1971 NFL 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 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. The Pro Bowl took place on January 23, 1972 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The AFC beat the NFC 26-13.
Stadium changes
Before the season, the Boston Patriots changed their name to New England Patriots after they moved to their new home field, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The Chicago Bears moved their home games to Soldier Field. The Dallas Cowboys moved during the season to Texas Stadium. The Philadelphia Eagles moved their games to Veterans Stadium. The San Francisco 49ers moved into Candlestick Park.
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.
Major rule change
- 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.
- 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, common opponents records, and 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
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x – clinched wild card berth, y – clinched division title
Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings
| AFC East | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Miami Dolphins | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 315 | 174 |
| x-Baltimore Colts | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 313 | 140 |
| New England Patriots | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 238 | 325 |
| New York Jets | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 212 | 299 |
| Buffalo Bills | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 184 | 394 |
| AFC Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Cleveland Browns | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 285 | 273 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 246 | 292 |
| Houston Oilers | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 251 | 330 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 284 | 265 |
| AFC West | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Kansas City Chiefs | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 302 | 208 |
| Oakland Raiders | 8 | 4 | 2 | .667 | 344 | 278 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 311 | 341 |
| Denver Broncos | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 203 | 275 |
| NFC East | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Dallas Cowboys | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 406 | 222 |
| x-Washington Redskins | 9 | 4 | 1 | .692 | 276 | 190 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6 | 7 | 1 | .462 | 221 | 302 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 231 | 279 |
| New York Giants | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 228 | 362 |
| NFC Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Minnesota Vikings | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 245 | 139 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 341 | 286 |
| Chicago Bears | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 185 | 276 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 8 | 2 | .333 | 274 | 298 |
| NFC West | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-San Francisco 49ers | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 300 | 216 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 313 | 260 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 274 | 277 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 8 | 2 | .333 | 266 | 347 |
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
- Note: Prior to the 1975 season, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly rotation.
| Divisional Playoffs | Conf. Championship Games | Super Bowl VI | ||||||||
| December 26 – Candlestick Park | ||||||||||
| Washington | 20 | |||||||||
| January 2 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||
| San Francisco | 24 | |||||||||
| San Francisco | 3 | |||||||||
| December 25 – Metropolitan Stadium | ||||||||||
| Dallas | 14 | |||||||||
| Dallas | 20 | |||||||||
| January 16 – Tulane Stadium | ||||||||||
| Minnesota | 12 | |||||||||
| Dallas | 24 | |||||||||
| December 26 – Cleveland Stadium | ||||||||||
| Miami | 3 | |||||||||
| Baltimore | 20 | |||||||||
| January 2 – Miami Orange Bowl | ||||||||||
| Cleveland | 3 | |||||||||
| Baltimore | 0 | |||||||||
| December 25 – Municipal Stadium | ||||||||||
| Miami | 21 | |||||||||
| Miami (2OT) | 27 | |||||||||
| Kansas City | 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 |
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)