1971 NFL season

The 1971 NFL season was the 52nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl VI when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24–3 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The Pro Bowl took place on January 23, 1972, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; the NFC beat the AFC 26–13.

1971 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 19 – December 19, 1971
Playoffs
Start date	December 25, 1971
AFC Champions	Miami Dolphins
NFC Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl VI
Date	January 16, 1972
Site	Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Pro Bowl
Date	January 23, 1972
Site	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Cowboys playing against the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.

Draft

The 1971 NFL Draft was held from January 28 to 29, 1971 at New York City's Belmont Plaza Hotel. With the first pick, the New England Patriots selected quarterback Jim Plunkett from Stanford University.

New officials

Three referees--Walt Fitzgerald, Bob Finley and George Rennix--retired following the 1970 season. Bob Frederic, Dick Jorgensen and Fred Wyant were promoted to fill those vacancies. Rich Eichhorst, a back judge in 1970, resigned to concentrate on officiating college basketball; he was replaced by Don Orr, who officiated in the league through 1995.

Major rule changes

• Teams will not be charged a time out for an injured player unless the injury occurs inside the last two minutes of a half or overtime (since 1974).
• Missed field goal attempts can be run back.

Division races

Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth “wild card” team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, record against common opponents, and records in conference play. More tiebreakers were provided in 1971 because, in 1970, reversing just one game’s outcome would have led to a coin toss between Dallas and Detroit for the NFC wild card berth.

National Football Conference

Week	Eastern		Central		Western		Wild Card
1	3 teams	1–0–0	2 teams	1–0–0	2 teams	1–0–0	3 teams	1–0–0
2	2 teams	2–0–0	Chicago	2–0–0	Atlanta	1–0–1	2 teams	2–0–0
3	Washington	3–0–0	4 teams	2–1–0	San Francisco	2–1–0	5 teams	2–1–0
4	Washington	4–0–0	Chicago*	3–1–0	Los Angeles	2–1–1	3 teams	3–1–0
5	Washington	5–0–0	Minnesota*	4–1–0	Los Angeles	3–1–1	Detroit	4–1–0
6	Washington	5–1–0	Minnesota	5–1–0	Los Angeles	4–1–1	4 teams	4–2–0
7	Washington	6–1–0	Minnesota	6–1–0	San Francisco	5–2–0	Chicago	5–2–0
8	Washington	6–1–1	Minnesota	6–2–0	San Francisco	6–2–0	Detroit	5–2–1
9	Washington	6–2–1	Minnesota	7–2–0	San Francisco	6–3–0	Chicago*	6–3–0
10	Dallas	7–3–0	Minnesota	8–2–0	Los Angeles	6–3–1	Washington*	6–3–1
11	Dallas	8–3–0	Minnesota	9–2–0	San Francisco	7–4–0	Washington*	7–3–1
12	Dallas	9–3–0	Minnesota	9–3–0	Los Angeles	7–4–1	Washington	8–3–1
13	Dallas	10–3–0	Minnesota	10–3–0	San Francisco	8–5–0	Washington	9–3–1
14	Dallas	11–3–0	Minnesota	11–3–0	San Francisco	9–5–0	Washington	9–4–1

American Football Conference

Week	Eastern		Central		Western		Wild Card
1	2 teams	1–0–0	2 teams	1–0–0	San Diego	1–0–0	2 teams	1–0–0
2	Miami	1–0–1	Cleveland	2–0–0	Oakland*	1–1–0	6 teams	1–1–0
3	Baltimore	2–1–0	Pittsburgh*	2–1–0	Oakland*	2–1–0	2 teams	2–1–0
4	Baltimore	3–1–0	Cleveland	3–1–0	Oakland*	3–1–0	Kansas City	3–1–0
5	Baltimore	4–1–0	Cleveland	4–1–0	Oakland*	4–1–0	Kansas City	4–1–0
6	Miami	4–1–1	Cleveland	4–2–0	Oakland*	5–1–0	Kansas City	5–1–0
7	Miami	5–1–1	Cleveland	4–3–0	Oakland*	5–1–1	Kansas City	5–1–1
8	Miami	6–1–1	Cleveland*	4–4–0	Oakland	5–1–2	Baltimore	6–2–0
9	Miami	7–1–1	Cleveland*	4–5–0	Oakland	6–1–2	Baltimore	7–2–0
10	Miami	8–1–1	Cleveland*	5–5–0	Oakland	7–1–2	Kansas City	7–2–1
11	Miami	9–1–1	Cleveland	6–5–0	Oakland	7–2–2	Baltimore	8–3–0
12	Miami	9–2–1	Cleveland	7–5–0	Kansas City	8–3–1	Baltimore	9–3–0
13	Baltimore	10–3–0	Cleveland	8–5–0	Kansas City	9–3–1	Miami	9–3–1
14	Miami	10–3–1	Cleveland	9–5–0	Kansas City	10–3–1	Baltimore	10–4–0

Final 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. AFC Central W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Cleveland Browns 9 5 0 .643 5–1 7–4 285 273 W5 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 8 0 .429 4–2 5–6 246 292 L1 Houston Oilers 4 9 1 .308 2–4 4–7 251 330 W3 Cincinnati Bengals 4 10 0 .286 1–5 3–8 284 265 L3 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. AFC West W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Kansas City Chiefs 10 3 1 .769 4–1–1 8–2–1 302 208 W3 Oakland Raiders 8 4 2 .667 4–1–1 7–3–1 344 278 W1 San Diego Chargers 6 8 0 .429 2–4 4–7 311 341 L1 Denver Broncos 4 9 1 .308 1–5 3–6–1 203 275 L2 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFC East W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Dallas Cowboys 11 3 0 .786 7–1 8–3 406 222 W7 Washington Redskins 9 4 1 .692 6–1–1 8–2–1 276 190 L1 Philadelphia Eagles 6 7 1 .462 4–3–1 5–5–1 221 302 W3 St. Louis Cardinals 4 9 1 .308 1–7 2–8–1 231 279 L2 New York Giants 4 10 0 .286 1–7 3–8 228 362 L5 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. NFC Central W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK Minnesota Vikings 11 3 0 .786 5–1 9–2 245 139 W2 Detroit Lions 7 6 1 .538 2–3–1 3–6–1 341 286 L2 Chicago Bears 6 8 0 .429 2–4 5–6 185 276 L5 Green Bay Packers 4 8 2 .333 2–3–1 2–7–2 274 298 L1 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. NFC West W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK San Francisco 49ers 9 5 0 .643 2–4 7–4 300 216 W2 Los Angeles Rams 8 5 1 .615 4–1–1 7–3–1 313 260 W1 Atlanta Falcons 7 6 1 .538 3–2–1 4–6–1 274 277 W1 New Orleans Saints 4 8 2 .333 2–4 4–7 266 347 L3 Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Tiebreakers

• New England finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better point differential in head to head games, 13 points.

Playoffs

Main article: 1971–72 NFL playoffs

Note: Prior to the 1975 season, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly rotation of division winners. Had the playoffs been seeded, the divisional round matchups would have been #3 Cleveland at #2 Miami and #4 wild card Baltimore at #1 Kansas City in the AFC; #4 wild card Washington at #1 Minnesota and #3 San Francisco at #2 Dallas in the NFC.

	Divisional Playoffs				Conf. Championship Games				Super Bowl VI
	December 26 – Candlestick Park
	Washington Redskins	20
					January 2 – Texas Stadium
	San Francisco 49ers	24
					San Francisco 49ers	3
	December 25 – Metropolitan Stadium
					Dallas Cowboys	14
	Dallas Cowboys	20
									January 16 – Tulane Stadium
	Minnesota Vikings	12
									Dallas Cowboys	24
	December 26 – Cleveland Stadium
									Miami Dolphins	3
	Baltimore Colts	20
					January 2 – Miami Orange Bowl
	Cleveland Browns	3
					Baltimore Colts	0
	December 25 – Municipal Stadium
					Miami Dolphins	21
	Miami Dolphins (2OT)	27
	Kansas City Chiefs	24

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Alan Page, Defensive tackle, Minnesota
Coach of the Year	George Allen, Washington
Defensive Player of the Year	Alan Page, Defensive tackle, Minnesota
Offensive Rookie of the Year	John Brockington, Running back, Green Bay
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Isiah Robertson, Linebacker, Los Angeles

Coaching changes

Offseason

• Buffalo Bills: John Rauch resigned and was replaced by Harvey Johnson, who previously served as the team's interim head coach in 1968.
• Cleveland Browns: Blanton Collier resigned and was replaced by Nick Skorich.
• Green Bay Packers: Phil Bengtson was fired and replaced by Dan Devine.
• Houston Oilers: Wally Lemm resigned and was replaced by Ed Hughes.
• Los Angeles Rams: Tommy Prothro became the Rams' new head coach after George Allen left the team.
• New England Patriots: John Mazur began his first full season as Patriots head coach. He replaced Clive Rush after seven games into the 1970 season due to medical reasons.
• New Orleans Saints: J. D. Roberts began his first full season as Saints head coach. He replaced Tom Fears, who was fired after a 1-5-1 start in 1970.
• St. Louis Cardinals: Bob Hollway replaced Charley Winner.
• San Diego Chargers: Sid Gillman returned to the field after sitting out half of the 1969 season and all of the 1970 season due to poor health.
• Washington Redskins: George Allen was named as Washington's head coach. Vince Lombardi was diagnosed with terminal cancer in late June before the 1970 season, dying on September 3. Offensive line coach Bill Austin served as Washington's head coach for 1970.

In-season

• Denver Broncos: Lou Saban left the team after a 2–6–1 start. Offensive line coach Jerry Smith served as interim for the remaining five games.
• Philadelphia Eagles: Jerry Williams was fired after three games. Ed Khayat was named as replacement.
• San Diego Chargers: Sid Gillman again left the field after serving as head coach for 10 games. Harland Svare replaced Gilman.

Stadium changes

• Before the season, the Boston Patriots changed their name to “New England Patriots” after they moved from Harvard Stadium in Boston to their new home field, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
• The Chicago Bears moved their home games from Wrigley Field to Soldier Field.
• The Philadelphia Eagles moved their games from Franklin Field to Veterans Stadium.
• The San Francisco 49ers moved from Kezar Stadium into Candlestick Park.
• The Dallas Cowboys moved after their first second regular season home game from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium.
• 11 teams played their home games on artificial turf in 1971. This was up from 7 teams in the NFL in 1970. The teams were: Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New England, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and San Francisco.

Uniform changes

• The Atlanta Falcons switched their primary jerseys from black to red
• The Chicago Bears adopted a second white jersey with block numbers
• The Oakland Raiders switched from silver to black numbers on their white jerseys

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1971–1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)