1970 NFL season

1970 NFL season
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Event information
League	National Football League
Season	1970
Champions	Baltimore Colts
Postseason	NFL playoffs
Championship	Super Bowl V
Number of teams	26
Regular season duration	September–December 1970

The 1970 NFL season was the 54th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the first under the league’s modern divisional alignment after the merger with the American Football League (AFL). The season concluded with Super Bowl V, played in January 1971, where the Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys.

League changes and merger effects

The 1970 season followed the AFL–NFL merger agreement that took effect in 1970, reshaping professional American football’s league structure. The NFL expanded to include former AFL franchises and reorganized clubs into new conferences and divisions. The league created three divisions in each conference—East, Central, and West—forming what are commonly described as the modern AFC and NFC structures.

A key outcome of the merger was the establishment of the Super Bowl as the single championship game representing the combined league. The previous AFL and NFL champions had met in the prior seasons’ championship games, including Super Bowl IV, but 1970 was the first year the united league operated under a fully integrated schedule and playoff system. Along with the realignment, the season continued to reflect differing playing styles and roster construction that had developed in the AFL and NFL eras, with teams adapting to new divisional opponents.

Regular season summary

The regular season featured 26 teams competing across the newly organized divisions. Standings were determined by a combination of divisional results and league-wide matchups, with playoff berths distributed through the conference’s division races and additional qualifying criteria.

Several notable teams established themselves during the year, including St. Louis Cardinals and the Baltimore Colts, both of which contended in their respective conferences. Defensively and offensively, the season reflected a transitional period in the NFL’s style of play, where teams increasingly emphasized structured passing attacks while maintaining established ground-game strategies.

Individual performances also attracted attention. Quarterbacks and receivers posted significant totals, and teams used a mix of experienced veterans and younger players to adjust to the league’s new competitive landscape. The season’s context made divisional games particularly consequential, because the post-merger schedule concentrated familiar rivalries while introducing new recurring matchups across the AFC and NFC.

Postseason and playoff format

The postseason expanded the stakes of divisional placement, with the playoff structure designed to determine conference champions and advance teams to the league’s title game. The bracket culminated in Super Bowl V, which matched the champions of the two conferences.

The path to the championship included conference playoffs that highlighted both old rivalries and newly formed matchups created by the merger. Teams such as the Dallas Cowboys earned postseason berths and advanced through the postseason to reach the Super Bowl. In the AFC and NFC championship games, clubs competed under the unified NFL banner, with playoff matchups demonstrating how quickly franchises had adapted to the post-merger divisional alignment.

Super Bowl V

Super Bowl V, played following the regular season’s conclusion, was the NFL’s championship game for 1970 and featured the Baltimore Colts against the Dallas Cowboys. The Colts won the game, securing the league championship in the early era of the unified NFL.

The game concluded with Baltimore’s victory and established the Colts as the dominant team of the season. For many franchises and fans, Super Bowl V carried added historical significance because it functioned as a confirmation of the merger’s competitive integration—both conferences now operating within the same organizational framework under the NFL brand.

Notable records and legacies

The 1970 season is often referenced for its role in solidifying the NFL’s modern identity, including the AFC–NFC structure that persists in contemporary schedules. By integrating AFL teams and realigning divisions, the season set a template for how the league would organize competition in subsequent years.

It also shaped the narrative of the early Super Bowl era, building upon the momentum from prior championship games such as Super Bowl IV. The season’s lasting impact is reflected in how the current league’s conference geography, divisional rivalries, and playoff conventions trace back to the 1970 merger reorganization.

From an historical perspective, the 1970 NFL season served as a bridge between the separate AFL and NFL identities and a fully unified competition model. As a result, it remains a reference point for analyses of strategy, league governance, and the evolution of professional football’s national footprint.