the team's second leading rusher with 577 yards and 4 touchdowns, was lost for the year after suffering a leg injury late in the regular season. And wide receiver Bob Hayes was benched by head coach Tom Landry for poor performances on several occasions.

Most significantly, the Cowboys had a quarterback controversy between Craig Morton and Roger Staubach. Morton and Staubach alternated as the starting quarterback during the regular season, but Landry eventually chose Morton to start Super Bowl V because he felt less confident that Staubach would follow his game plan (Landry called all of Morton's plays in Super Bowl V).^[1] Also, Morton had done extremely well in the regular season, throwing for 1,819 yards and 15 touchdowns, with seven interceptions, earning him a passer rating of 89.8. In contrast, Staubach, although a noted scrambler and able to salvage broken plays effectively, threw for 542 yards, and only two touchdowns with eight interceptions, giving him a 42.9 rating.

Hayes was the main deep threat on the team, catching 34 passes for 889 yards (a 26.1 yards per catch average) and 10 touchdowns, while also rushing 4 times for 34 yards and another touchdown, and adding another 116 yards returning punts. On the other side of the field, wide receiver Lance Rentzel recorded 28 receptions for 556 yards and 5 touchdowns.

However, the main strength on the Cowboys offense was their running game. Rookie running back Duane Thomas rushed 151 times for 803 yards (a 5.1 yards per carry average) and 5 touchdowns, while adding another 416 yards returning kickoffs. Fullback Walt Garrison, who replaced the injured Hill, provided Thomas with excellent blocking and rushed for 507 yards and 3 touchdowns himself. Garrison was also a good receiver out of the backfield, catching 21 passes for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns. Up front, Pro Bowl guard John Niland and future Hall of Famer tackle Rayfield Wright anchored the offensive line.

The Cowboys had their lowest regular season (6–2 vs. Cleveland Browns) and playoff (5–0 vs. Detroit Lions) scoring games in franchise history. The playoff victory over Detroit on December 26 remains the lowest scoring postseason game in NFL history. Through the 2018 season, they are the only games to finish with those scores.

For the first time, the Cowboys defeated the Green Bay Packers; this year's game was on Thanksgiving on the new artificial turf of the Cotton Bowl.^[2] Green Bay had won the first six contests, four in the regular season (1960, 1964, 1965, 1968) and two in NFL championship games (1966, 1967). The Packers won the next meeting in Green Bay in 1972.^[3]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
1	September 20	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–7	1–0	Franklin Field	59,728	Recap
2	September 27	New York Giants	W 28–10	2–0	Cotton Bowl	57,236	Recap
3	October 4	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–20	2–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,780	Recap
4	October 11	Atlanta Falcons	W 13–0	3–1	Cotton Bowl	53,611	Recap
5	October 18	at Minnesota Vikings	L 13–54	3–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900	Recap
6	October 25	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–16	4–2	Municipal Stadium	51,158	Recap
7	November 1	Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–17	5–2	Cotton Bowl	55,736	Recap
8	November 8	at New York Giants	L 20–23	5–3	Yankee Stadium	62,938	Recap
9	November 16	St. Louis Cardinals	L 0–38	5–4	Cotton Bowl	69,323	Recap
10	November 22	at Washington Redskins	W 45–21	6–4	RFK Stadium	50,415	Recap
11	November 26	Green Bay Packers	W 16–3	7–4	Cotton Bowl	67,182	Recap
12	December 6	Washington Redskins	W 34–0	8–4	Cotton Bowl	57,936	Recap
13	December 12	at Cleveland Browns	W 6–2	9–4	Cleveland Stadium	75,458	Recap
14	December 20	Houston Oilers	W 52–10	10–4	Cotton Bowl	50,504	Recap

Division opponents are in bold text

Game summaries[]

Week 1[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 0 7 7 3 17 Eagles 7 0 0 0 7 Date: September 20 Location: Franklin Field Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 67°F • Wind 7 Referee: John McDonough

Scoring summary 1 PHI Ben Hawkins 10 yard pass from Norm Snead (Mark Moseley kick) Eagles 7–0 2 DAL Walt Garrison 1 yard run (Mike Clark kick) Tie 7–7 3 DAL Lance Rentzel 31 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Mike Clark kick) Cowboys 14–7 4 DAL Mike Clark 13 yard field goal Cowboys 17–7

^[4]

Week 2[]

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 3 7 0 0 10 • Cowboys 0 0 14 14 28 Date: September 27 Location: Cotton Bowl Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 57,236 Game weather: 61°F; wind 11 Referee: Tommy Bell

Scoring summary Q1 NYG Gogolak 20 yard field goal NYG 3–0 Q2 NYG Johnson 1 yard run (Gogolak kick) NYG 10–0 Q3 DAL Hill 3 yard run (Clark kick) NYG 10–7 Q3 DAL Garrison 18 yard run (Clark kick) DAL 14–10 Q4 DAL Hayes 58 yard pass from Rentzel (Clark kick) DAL 21–10 Q4 DAL Hayes 24 yard pass from Staubach (Clark kick) DAL 28–10

• Bob Hayes 5 Rec, 112 Yds^[5]

Week 3[]

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 0 0 7 7 • Cardinals 3 3 7 7 20 Date: October 4 Location: Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT Referee: Fred Silva

Week 4[]

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 0 0 0 0 • Cowboys 0 3 3 7 13 Date: October 11 Location: Cotton Bowl Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT Referee: Fred Swearingen

Week 5[]

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 3 3 0 7 13 • Vikings 14 20 17 3 54 Date: October 18 Location: Metropolitan Stadium Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT Referee: Bernie Ulman TV announcers (CBS): Ray Scott and Pat Summerall

Week 6[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 3 10 14 0 27 Chiefs 7 3 0 6 16 Date: October 25 Location: Municipal Stadium Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST Referee: Pat Haggerty

Week 7[]

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 0 10 7 17 • Cowboys 0 14 7 0 21 Date: November 1 Location: Cotton Bowl

Week 8[]

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 10 7 3 0 20 • Giants 3 6 7 7 23 Date: November 8 Location: Yankee Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Referee: Bob Finley TV announcers (CBS): Jack Whitaker and Frank Gifford

Week 9[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Cardinals 7 10 0 21 38 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 16 Location: Cotton Bowl Game start: 8:05 p.m. CST Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell

Week 10[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 3 21 14 7 45 Redskins 7 0 14 0 21 Date: November 22 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Referee: Norm Schachter

Week 11[]

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 3 0 0 0 3 • Cowboys 0 3 0 13 16 Date: November 26 Location: Cotton Bowl Game start: 2:35 p.m. CST Referee: Fred Swearingen TV announcers (CBS): Ray Scott and Pat Summerall

Thanksgiving Day

Week 12[]

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 0 0 0 0 • Cowboys 0 7 14 13 34 Date: December 6 Location: Cotton Bowl Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST Referee: Jack Reader

Week 13[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 0 0 3 3 6 Browns 2 0 0 0 2 Date: December 12 Location: Cleveland Stadium Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST Referee: Jim Tunney

Week 14[]

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 3 0 0 7 10 • Cowboys 17 7 14 14 52 Date: December 20 Location: Cotton Bowl Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Referee: Pat Haggerty

Standings[]

NFC East
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	10	4	0	.714	5–3	7–4	299	221	W5
New York Giants	9	5	0	.643	6–2	6–5	301	270	L1
St. Louis Cardinals	8	5	1	.615	5–3	6–5	325	228	L3
Washington Redskins	6	8	0	.429	3–5	4–7	297	314	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	3	10	1	.231	1–7	1–9–1	241	332	W1

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

Postseason[]

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
Divisional	December 26, 1970	Detroit Lions	W 5–0	Cotton Bowl	69,613	Recap
NFC Championship	January 3, 1971	at San Francisco 49ers	W 17–10	Kezar Stadium	59,364	Recap
Super Bowl	January 17, 1971	vs Baltimore Colts	L 13–16	Orange Bowl	79,204	Recap

NFC Divisional Playoff[]

The Cowboys shut down the Lions offense and took advantage of a first-quarter field goal to outlast the Lions in the lowest-scoring playoff game in NFL history.

NFC Championship Game[]

Super Bowl V[]

Chuck Howley became the first defensive player, and only member of a losing team to be the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player.

Roster[]

Dallas Cowboys 1970 roster
Quarterbacks 11 Bob Belden 14 Craig Morton 12 Roger Staubach Running Backs 32 Walt Garrison FB 35 Calvin Hill 30 Dan Reeves 33 Duane Thomas KR 42 Claxton Welch Wide Receivers 23 Margene Adkins 22 Bob Hayes PR 24 Dennis Homan 19 Lance Rentzel 88 Reggie Rucker Tight Ends 89 Mike Ditka 84 Pettis Norman		Offensive Linemen 64 Halvor Hagen G/C 72 Tony Liscio T 51 Dave Manders C 73 Ralph Neely T 76 John Niland G 61 Blaine Nye G 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive Linemen 66 George Andrie DE 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Ron East DT 74 Bob Lilly DT 75 Jethro Pugh DT 67 Pat Toomay DE		Linebackers 52 Dave Edwards OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB 60 Steve Kiner OLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB 56 Tom Stincic MLB Defensive Backs 26 Herb Adderley CB 45 Richmond Flowers FS 34 Cornell Green SS/CB 43 Cliff Harris FS 20 Mel Renfro CB/FS 46 Mark Washington CB 41 Charlie Waters FS Special Teams 83 Mike Clark K 10 Ron Widby P		Reserve Lists 78 Bob Asher T (IR) 27 Mike Gaechter SS (IR) Rookies in italics 43 Active, 2 Inactive

Awards and records[]

• Chuck Howley, Most Valuable Player, Super Bowl V
• Mel Renfro, Pro Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player

Publications[]

The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4
Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2

References[]

External links[]

• 1970 Dallas Cowboys
• Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Dallas Cowboys Official Site