The National Football League playoffs for the 1970 season began on December 26, 1970. The postseason tournament concluded with the Baltimore Colts defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V, 16–13, on January 17, 1971, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.
This was the first playoff tournament after the AFL–NFL merger. An eight-team playoff tournament was designed, with four clubs from each conference qualifying. Along with the three division winners in each conference, one wild card team, the second place team with the best record from each conference, was added to the tournament. The first round was named the Divisional Playoffs, while the Conference Championship games were moved to the second playoff round and the Super Bowl became the league's championship game.
However, the home teams in the playoffs were still decided based on a yearly divisional rotation, excluding the wild card teams, who would always play on the road. Also, a rule was made that two teams from the same division could not meet in the Divisional Playoffs. In the rotation system, teams who hosted and won against the wild card team in the Divisional playoffs never could host the Conference Championship game. Conversely, this meant that the winner of Divisional playoff games that were exclusively between division winners always hosted the Conference Championship game.
This is the most recent year in which all playoff games matched up two teams that had yet to meet in the postseason in a previous year.
Participants
Following the rotational system, the winner of the NFC Central, the Minnesota Vikings, would have met the wild card team. With the Detroit Lions the wild card team was from the same division and hence, the home teams of the NFC switched their opponents.
The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs finished the season 7–5–2, runner-up in the AFC West.
Bracket
Schedule
In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl V.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:92%; text-align:center;"
! Away team !! Score !! Home team !! Date !! Kickoff<br>(ET / UTC–5) !! TV
|-
! colspan="6"|Divisional playoffs
|-
| Cincinnati Bengals || 0–17 || Baltimore Colts || December 26, 1970 || 1:00 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Detroit Lions || 0–5 || Dallas Cowboys || December 26, 1970 || 4:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
| San Francisco 49ers || 17–14 || Minnesota Vikings || December 27, 1970 || 1:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
| Miami Dolphins || 14–21 || Oakland Raiders || December 27, 1970 || 4:00 p.m. || NBC
|-
! colspan="6"|Conference Championships
|-
| Oakland Raiders || 17–27 || Baltimore Colts || January 3, 1971 || 2:00 p.m. || NBC
|-
|Dallas Cowboys || 17–10 || San Francisco 49ers || January 3, 1971 || 5:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Super Bowl V<br><small>Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida</small>
|-
| Baltimore Colts || 16–13 || Dallas Cowboys || January 17, 1971 || 2:00 p.m. || NBC
|}
Divisional playoffs
Saturday, December 26, 1970
AFC: Baltimore Colts 17, Cincinnati Bengals 0
The Bengals started out their first season as an NFL team 1–6, but stormed into the playoffs by winning their last seven games. However, their comeback season came to a crushing halt in Baltimore, where the Colts' defense limited the Bengals to eight first downs and 139 total yards of offense. By the end of the first three quarters, the Bengals had just 47 yards and two first downs.
The closest Cincinnati came to scoring was Horst Muhlmann's 49-yard field goal attempt which was blocked by Colts linebacker Ray May. Meanwhile, Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas threw two touchdown passes: a 45-yard completion to Roy Jefferson in the first quarter and a 53-yard reception to Eddie Hinton in the fourth period. Jim O'Brien added a 44-yard field goal in the second quarter. Rookie running back Norm Bulaich rushed for 116 yards. The crowd of 51,127 ended the Colts' streak of 51 consecutive sellouts which began in 1958. The gametime temperature of 30 °F with a wind chill of 0 °F and winds up to 30 miles per hour was a factor. It was the first playoff game without a touchdown in twenty years.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Lions and Cowboys. stunned the heavily favored Vikings, the defending NFL champions who had finished the regular season with an NFL best record at 12–2. The 49ers defeated the Vikings in Minnesota, despite losing three of five fumbles; Minnesota had four turnovers. The loss ended a 16-game home winning streak at Metropolitan Stadium for the Vikings, including postseason.
Quarterback John Brodie led the 49ers to their first NFL playoff victory by throwing for 201 yards and touchdown and rushing for another. The Vikings scored first when Minnesota defensive back Paul Krause picked up San Francisco running back Ken Willard's fumble in midair and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. The 49ers responded by scoring 17 unanswered points, first with Brodie's 24-yard touchdown pass to Dick Witcher. Then in the second quarter, San Francisco converted a Vikings fumble into Bruce Gossett's 40-yard field goal. Brodie scored the clinching touchdown, a one-yard run, with 1:20 left. Minnesota's 24-yard touchdown pass was completed with only seven seconds left in the game, and ended with just one second remaining on the clock.
This was the first postseason meeting between the 49ers and Vikings.
Lamonica finished the game 8/16 for 187 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Dolphins and Raiders.
This was the 49ers' first playoff game at home since 1957 and the team's last home game to be played at Kezar Stadium. Johnny Mathis sang the national anthem, and Tony Bennett performed his signature song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at halftime.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Cowboys and 49ers.