1971 New England Patriots season

1971 New England Patriots season
Head coach John Mazur
General manager Upton Bell
Owner Billy Sullivan
Home field Schaeffer Stadium
Results
Record 6–8
Division Place T-3rd AFC East
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers none
AP All-Pros none
Uniform
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1970 1972

The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1971 season with a record of six wins and eight losses, and finished third in the AFC East division. It was the first season the Patriots played in Schaeffer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts after playing in three different stadiums the previous three seasons in Boston. It was the first season after the Patriots changed its name from the Boston Patriots to the New England Patriots in a move to regionalize the franchise and represent the six New England states.

Contents

Staff

New England Patriots 1971 staff
Front Office

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Offensive Backs/Receivers – Sam Rutigliano
  • Receivers – Jerry Stoltz
  • Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty
  

Defensive Coaches

Regular season

Schedule

Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO Attendance
1 Sun September 19 W 1–0 Oakland Raiders 20 6 12 261 127 134 3 20 304 99 205 4
55,405
2 Sun September 26 L 1–1 Detroit Lions 7 34 10 246 101 145 3 19 368 204 164
61,057
3 Sun October 3 L 1–2 Baltimore Colts 3 23 9 151 62 89 1 24 358 222 136 2
61,232
4 Sun October 10 W 2–2 New York Jets 20 0 15 337 130 207 2 11 121 8 113 2
61,357
5 Sun October 17 L 2–3 at Miami Dolphins 3 41 11 117 82 35 3 19 431 216 215
58,822
6 Sun October 24 L 2–4 at Dallas Cowboys 21 44 17 259 183 76 3 20 406 238 168
65,708
7 Sun October 31 L 2–5 at San Francisco 49ers 10 27 11 246 69 177 3 13 247 176 71 5
45,092
8 Sun November 7 W 3–5 Houston Oilers 28 20 21 253 154 99 16 331 260 71 3
53,155
9 Sun November 14 W 4–5 Buffalo Bills 38 33 9 299 180 119 3 15 217 128 89 1
57,446
10 Sun November 21 L 4–6 at Cleveland Browns 7 27 19 292 169 123 4 19 321 146 175
65,238
11 Sun November 28 L 4–7 at Buffalo Bills 20 27 15 294 105 189 3 15 264 117 147 1
27,166
12 Sun December 5 W 5–7 Miami Dolphins 34 13 14 308 223 85 12 197 99 98 5
61,457
13 Sun December 12 L 5–8 at New York Jets 6 13 16 250 150 100 2 17 261 95 166 4
63,175
14 Sun December 19 W 6–8 at Baltimore Colts 21 17 11 243 152 91 2 17 246 146 100 2
57,942

Standings

AFC East
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Miami Dolphins 10 3 1 .769 315 174
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

[1]

Roster

All of the following players appeared in at least one game for the 1971 New England Patriots.

Name Position Notes
Randy Vataha WR
Jim Plunkett QB
Jim Nance RB
Carl Garrett RB
Tom Neville Tackle
Bill Lenkaitis C
Julius Adams DE
Tom Beer TE
Ron Berger DE
Randy Beverly CB
Hubie Bryant WR
James Cheyunski LB
Bob Gladieux WR
Charlie Gogolak K
Rickie Harris S
Tom Janik P
Odell Lawson RB
Jack Maitland RB
Mike Montler Tackle
Ed Philpott LB
David Rowe DT
Dennis Wirgowski DT
Don Webb S
Al Sykes WR
Ron Sellers WR
John Outlaw DB
Steve Kiner DB
Reggie Rucker WR
Halvor Hagen OT
Bob Gladieux RB
Eric Crabtree WR
Phil Clark DB
Roland Moss TE
Houston Antwine DE

References

  1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297

See also

New England Patriots
Formerly the Boston Patriots and briefly the Bay State Patriots • Founded in 1959 • Based in Foxborough, Massachusetts
The Franchise
Stadiums
Culture
Lore
Rivalries
Head Coaches
Saban • Holovak • Rush • Mazur • Bengtson • Fairbanks • Erhardt • Meyer • Berry • Rust • MacPherson • Parcells • Carroll • Belichick
Division Championships (14)
1963 • 1978 • 1986 • 1996 • 1997 • 2001 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011
Conference Championships (6)
1985 • 1996 • 2001 • 2003 • 2004 • 2007
League Championships (3)
2001 • 2003 • 2004
Retired Numbers
20, 40, 56, 57, 73, 78, 79, 89
Seasons
1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011
Current League Affiliations
League: National Football League • Conference: American Football Conference • Division: East Division • Radio: WBZ-FM
1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011
Bold indicates Super Bowl victory
AFC East Central West NFC East Central West
Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles
Miami Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
New England Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Washington
1971 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl VI