'70 Niners & Raiders' SBV chances

[74_75_78_79_]

Being that both Bay Area squads made quite a game of it in each of their CC-appearances, how do you all think SF matches up vs Colts? Raiders vs Dallas? Neither matchup took place during the '70 regular season but, of course, we know that both Bay teams played each other in the finale - SF crushing Oakland at Oakland. I take the result being a product of Oakland already having their division wrapped-up whereas SF had to win, or else it'd be they staying home with the 9-4-1 mark instead of Allen's Rams. Or was beating cross-Bay rival just as important for the Silver & Black?

[Rupert Patrick]

Being that both Bay Area squads made quite a game of it in each of their CC-appearances, how do you all think SF matches up vs Colts? Raiders vs Dallas? Neither matchup took place during the '70 regular season but, of course, we know that both Bay teams played each other in the finale - SF crushing Oakland at Oakland. I take the result being a product of Oakland already having their division wrapped-up whereas SF had to win, or else it'd be they staying home with the 9-4-1 mark instead of Allen's Rams. Or was beating cross-Bay rival just as important for the Silver & Black?

I think the Raiders were lucky to get past Miami in the Divisional round, as they got an 82-yard TD pass from Lamonica to Rod Sherman and a 50-yard pick six by Willie Brown to win 21-14. The Raiders had one of the best offenses in the NFL (leading in yards, ninth in points) but their defense was 19th in points and yards. The 1970-71 teams were the weakest Oakland teams from between 1967 and 1977, and of the 1970 playoff teams, I would say the Raiders were the weakest team. On the other hand, Dallas was on a roll after being humiliated by the Cards in week 9, and having the 49ers take out the Vikings in the Divisional game made their path to the Super Bowl much easier, and Dallas was the second strongest team going into the playoffs after the Vikings. Dallas would have easily handled the Raiders in Super Bowl V, I'd say Dallas 24-Oakland 14.

The 1970 Colts have, according to my EPCT methodology, the third weakest regular season schedule of any team since the 1970 merger, they only played three games against .500 or better teams, twice against Miami (who had the weakest schedule of any team since 1970) and Kansas City, who smoked the Colts 44-24 in the week 2 MNF game. Their offense and defense were both in the top third of the NFL, although they lacked a strong rushing game - Norm Bulaich led the Colts with a paltry 426 yards rushing - surely on a per-game level the lowest total of any NFL, AFL or AAFC championship team. The 49ers had probably the best offense in the NFL in 1970, while their defense was middle of the pack. I think this game would have been a tossup, but I think Brodie would have found a way to pull it out. I would take San Francisco, 24-21.

[BernardB]

Being that both Bay Area squads made quite a game of it in each of their CC-appearances, how do you all think SF matches up vs Colts? Raiders vs Dallas? Neither matchup took place during the '70 regular season but, of course, we know that both Bay teams played each other in the finale - SF crushing Oakland at Oakland. I take the result being a product of Oakland already having their division wrapped-up whereas SF had to win, or else it'd be they staying home with the 9-4-1 mark instead of Allen's Rams. Or was beating cross-Bay rival just as important for the Silver & Black?

I think the Raiders were lucky to get past Miami in the Divisional round, as they got an 82-yard TD pass from Lamonica to Rod Sherman and a 50-yard pick six by Willie Brown to win 21-14. The Raiders had one of the best offenses in the NFL (leading in yards, ninth in points) but their defense was 19th in points and yards. The 1970-71 teams were the weakest Oakland teams from between 1967 and 1977, and of the 1970 playoff teams, I would say the Raiders were the weakest team. On the other hand, Dallas was on a roll after being humiliated by the Cards in week 9, and having the 49ers take out the Vikings in the Divisional game made their path to the Super Bowl much easier, and Dallas was the second strongest team going into the playoffs after the Vikings. Dallas would have easily handled the Raiders in Super Bowl V, I'd say Dallas 24-Oakland 14.

The 1970 Colts have, according to my EPCT methodology, the third weakest regular season schedule of any team since the 1970 merger, they only played three games against .500 or better teams, twice against Miami (who had the weakest schedule of any team since 1970) and Kansas City, who smoked the Colts 44-24 in the week 2 MNF game. Their offense and defense were both in the top third of the NFL, although they lacked a strong rushing game - Norm Bulaich led the Colts with a paltry 426 yards rushing - surely on a per-game level the lowest total of any NFL, AFL or AAFC championship team. The 49ers had probably the best offense in the NFL in 1970, while their defense was middle of the pack. I think this game would have been a tossup, but I think Brodie would have found a way to pull it out. I would take San Francisco, 24-21.

A slight defense of the Raiders. There is a case to be made that the Raiders were the weakest playoff team, Rupert is definitely on solid ground; that Oakland team had a number of problems, most problematic was not being able to stop the run consistently. My defense would stress that the Raiders ended the year leading the AFC in net total yards, so whatever their faults the rest of the AFC, except for the Colts, were even more flawed. All four of the NFC teams were better, perhaps significantly better, than Oakland.

[BD Sullivan]

The Raiders came very close to a 6-6-2 season--or worse. Their game in Kansas City was a miracle tie, aided by the Ben Davidson cheap shot on Dawson that sparked a big brawl that resulted in KC punting and Blanda's last-second FG. In week 12, they needed a Hail Mary to beat the Jets 14-13. I'm not even mentioning the other four Blanda "miracles."

Miami had a weird 10-4 season: they started out 4-1, then got shut out in consecutive weeks by the Browns and Colts by a combined score of 63-0. After then losing to Philly 24-17, they ran off six straight wins to close out the regular season.