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1970 Chicago Bears season
NFL team season
NFL team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| team | Chicago Bears |
| year | 1970 |
| record | 6–8 |
| division_place | 4th NFC Central |
| coach | Jim Dooley |
| owner | George Halas |
| stadium | Wrigley Field |
| playoffs | *Did not qualify* |
| shortnavlink | Bears seasons |
The 1970 Chicago Bears season was their 51st regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 6–8 record, a significant improvement over the 1–13 record of the previous season, the worst in franchise history.
After losing the coin flip for the number one pick in the 1970 NFL draft (which Pittsburgh used to select quarterback Terry Bradshaw), the Bears traded the second pick to the Green Bay Packers for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey, running back Elijah Pitts, and center Bob Hyland.
This was Chicago's final season at Wrigley Field. They moved into Soldier Field beginning the next season, and would play there until the 2002 season.
Offseason
- June 16, 1970 – After a seven-month battle with cancer, running back Brian Piccolo died at age 26.
NFL draft
Main article: 1970 NFL draft
Roster
Regular season
As an experiment, the Bears hosted their first home game of the season at Northwestern University's Dyche Stadium in Evanston. The Bears' Wrigley Field landlord, the Chicago Cubs, were in a pennant race and might play in the National League Championship Series and World Series, and that Wrigley Field would be unavailable (at least for installation of temporary seating in right and center field) until well into October. (The Cubs were in contention in the National League East until the final week of the season, thus rendering the anticipation moot.)
In addition, the NFL was pressuring the Bears to move out of Wrigley Field, because it had no lights (installed in 1988) and its seating capacity was under 50,000 (even with additional seating in right field for football games), stipulations of the AFL–NFL merger agreement. The Bears planned to move to Evanston for the 1971 season, but Evanston residents petitioned city officials to block the move, and the Big Ten Conference ultimately barred the Bears from using Dyche Stadium; the Bears moved to Chicago's Soldier Field.
Schedule
| Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Week | Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Date | Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Opponent | Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Result | Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Record | Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Venue | Chicago Bears | year=1970 | border=2}}" | Attendance | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| at [New York Giants](1970-new-york-giants-season) | **W** 24–16 | 1–0 | Yankee Stadium | 62,936 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 27 | [Philadelphia Eagles](1970-philadelphia-eagles-season) | **W** 20–16 | 2–0 | Dyche Stadium | 53,463 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| at **[Detroit Lions](1970-detroit-lions-season)** | **L** 14–28 | 2–1 | Tiger Stadium | 58,210 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 11 | **[Minnesota Vikings](1970-minnesota-vikings-season)** | **L** 0–24 | 2–2 | Wrigley Field | 45,485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 18 | [San Diego Chargers](1970-san-diego-chargers-season) | **L** 7–20 | 2–3 | Wrigley Field | 45,278 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 25 | **Detroit Lions** | **L** 10–16 | 2–4 | Wrigley Field | 45,632 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 1 | at [Atlanta Falcons](1970-atlanta-falcons-season) | **W** 23–14 | 3–4 | Atlanta Stadium | 58,850 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 8 | [San Francisco 49ers](1970-san-francisco-49ers-season) | **L** 16–37 | 3–5 | Wrigley Field | 45,607 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 15 | at **[Green Bay Packers](1970-green-bay-packers-season)** | **L** 19–20 | 3–6 | Lambeau Field | 56,263 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 22 | [Buffalo Bills](1970-buffalo-bills-season) | **W** 31–13 | 4–6 | Wrigley Field | 41,015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 29 | at [Baltimore Colts](1970-baltimore-colts-season) | **L** 20–21 | 4–7 | Memorial Stadium | 60,240 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| at **Minnesota Vikings** | **L** 13–16 | 4–8 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,900 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 13 | **Green Bay Packers** | **W** 35–17 | 5–8 | Wrigley Field | 44,957 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 20 | at [New Orleans Saints](1970-new-orleans-saints-season) | **W** 24–3 | 6–8 | Tulane Stadium | 63,518 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| **Note:** Intra-division opponents are in **bold** text. |
Season summary
Week 1 at Giants
First quarter
- NYG – Pete Gogolak 25-yard field goal. Giants 3–0.
- CHI – Cecil Turner 95-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick). Bears 7–3.
- NYG – Ron Johnson 12-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Pete Gogolak kick). Giants 10–7. Second quarter
- NYG – Pete Gogolak 20-yard field goal. Giants 13–7.
- CHI – Mac Percival 28-yard field goal. Giants 13–10. Third quarter
- CHI – Jack Concannon 1-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Bears 17–13. Fourth quarter
- NYG – Pete Gogolak 45-yard field goal. Bears 17–16.
- CHI – Dick Gordon 19-yard pass from Jack Concannon (Mac Percival kick). Bears 24–16. ;Top passers
- CHI – Jack Concannon – 15/29, 148 yards, TD, INT
- NYG – Fran Tarkenton – 23/39, 277 yards, TD, 2 INT ;Top rushers
- CHI – Gale Sayers – 17 rushes, 43 yards
- NYG – Ron Johnson – 13 rushes, 24 yards, TD ;Top receivers
- CHI – Bob Wallace – 6 receptions, 82 yards
- NYG – Ron Johnson – 8 receptions, 85 yards, TD
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
- Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 14
- Jack Concannon 26/50, 280 Yds
- Dick Gordon 9 Rec, 119 Yds
Standings
References
References
- (August 25, 2004). "These deals didn't work".
- (June 16, 1970). "Cancer fatal to Piccolo of Bears at 26". Milwaukee Journal.
- (June 17, 1970). "Brian Piccolo is dead at 26". Spokesman-Review.
- (June 17, 1970). "Sayers, Halas praise Piccolo's courage". Milwaukee Sentinel.
- (4 August 2023). "Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s".
- (September 16, 1970). "Pennant race at a glance". Spokesman-Review.
- "1970 Chicago Cubs Schedule".
- [http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1971/03/10/page/56/article/n-u-asks-special-big-10-meeting Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s – Newspapers.com]
- [http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1971/04/14/page/85/article/renovations-key-to-soldier-field Historical Newspapers from 1700s–2000s – Newspapers.com]
- [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197009270chi.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]
- [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197011010atl.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14.
- [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197011220chi.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]
- [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197012200nor.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14.
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