1971 Minnesota Vikings season

1971 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Bud Grant
General manager	Jim Finks
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost NFC Divisional Playoff (Cowboys) 12-20

The 1971 Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise's 11th season in the National Football League. The Vikings won the NFC Central title as they finished with a record of 11 wins and three losses, before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys at home, 20–12, in the NFC Divisional Playoff game.

In 2007, ESPN.com ranked the 1971 Vikings as the fourth-greatest defense in NFL history,^[1] saying, "[c]onsidering that their motto was 'Meet at the quarterback,' it's no surprise that the [Purple People] Eaters held opposing QBs to a 40.4 rating, one of the lowest ever." ESPN also noted that the 1971 Vikings "shut out three opponents, and only one team scored more than 20 points against them. As a result, Alan Page became the first defensive player to ever be named NFL MVP. Carl Eller, Jim Marshall and safety Paul Krause joined Page on the All-Pro team."

Offseason

1971 Draft

1971 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1	24	24	Leo Hayden	Running Back	Ohio State
2	24	50	Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles^[a]
3	24	76	Eddie Hackett	Wide Receiver	Alcorn A&M
4	24	102	Vince Clements	Running Back	Connecticut
5	24	128	Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers^[b]
6	24	154	Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles^[a]
7	24	180	Gene Mack	Linebacker	Texas-El Paso
8	26	208	John Farley	Defensive End	Johnson C. Smith	originally Colts pick^[c]
9	24	232	Tim Sullivan	Running Back	Iowa
10	24	258	Chris Morris	Guard	Indiana
11	24	284	Mike Walker	Linebacker	Tulane
12	24	310	Reggie Holmes	Defensive Back	Wisconsin–Stout
13	24	336	Benny Fry	Center	Houston
14	24	362	Jim Gallagher	Linebacker	Yale
15	24	388	Jeff Wright	Defensive Back	Minnesota
16	23	413	Greg Edmonds	Wide Receiver	Penn State	originally 49ers pick^[d]
17	23	439	Ken Duncan	Punter	Tulsa	originally 49ers pick^[e]

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 2nd round selection (50th overall), 6th round selection (154th overall), 1972 3rd round selection (76th overall), and OL Steve Smith to Philadelphia for QB Norm Snead.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 5th round selection (128th overall) to Pittsburg for QB Kent Nix.

^{^[c]} Minnesota originally chose 206th overall but passed allowing Dallas and Baltimore to move up and Minnesota to choose 208th overall.

^{^[d]} Minnesota originally chose 414th overall but moved up to the 413th overall selection when San Francisco passed.

^{^[e]} Minnesota originally chose 440th overall but moved up to the 439th overall selection when Oakland passed on the 435th overall selection and allowed Los Angeles, Detroit, Miami, San Francisco, Minnesota, Dallas, and Baltimore to move up.

Roster

1971 Minnesota Vikings final roster

Quarterbacks

15 Gary Cuozzo
16 Norm Snead

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

87 John Beasley
83 Stu Voigt

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

81 Carl Eller DE
77 Gary Larsen DT
70 Jim Marshall DE
88 Alan Page DT
69 Doug Sutherland DT

Linebackers

Defensive backs

20 Bobby Bryant CB
49 Dale Hackbart FS
29 Karl Kassulke SS
22 Paul Krause FS
45 Ed Sharockman CB
40 Charlie West CB
23 Jeff Wright SS
43 Nate Wright CB

Special teams

14 Fred Cox K
19 Bob Lee P/QB

Reserve lists

80 John Henderson WR (IR)
63 Jim Vellone G (IR)
59 Lonnie Warwick LB (IR)

Practice squad

Rookies in italics
54 Active, 4 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Results		Venue	Attendance
Week	Date	Opponent	Final score	Team record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 20	at Detroit Lions	W 16–13	1–0	Tiger Stadium	54,418
2	September 26	Chicago Bears	L 17-20	1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900
3	October 3	Buffalo Bills	W 19–0	2–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900
4	October 10	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–0	3–1	Veterans Stadium	65,358
5	October 17	at Green Bay Packers	W 24–13	4–1	Lambeau Field	56,263
6	October 25	Baltimore Colts	W 10–3	5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
7	October 31	at New York Giants	W 17–10	6–1	Yankee Stadium	62,829
8	November 7	San Francisco 49ers	L 9-13	6–2	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
9	November 14	Green Bay Packers	W 3–0	7–2	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
10	November 21	at New Orleans Saints	W 23–10	8–2	Tulane Stadium	83,130
11	November 28	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–7	9–2	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
12	December 5	at San Diego Chargers	L 14-30	9–3	San Diego Stadium	54,505
13	December 11	Detroit Lions	W 29–10	10–3	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
14	December 19	at Chicago Bears	W 27–10	11–3	Soldier Field	55,049

Game summaries

Week 6

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	0	0	3	3
• Vikings	7	0	3	0	10

Date: October 25
Location: Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota
Game start: 8:00 p.m.
Game weather: 53°F, wind 11 mph
Television network: ABC

Scoring summary

1	MIN	Dave Osborn 2 yard run (Fred Cox kick)	Vikings 7–0

3	MIN	Fred Cox 32 yard field goal	Vikings 10–0

4	BAL	Jim O'Brien 40 yard field goal	Vikings 10–3

^[2]

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 25	Dallas Cowboys	L 12-20	Metropolitan Stadium	47,307

Standings

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.

Awards, records, and honors

All-Pros

First Team

OT Ron Yary (AP, NEA, PFWA, PFW)
DE Carl Eller (AP, NEA, PFWA, PFW)
DT Alan Page (AP, NEA, PFWA, PFW)
S Paul Krause (NEA)

Pro Bowlers

League leaders

Bob Lee – Most punts (89), most punting yards (3515)
Charlie West – Longest interception return (89 yards)
Alan Page – Most safeties (2)

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Gary Cuozzo	842
Passing Touchdowns	Gary Cuozzo	6
Rushing Yards	Clint Jones	675
Rushing Touchdowns	Dave Osborn	5
Receiving Yards	Bob Grim	691
Receiving Touchdowns	Bob Grim	7
Points	Fred Cox	91
Kickoff Return Yards	Charlie West	556
Punt Return Yards	Charlie West	94
Interceptions	Charlie West	7

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 26)
Passing Offense	1,655 Yards	118.2 YPG	25th
Rushing Offense	1,695 Yards	121.1 YPG	17th
Total Offense	3,350 Yards	239.3 YPG	23rd
Passing Defense	1,806 Yards	129.0 YPG	3rd
Rushing Defense	1,600 Yards	114.3 YPG	6th
Total Defense	3,406 Yards	243.3 YPG	2nd

References

"1971 Minnesota Vikings Statistics & Players". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.

Minnesota Vikings
Founded in 1961 Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Franchise	Franchise History Expansion draft Players First-round draft picks Quarterbacks Head coaches Seasons Statistics Draft Broadcasters
Stadiums	Metropolitan Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium
Culture	Purple People Eaters "Skol, Vikings" Herschel Walker trade Love Boat scandal "Little Minnesota" (How I Met Your Mother episode) Cheerleaders
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers
Lore	The Wrong Way Run Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy Gary Anderson's missed field goal Hail Mary 2010 Metrodome roof collapse
Division championships (19)	1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1980 1989 1992 1994 1998 2000 2008 2009 2015
Conference championships (4)	1969 1973 1974 1976
League championships (0^†)	^† does not include 1969 NFL championship
Retired numbers	10 53 70 77 80 88
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division
Seasons (56)	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 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Championship seasons in bold

Minnesota Vikings seasons
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 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1971 NFL season

East	Central	West	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

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