1971 Baltimore Colts season

The 1971 Baltimore Colts season was the 19th season for the team in the National Football League. Led by second-year head coach Don McCafferty, the Colts appeared to be on the verge of winning the AFC East again after beating the Miami Dolphins 14–3 in the penultimate game of the regular season. However, the Colts lost the final game of the season at home to the New England Patriots, dropping them to 10–4 and the wild card berth.[1] They lost to the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. The Baltimore defense gave up a total of 140 points for 14 regular season (10 PPG) & in their four defeats, they lost by 15 points total.

1971 Baltimore Colts season
Head coach	Don McCafferty
General manager	Don Klosterman
Owner	Carroll Rosenbloom
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Browns) 20–3 Lost Conference Championship (Dolphins) 0–21

The Colts playing against the Browns in the 1971 AFC Divisional Playoffs Game..

This was the final season under the ownership of Carroll Rosenbloom, who traded franchises with the Los Angeles Rams in July 1972, with players and coaching staffs remaining intact.[2][3][4]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1971 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1971 Baltimore Colts staff
Front Office Owner/President and Treasurer – Carroll Rosenbloom General Manager – Don Klosterman Coaching Staff Head Coach – Don McCafferty Offensive Coaches Receivers/Offensive Ends – Dick Bielski Offensive Coordinator – John Idzik Offensive Line Coach - Red Miller		Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line - John Sandusky Defensive Backfield – Bobby Boyd Linebackers Coach – Hank Bullough

Roster

1971 Baltimore Colts roster

	Quarterbacks 15 Earl Morrall 19 Johnny Unitas Running backs 36 Norm Bulaich 23 Don McCauley 41 Tom Matte 48 Don Nottingham 34 Tom Nowatzke 42 Charlie Pittman Wide receivers 17 Sam Havrilak 33 Eddie Hinton 27 Ray Perkins 87 Willie Richardson Tight ends 88 John Mackey 84 Tom Mitchell		Offensive linemen 50 Bill Curry C 61 Cornelius Johnson G 67 Lynn Larson T 68 Dennis Nelson T 62 Glenn Ressler G 71 Dan Sullivan G 72 Bob Vogel T 65 John Williams G Defensive linemen 79 Jim Bailey DT 69 Rusty Ganas DT 85 Roy Hilton DE 76 Fred Miller DT 81 Billy Newsome DE 78 Bubba Smith DE 74 George Wright DT		Linebackers 53 Tom Beutler 32 Mike Curtis 83 Ted Hendricks 51 Bill Laskey 56 Ray May 52 Robbie Nichols Defensive backs 35 Jim Duncan CB 25 Tom Curtis SS 44 Rex Kern 20 Jerry Logan S 47 Charlie Stukes CB 21 Rick Volk S Special teams 30 Ron Gardin PR-CB 49 David Lee P 80 Jim O'Brien K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Main article: 1971 NFL season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
1	September 19	New York Jets	W 22–0	1–0	Memorial Stadium	56,458
2	September 26	Cleveland Browns	L 13–14	1–1	Memorial Stadium	56,837
3	October 3	at New England Patriots	W 23–3	2–1	Schaefer Stadium	61,232
4	October 10	at Buffalo Bills	W 43–0	3–1	War Memorial Stadium	46,206
5	October 17	at New York Giants	W 31–7	4–1	Yankee Stadium	62,860
6	October 25	at Minnesota Vikings	L 3–10	4–2	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
7	October 31	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–21	5–2	Memorial Stadium	60,238
8	November 8	Los Angeles Rams	W 24–17	6–2	Memorial Stadium	57,722
9	November 14	at New York Jets	W 14–13	7–2	Shea Stadium	63,947
10	November 21	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–17	7–3	Orange Bowl	75,312
11	November 28	at Oakland Raiders	W 37–14	8–3	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,689
12	December 5	Buffalo Bills	W 24–0	9–3	Memorial Stadium	58,476
13	December 11	Miami Dolphins	W 14–3	10–3	Memorial Stadium	60,238
14	December 19	New England Patriots	L 17–21	10–4	Memorial Stadium	57,942

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 0 0 0 0 0 • Colts 10 9 0 3 22 Date: September 19 Location: Memorial Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 56,458 Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 BAL O'Brien 38 yard field goal BAL 3–0 Q1 BAL Matte 1 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 10–0 Q2 BAL O'Brien 21 yard field goal BAL 13–0 Q2 BAL Bulaich 67 yard run (kick failed) BAL 19–0 Q4 BAL O'Brien 21 yard field goal BAL 22–0

[5]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins	10	3	1	.769	5–3	7–3–1	315	174	W1
Baltimore Colts	10	4	0	.714	6–2	8–3	313	140	L1
New England Patriots	6	8	0	.429	4–4	6–5	238	325	W1
New York Jets	6	8	0	.429	4–4	6–5	212	299	W2
Buffalo Bills	1	13	0	.071	1–7	1–10	184	394	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. [6]

Postseason

Main article: 1971–72 NFL playoffs

The team made it to the playoffs as a No. 4 seed and traveled to Cleveland to play the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round. The Colts led 14–0 at the half and would cruise to a 20–3 win. They then traveled south to play the Miami Dolphins and tried to make it to their second consecutive Super Bowl. Colts QB Johnny Unitas was intercepted three times as they were shut out 21–0.

Playoff Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
Divisional	December 26, 1971	at Cleveland Browns (4)	W 20–3	1–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	70,734
Conference Championship	January 2, 1972	at Miami Dolphins (1)	L 0–21	1–1	Orange Bowl	76,622

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry

References

1. "Plunkett bumps Colts from lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 20, 1971. p. 1, part 2.
2. "Colts owner trades club for Rams". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. July 14, 1972. p. 1, part 2.
3. "Colts' owner now sole owner of Rams". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. July 14, 1972. p. 12.
4. Maule, Tex (August 14, 1972). "Nay on the neighs, yea on the baas". Sports Illustrated. p. 67.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14.
6. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297