The 1970 New Orleans Saints season was the team's fourth as a member of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. 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 The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference ...

. They failed to improve on their previous season's output winning only two games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Following a 1–5–1 start, coach

Tom Fears Thomas Jesse Fears (December 3, 1922 – January 4, 2000) was a Mexican-American professional football player who was a split end for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL), playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956. He was lat ...

was fired by owner John W. Mecom Jr. and replaced by

J.D. Roberts John David Roberts (October 24, 1932 – May 25, 2021) was an American college and professional football coach. He was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) from the middle of the 1970 season until his ...

, whose first game was a victory over the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

Tulane Stadium Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium that stood in New Orleans from 1926 to 1980. It was officially the Third Tulane Stadium and replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium", which was located where the Telephone Exchange Building is now. Th ...

in which

Tom Dempsey Thomas John Dempsey (January 12, 1947April 4, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Oilers and ...

set an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal on the final play; it broke the record held by

Bert Rechichar Albert Daniel (Bert) Rechichar (July 16, 1930 – July 19, 2019) was an American football defensive back and kicker who played with the National Football League (NFL)'s Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts, and Pittsburgh Steelers from to . He als ...

of the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

by seven yards, set seventeen years Dempsey's record was tied by three:

Jason Elam Jason Elam (born March 8, 1970) is a former American football placekicker. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft and played 15 seasons with the Broncos and two with the Atlanta Falcons. A three-time Pro B ...

(

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, ),

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Florida State ...

(

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, ), and

David Akers David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Washington Reds ...

(

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, ). broken by

Matt Prater Matthew Phillip Prater (born August 10, 1984) is an American football placekicker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Regarded as one of the best long distance kickers in NFL history, he held the NFL record for lon ...

of the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

in , at 64 yards at elevation in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. 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 triumph over the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in week three, cost the Giants the NFC East division championship. The Lions qualified for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

as the wild card from the NFC, but were nearly forced into a coin toss with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, a situation which was only averted when the Giants lost their season finale to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Quotes

Al Wester of WWL Radio describes

's 63-yard field goal against the

Don Criqui Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster. He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967-2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on De ...

describing the same play for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

References

New Orleans Saints seasons

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

New Orl {{Americanfootball-season-stub