1970 Dallas Cowboys season

NFL draft

Main article: 1970 NFL draft

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). 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 season, the Cowboys-Browns game is one of only two 6-2 games in league history; the other was a Packers-Bears game in , and the Cowboys-Lions playoff is one of three 5-0 games, along with a game between the Providence Steam Roller and Buffalo Bisons, and a Bills-Bengals game in .

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. 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.

Schedule

:Division opponents are in bold text

Game summaries

Week 1 at Eagles

Week 2

• Bob Hayes 5 Rec, 112 Yds

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Thanksgiving Day

Week 12

Week 13

The telecast was blacked out in Dallas/Fort Worth due to the NCAA College Division Pecan Bowl being played at Turnpike Stadium that day.

Week 14

The Cowboys clinched the NFC East by crushing their in-state rival, combined with the Rams' 31-3 rout of the Giants at Yankee Stadium.. Had the Giants won, they would have won the NFC East, and the Cowboys and Lions would have been forced into a coin toss for the wild card berth.

This was scheduled to be the Cowboys' last game at the Cotton Bowl. However, they hosted a playoff game six days later, and due to construction delays at Texas Stadium, would play their first two home games of the next season there.

Standings

Postseason

Main article: 1970–71 NFL playoffs

NFC Divisional Playoff

• Scoring
  • DAL – field goal Clark 26 DAL 3–0
  • DAL – Safety, Andrie tackled Landry in end zone DAL 5–0 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

• Scoring
  • SF – field goal Gossett 16 SF 3–0
  • DAL – field goal Clark 21 3–3
  • DAL – Thomas 13 run (Clark kick) DAL 10–3
  • DAL – Garrison 15 pass from Morton (Clark kick) DAL 17–3
  • SF – Witcher 26 pass from Brodie (Gossett kick)DAL 17–10

Super Bowl V

• Scoring
  • DAL – field goal Clark 14 DAL 3–0
  • DAL – field goal Clark 30 DAL 6–0
  • BAL – Mackey 75 pass from Unitas (kick blocked) 6–6
  • DAL – Thomas 7 pass from Morton (Clark kick) DAL 13–6
  • BAL – Nowatzke 2 run (O'Brien kick) 13–13
• BAL – field goal O'Brien 32 BAL 16–13

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

Roster

Awards and records

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

Publications

The Football Encyclopedia

Total Football

Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes

References

References

1. Bill McGrane. (1990). ""A Mad, Mad, Mad Super Bowl," ''The Super Bowl: Celebrating a Quarter-Century of America's Greatest Game''". Simon and Schuster.
2. Lea, Bud. (November 27, 1970). "Cowboys end Packer jinx, 16-3". Milwaukee Sentinel.
3. Lea, Bud. (October 2, 1972). "Patched up Pack jolts Dallas". Milwaukee Sentinel.
4. "New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys - September 27th, 1970". Pro-Football-Reference.com.