1970 Houston Oilers season

1970 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Bob Brodhead
Head coach	Wally Lemm
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	3–10–1
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1970 Houston Oilers season was the 11th season overall and its first as part of the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their previous season's 6–6–2 record, winning only three games. The Oilers started the season winning two of its first three games, both road wins against the Steelers and Bengals.

The Oilers struggled the rest of the season, as they went 0-6-1 following the 2-1 start. In week five versus the Steelers in the Astrodome, starting quarterback Charley Johnson suffered a broken clavicle when he was clipped by Pittsburgh defensive tackle Chuck Hinton on an interception return. Johnson returned after missing four games, but was nowhere near as effective than before the injury.

The Oilers won only one of their last 11 games, a 31-21 win over the Denver Broncos, before losing their final 3 games of the season, including a 52-10 rout by in-state rival Dallas in the finale, to finish the season 3-10-1. They missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, and for the first of eight consecutive seasons.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1970 NFL draft

1970 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Doug Wilkerson *	Guard	North Carolina Central
2	31	Leo Brooks *	Defensive tackle	Texas	from Boston
2	40	Bill Dusenbery	Running back	Johnson C. Smith
4	92	Spike Jones	Punter	Georgia
5	110	Ron Saul	Guard	Michigan State	from Cincinnati via N. Y. Jets
5	118	Ed Duley	Defensive tackle	Northern Arizona
6	144	Benny Johnson	Cornerback	Johnson C. Smith
7	170	Charles Olson	Defensive back	Concordia (Moorhead)
8	196	Mike McClish	Tackle	Wisconsin
9	222	Charlie Blossom	Defensive end	Texas Southern
10	249	Joe Dawkins	Running back	Wisconsin
11	274	Robert Morris	Center	Duke
12	300	Richard Dawkins	Tight end	Johnson C. Smith
13	326	Jess Lewis	Linebacker	Oregon State
14	352	Claire Rasmussen	Guard	Wisconsin–Oshkosh
15	378	David Sharp	Tackle	Stanford
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1970 Houston Oilers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Charley Johnson 14 Bob Naponic 17 Jerry Rhome Running backs (RB) 35 Woody Campbell 34 Joe Dawkins 32 Hoyle Granger 36 Roy Hopkins 24 Mike Richardson 39 Tom Smiley FB Wide receivers (WR) 81 Jim Beirne 84 Mac Haik 18 Charlie Joiner 23 Jerry LeVias 87 Paul Zaeske Tight ends (TE) 84 Donnie Davis 89 Alvin Reed

Offensive linemen (OL) 61 Hank Autry C 75 Elbert Drungo G 62 Ken Gary G 78 Glen Ray Hines T 50 Bobby Maples C 64 Ron Saul G 69 Terry Stoepel 76 Walt Suggs T 63 Doug Wilkerson G Defensive linemen (DL) 65 Elvin Bethea DE 73 Leo Brooks DT 71 Tom Domres DT 79 Pat Holmes DE 74 Willie Parker DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Garland Boyette 88 Claude Harvey 37 Jess Lewis 58 Ron Pritchard 56 Olen Underwood 53 Loyd Wainscott Defensive backs (DB) 48 Bob Atkins CB 29 Ken Houston SS 33 Benny Johnson CB 41 Leroy Mitchell CB 22 Zeke Moore CB 44 Johnny Peacock FS Special teams 3 Roy Gerela K 11 Spike Jones P

Practice squad -- Ken Mendenhall C Reserve 77 Spain Musgrove DE (IR) 90 George Webster LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 20	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 19–7	1–0	Three Rivers Stadium	45,538	Recap
2	September 27	Miami Dolphins	L 10–20	1–1	Houston Astrodome	39,840	Recap
3	October 4	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–13	2–1	Riverfront Stadium	55,094	Recap
4	October 11	Baltimore Colts	L 20–24	2–2	Houston Astrodome	48,050	Recap
5	October 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–7	2–3	Houston Astrodome	42,799	Recap
6	October 25	at San Diego Chargers	T 31–31	2–3–1	San Diego Stadium	41,427	Recap
7	November 1	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 0–44	2–4–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	47,911	Recap
8	November 8	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 9–24	2–5–1	Municipal Stadium	49,810	Recap
9	November 15	San Francisco 49ers	L 20–30	2–6–1	Houston Astrodome	43,040	Recap
10	November 22	at Cleveland Browns	L 14–28	2–7–1	Cleveland Stadium	74,723	Recap
11	November 29	Denver Broncos	W 31–21	3–7–1	Houston Astrodome	35,733	Recap
12	December 7	Cleveland Browns	L 10–21	3–8–1	Houston Astrodome	50,582	Recap
13	December 13	Cincinnati Bengals	L 20–30	3–9–1	Houston Astrodome	34,435	Recap
14	December 20	at Dallas Cowboys	L 10–52	3–10–1	Cotton Bowl	50,504	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals	8	6	0	.571	3–3	7–4	312	255	W7
Cleveland Browns	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–4	286	265	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–6	210	272	L3
Houston Oilers	3	10	1	.231	2–4	3–7–1	217	352	L3

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