1971 New England Patriots season

Home Page | 1971 New England Patriots season

The 1971 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Football League and 12th overall. The 1971 season was the first that the team played as the New England Patriots, changing their name from the Boston Patriots, briefly to the Bay State Patriots before changing it again to the New England Patriots, in an effort to regionalize the franchise's equal distance from Boston and Providence.

1971 New England Patriots season
OwnerBilly Sullivan
General managerUpton Bell
Head coachJohn Mazur
Home stadiumSchaefer Stadium
Results
Record6–8
Division placeT-3rd AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
All-ProsNone
Pro BowlersNone
Uniform

The Patriots finished with six wins and eight losses, third place in the AFC East Division. It was the first season the Patriots played in the new Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, after playing in three different stadiums the previous three seasons in Boston.

During training camp, the Dallas Cowboys traded disgruntled running back Duane Thomas to the Patriots for Carl Garrett and Halvor Hagen on July 31. Thomas became embroiled in a conflict with head coach John Mazur, prompting Patriots general manager Upton Bell to request that Commissioner Pete Rozelle void the trade three days after it had been made. Rozelle granted Bell's request, and the traded players returned to where they had been prior to the deal.

Offseason

NFL draft

1971 New England Patriots draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 1 Jim Plunkett  QB Stanford
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1971 New England Patriots staff

Front office

  • President – Billy Sullivan
  • General Manager – Upton Bell
  • Assistant General Manager – Peter Hadhazy
  • Director of Player Personnel – Bucko Kilroy
  • Director of Pro Scouting – Rommie Loudd

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – John Mazur

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator/Backs – Sam Rutigliano
  • Receivers – Jerry Stoltz
  • Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty
 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator/Line – Dick Evans
  • Linebackers – John Meyer
  • Defensive Backfield – Tom Fletcher



Roster

1971 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks (QB)
  • 16 Jim Plunkett
  • 17 Mike Taliaferro

Running backs (RB)

  • 30 Carl Garrett
  • 24 Bob Gladieux
  • 40 Jack Maitland
  • 35 Jim Nance

Wide receivers (WR)

  • 45 Hubie Bryant
  • 10 Eric Crabtree
  • 33 Reggie Rucker
  • 34 Ron Sellers
  • 18 Randy Vataha

Tight ends (TE)

  • 82 Tom Beer
  • 86 Roland Moss
 Offensive linemen (OL)
  • 62 Halvor Hagen G
  • 76 Mike Haggerty T
  • 67 Bill Lenkaitis C/G
  • 64 Mike Montler T
  • 56 Jon Morris C
  • 77 Tom Neville T
  • 60 Len St. Jean G

Defensive linemen (DL)

  • 85 Julius Adams DT
  • 73 Bill Atessis DE
  • 88 Ron Berger DT/DE
  • 87 Ike Lassiter DE
  • 71 Art May DE
  • 76 Dave Rowe DT
 Linebackers (LB)
  • 50 Jim Cheyunski MLB
  • 51 Randy Edmunds OLB
  • 52 Ed Philpott OLB
  • 54 Kenny Price MLB
  • 60 Steve Kiner OLB
  • 66 Ed Weisacosky OLB

Defensive backs (DB)

  • 27 Randy Beverly CB
  • 41 Larry Carwell CB
  • 25 Rickie Harris SS
  • 38 Perry Pruett CB
  • 44 John Outlaw CB
  • 42 Don Webb FS

Special teams (ST)

  •  7 Charlie Gogolak K
 Practice squad
  • 61 Sam Adams G
  • 14 Brian Dowling QB
  • 37 Ron Gardin CB
  • 29 Honor Jackson CB
  • 74 Layne McDowell T

Reserve

  • 65 Houston Antwine DT (IR)
  • 78 Hank Barton DE (IR)
  • 53 Dennis Coleman LB (IR)
  • 83 Dave Hardt DE (IR)
  • 23 Daryl Johnson CB (IR)
  • 32 Odell Lawson RB (IR)
  • -- Rich Moore DT (IR)
  • 28 Art McMahon S (IR)
  • 47 Jerry Murtaugh LB (IR)
  • 26 Clarence Scott S (IR)
  • 13 Alfred Sykes WR (IR)
  • 55 J. R. Williamson LB (IR)
  • 70 Dennis Wirgowski DE (IR)


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 19 Oakland Raiders W 20–6 1–0 Schaefer Stadium Recap
2 September 26 Detroit Lions L 7–34 1–1 Schaefer Stadium Recap
3 October 3 Baltimore Colts L 3–23 1–2 Schaefer Stadium Recap
4 October 10 New York Jets W 20–0 2–2 Schaefer Stadium Reacp
5 October 17 at Miami Dolphins L 3–41 2–3 Miami Orange Bowl Recap
6 October 24 at Dallas Cowboys L 21–44 2–4 Texas Stadium Recap
7 October 31 at San Francisco 49ers L 10–27 2–5 Candlestick Park Recap
8 November 7 Houston Oilers W 28–20 3–5 Schaefer Stadium Recap
9 November 14 Buffalo Bills W 38–33 4–5 Schaefer Stadium Recap
10 November 21 at Cleveland Browns L 7–27 4–6 Cleveland Stadium Recap
11 November 28 at Buffalo Bills L 20–27 4–7 War Memorial Stadium Recap
12 December 5 Miami Dolphins W 34–13 5–7 Schaefer Stadium Recap
13 December 12 at New York Jets L 6–13 5–8 Shea Stadium Recap
14 December 19 at Baltimore Colts W 21–17 6–8 Memorial Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
  • view
  • talk
  • edit
 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.

wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about 1971 New England Patriots season, What is 1971 New England Patriots season? What does 1971 New England Patriots season mean?

Home Page | Go up