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1970 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season

Field	Value
team	New Orleans Saints
year	1970
record	2–11–1
division_place	4th NFC West
coach	Tom Fears (1–5–1)
J. D. Roberts (1–6)
general manager	Vic Schwenk
owner	John W. Mecom Jr.
stadium	Tulane Stadium
playoffs	Did not qualify
pro bowlers	None
shortnavlink	Saints seasons

J. D. Roberts (1–6) The 1970 New Orleans Saints season was the team's fourth as a member of the National Football League. After spending their first three seasons in the NFL's Eastern Conference, the Saints moved in 1970 to the West Division of the new National Football Conference. They failed to improve on their previous season's output of 5–9, winning only two games, and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Following a 1–5–1 start, head coach Tom Fears was fired by owner John W. Mecom Jr. and replaced by J.D. Roberts, whose first game was a 19–17 victory over the Detroit Lions at Tulane Stadium in which Tom Dempsey set an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal on the final play;{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZNwNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3374%2C1141089 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=Associated Press |title=63-yard FG lifts Saints over Lions |date=November 9, 1970 |page=25}} it broke the record held by Bert Rechichar of the Baltimore Colts by seven yards, set seventeen years earlier. Dempsey's record was tied by three: Jason Elam (Denver Broncos, ), Sebastian Janikowski (Oakland Raiders, ), and David Akers (San Francisco 49ers, ). It was broken by Matt Prater of the Broncos in , at 64 yards at elevation in Colorado (Prater's record was broken in by Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, who kicked a 66-yard game winner vs. the Lions).

The victory over the Lions was last of the season for the Saints, but both victories came over teams in the thick of the NFC playoff race. The other, a 14–10 triumph over the New York Giants in week three, cost the Giants the NFC East division championship. The Lions qualified for the playoffs as the wild card from the NFC, but were nearly forced into a coin toss with the Dallas Cowboys, a situation which was only averted when the Giants lost their season finale to the Los Angeles Rams.

The Saints' 2–11–1 record was the worst in the NFC and gave them the second overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft; they selected quarterback Archie Manning of Mississippi.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1970 NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

President – John W. Mecom, Jr.
General Manager – Vic Schwenk
Director of Player Personnel – Jack Faulkner
Head Coach – Tom Fears (first 7 games)
Head Coach – J. D. Roberts (last 7 games)
Offensive Backfield – Don Heinrich
Receivers – Billy Ray Barnes
Offensive Line – Brad Ecklund (first 7 games)
Offensive Line – Jim Royer (last 7 games)
Defensive Line – Ed Khayat
Linebackers – Jerry Smith
Defensive Backfield – Ed Biles

Roster

SS/FS

Retired

Schedule

New Orleans Saints	year=1970	border=2}}"	Week	New Orleans Saints	year=1970
September 20	[Atlanta Falcons](1970-atlanta-falcons-season)	L 3–14	0–1	Tulane Stadium	77,042
September 27	at [Minnesota Vikings](1970-minnesota-vikings-season)	L 0–26	0–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900
October 4	[New York Giants](1970-new-york-giants-season)	W 14–10	1–2	Tulane Stadium	69,126
October 11	at [St. Louis Cardinals](1970-st-louis-cardinals-nfl-season)	L 17–24	1–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	45,294
October 18	at [San Francisco 49ers](1970-san-francisco-49ers-season)	T 20–20	1–3–1	Kezar Stadium	39,446
October 25	at Atlanta Falcons	L 14–32	1–4–1	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
November 1	[Los Angeles Rams](1970-los-angeles-rams-season)	L 17–30	1–5–1	Tulane Stadium	77,861
November 8	[Detroit Lions](1970-detroit-lions-season)	W 19–17	2–5–1	Tulane Stadium	66,910
November 15	at [Miami Dolphins](1970-miami-dolphins-season)	L 10–21	2–6–1	Miami Orange Bowl	42,866
November 22	[Denver Broncos](1970-denver-broncos-season)	L 6–31	2–7–1	Tulane Stadium	66,837
November 29	at [Cincinnati Bengals](1970-cincinnati-bengals-season)	L 6–26	2–8–1	Riverfront Stadium	59,342
December 6	at Los Angeles Rams	L 16–34	2–9–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	66,410
December 13	San Francisco 49ers	L 27–38	2–10–1	Tulane Stadium	61,940
December 20	[Chicago Bears](1970-chicago-bears-season)	L 3–24	2–11–1	Tulane Stadium	63,518
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Quotes

Al Wester of WWL Radio describes Tom Dempsey's 63-yard field goal against the Detroit Lions.

Don Criqui describing the same play for CBS:

References

[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/1970.htm 1970 New Orleans Saints]
(November 4, 1970). "Saints bounce Fears as head coach". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
(November 4, 1970). "Fears fired by Saints". Pittsburgh Press.
(November 4, 1970). "Saints get new coach". The Bulletin.
(November 9, 1970). "Dempsey's 63 yard FG jolts Lions". Milwaukee Sentinel.
(September 28, 1953). "Colts jolt Bears, 13-9, get record 56-yard field goal". Milwaukee Sentinel.
"1970 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
"All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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