The Colts finished the 1970 NFL regular season with the best record in the AFC: 11-2-1. The Raiders finished 8-4-2 to barely win the AFC West over the Kansas City Chiefs 7-5-2.

The Colts led the AFC in offense and point differential, but critics pointed out that they had beaten only three teams with a winning record during the regular season.

Oakland reached the AFL/AFC title game for the fourth straight year. They clobbered Hous­ton 40-7 in 1967 to go to the Super Bowl but lost at the New York Jets in '68 and the Chiefs at home in '70.

The first two Raider possession went three-and-out. On the second one, Mike Eischeid's punt went only 23y to give Baltimore the ball at the Oakland 43. Put in a hole, the Raider defense held the Colts to Jim O'Brien's 16y field goal. Colts 3 Raiders 0

Raider S George Atkinson had fielded punts for two years without dropping one. But his string ended midway the second quarter when he dropped David Lee's boot on the Raider 43, and Sam Havrilak recovered for the Colts at the Oakland 45. Two plays later, Unitas con­nected with Eddie Hinton for 43y on a play-action pass to the two. 218lb RB Norm Bulaich then plunged into the end zone. Colts 10 Raiders 0

"I thought I had control of the ball right after it came down," said Atkinson. "Usually I start looking for a place to run as soon as I touch the ball, but this time I must have taken my eye off it momentarily, and it dropped. I dove for it and thought I was on it, but it flew up in the air again."

The Raiders suffered a setback when QB Darryle Lamonica had to leave the game with a groin pull in the second quarter after being flattened by 265lb DE Bubba Smith. 20-year vet­eran George Blanda (age 43) ran the offense the rest of the game.

Blanda said, "I had to throw a little deeper than I wanted to because their linebackers were dropping back farther. They double covered our wide receivers with their zone. Later I started throwing in the middle to the tight end."

Oakland finally got close enough for Blanda to kick a 48y field goal late in the second quarter. Colts 10 Raiders 3

The Raider offense must have gotten a wakeup call during halftime because they came out and drove 80y in nine plays to tie the score. The touchdown came on a 38y strike to WR Fred Biletnikoff. Colts 10 Raiders 10

The Colts had to settle for a Jim O'Brien 23y field goal in the third quarter after Unitas overthrew wide-open Ed Hinton in the end zone. Colts 13 Raiders 10

Baltimore went 10-up late in the third quarter. Unitas completed three of four passes in a drive that ended with Bulaich's 11y run on reverse. Colts 20 Raiders 10

The Raiders pulled within three points on Blanda's 15y pass to Warren Wells to culminate an 80y drive in eight plays. Wells lost the ball as he went over the goal line, but the officials ruled he had possession long enough for the TD. Colts 20 Raiders 17

The biggest defensive mistake of the game came two plays later. "We call it 'This week's special,'" explained Baltimore coach Don McCafferty. He sent in two extra wide receivers, Ray Perkins (playing tight end despite weighing only 185lb) and Jimmy Orr, for a total of four to assault the Oakland backfield. Out came TE John Mackey and RB Norm Bulaich, two key blockers in pass protection. So the offensive line would have to protect Unitas.

Perkins was an unlikely hero candidate. He had not started a game all season and caught only 10 passes. The Colts' regular tight end, John Mackey, was questionable with a ham­string pull and reserve Tom Mitchell was hobbled. Furthermore, Perkins had practiced only 20 minutes all week because of a fever. The Colts discussed using T Bob Vogel as a tight end if neither Mackey nor Mitchell could go.

Orr went down the right sideline, where he was covered by SS George Atkinson. LCB Kent McCloughan was on Roy Jefferson, and RCB Willie Brown took Hinton. That left Nemiah Wilson, on the field as the fifth defensive back in place of a linebacker, to cover Perkins. That should have been a no contest battle.

However, Wilson misread the Baltimore pass pattern and never saw the ball as Perkins raced past him for a 68y touchdown from Unitas. Perkins caught the ball on the 45 10y behind Wilson and raced into the end zone as Wilson's desperation flying tackle missed Ray's heels at the five. Colts 27 Raiders 17 (11:00)

Wilson explained: "There are so many things you can do in the bump-and-run defense and so many things you've got to react on. With the kind of push Perkins gave me, I thought he was running a deep out, and I cut under him to make an interception, but it was a deep corner, and he ran away from me. When you gamble and win, you're a hero. When you gamble and lose, you've got to take the blame for it."

Refering to Unitas, Raiders LB Dan Conners said, "I'd say he's the best there is. He knows what he wants to do, and he does it. He hasn't played as long as he has (15 seasons) because he's stupid."

"That broke our spirit," said Blanda. "We were back in the game until then."

"When they got that last touchdown," said Madden, "it forced things more than you like. We had to score quickly."

There were still more than 12 minutes to play—ample time for the Raiders to comeback.

"You can read Unitas," said S Dave Grayson, "but he's so good he can come off a read. On that touchdown to Perkins, he was with Orr all the way just before he cocked his arm and let it go to Perkins."

In the four Oakland possessions that followed the Perkins touchdown, Blanda forced his passes and got intercepted twice. The Raiders never came close to scoring.

FINAL SCORE: COLTS 27 RAIDERS 17

G Gene Upshaw expressed the Raiders' disappointment as they faced another winter of discontent. "The thing that's so frustrating is to get this close for three straight years and not make it. Other teams don't get one chance in 20 years, and we've had more than any and missed it now for the third straight time. Man! That's what hurts."

C Jim Otto, the Oakland captain, said with tears streaming down his cheeks: "They made the big plays, and we didn't."

Colts C Bill Curry: "I said to Billy Ray Smith just after we got into the locker room, 'On to the Super Bowl and a chance to wipe the '69 slate clean.'" He was referring to Super Bowl III when the heavily favored Colts lost to the New York Jets.

Colts WR Roy Jefferson pointed out that the Raiders "brought all their stuff with them to to go the Super Bowl (in Miami) from here ... and now the so-and-sos will have to take it back to Oakland because we are going."