1970 Chicago Bears season
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.
| 1970 Chicago Bears season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Jim Dooley |
| Owner | George Halas |
| Home field | Wrigley Field Dyche Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 6–8 |
| Division place | 4th NFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Offseason
- June 16, 1970 – After a seven-month battle with cancer, running back Brian Piccolo died at age 26.[1][2][3]
NFL Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 58 | George Farmer | Wide Receiver | UCLA |
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.[4] (The Cubs were in contention in the National League East until the final week of the 1970 season, thus rendering the anticipation moot.)[5][6]
In addition, the NFL was pressuring the Bears to move out of Wrigley Field, because it had no lights 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;[7] the Bears moved to Chicago's Soldier Field.[8]
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 19 | at New York Giants | W 24–16 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | September 27 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 20–16 | 2–0 | |
| 3 | October 5 | at Detroit Lions | L 28–14 | 2–1 | |
| 4 | October 11 | Minnesota Vikings | L 24–0 | 2–2 | |
| 5 | October 18 | San Diego Chargers | L 20–7 | 2–3 | |
| 6 | October 25 | Detroit Lions | L 16–10 | 2–4 | |
| 7 | November 1 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 23–14 | 3–4 | |
| 8 | November 8 | San Francisco 49ers | L 37–16 | 3–5 | |
| 9 | November 15 | at Green Bay Packers | L 20–19 | 3–6 | |
| 10 | November 22 | Buffalo Bills | W 31–13 | 4–6 | |
| 11 | November 29 | at Baltimore Colts | L 21–20 | 4–7 | |
| 12 | December 5 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 16–13 | 4–8 | |
| 13 | December 13 | Green Bay Packers | W 35–17 | 5–8 | |
| 14 | December 20 | at New Orleans Saints | W 24–3 | 6–8 |
- Saturday night (September 19), Monday night (October 5), Saturday (December 5)
Season summary
Week 1
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Week 2
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Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
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Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
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Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
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Week 14
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- Jack Concannon 26/50, 280 Yds
- Dick Gordon 9 Rec, 119 Yds
Standings
| NFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Minnesota Vikings | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 5–1 | 10–1 | 335 | 143 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 7–4 | 347 | 202 | W5 |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2–4 | 4–7 | 196 | 293 | L2 |
| Chicago Bears | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 1–5 | 5–6 | 256 | 261 | W2 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
References
- "Cancer fatal to Piccolo of Bears at 26". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. June 16, 1970. p. 13, part 2.
- "Brian Piccolo is dead at 26". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 17, 1970. p. 19.
- "Sayers, Halas praise Piccolo's courage". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 17, 1970. p. 1-part 2.
- http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1970/07/22/page/49/article/bears-over-sue-evanston-n-u-over-use-of-dyche-stadium
- "Pennant race at a glance". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 16, 1970. p. 16.
- https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1970-schedule-scores.shtml
- http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1971/03/10/page/56/article/n-u-asks-special-big-10-meeting
- http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1971/04/14/page/85/article/renovations-key-to-soldier-field
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
- Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14.
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
- Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-14.
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| Franchise | |
| Records | |
| Stadiums | |
| Culture |
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| Lore | |
| Rivalries |
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| Minor league affiliates |
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| Retired numbers | |
| Key personnel |
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| Division championships (21) | |
| Conference championships (4) | |
| League championships (9) | |
| Media |
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| Current league affiliations |
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| Seasons (100) |
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Championship seasons in bold
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