1971 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

1971 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Ralph Wilson
Head coach Harvey Johnson
Home field War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record1–13
Division place5th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1971 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's second season in the National Football League, and the 12th overall.

Contents

For the second time in four seasons, the Bills finished with only one victory. The Bills 1–13 record (a 0.071 winning percentage) remains the worst in franchise history. The team allowed 394 points, the most in franchise history for a 14-game season.

The season began in turmoil when coach John Rauch resigned, forcing pro personnel director Harvey Johnson to assume the position for the second time on an interim basis. [lower-alpha 1]

Buffalo lost their first ten games of the season, extending their losing streak to 15 and winless streak to 17, dating back to the previous season. They were held scoreless in four games; their minus-210 point differential is the worst in the team's history, and one of the forty worst point-differentials in NFL history. [1]

Running back O. J. Simpson would have a stellar year, despite the Billsʼ poor team record. Simpson would rush for 742 yards on 183 attempts. However, Simpson would only score 5 touchdowns, the fewest for a single season in his career. The Bills would only score 21 touchdowns as a team during the 1971 season, a franchise low. [2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

The Bills had a strong draft in 1971, selecting several players who would have long-term impact with the team.

= Pro Bowler [lower-alpha 2]
1971 Buffalo Bills Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
14 J. D. Hill WR Arizona State
229 Jan White TE Ohio State
353 Bruce Jarvis C Washington
57 Jim Braxton FB West Virginia
5107 Donnie Green OT Purdue
113 Tim Beamer DB Illinois
6145Bill McKinley DE Arizona
7160 Bob Chandler WR USC
8183Louis RossDE South Carolina State
185 Tyrone Walls RB Missouri
9213Bob Strickland LB Auburn
11263Andy Browder T Texas A&I
12291Jim Sheffield K Texas A&M
13316Busty Underwood QB TCU
14341Jim HootsDE Missouri Southern
15369Charles ColeRB Toledo
16394Billy HunterDB Utah
17419Pat MorrisonTE Arkansas

[3]

Personnel

Coaches/Staff

1971 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches'

Final roster

1971 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserved


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1September 19 Dallas Cowboys L 37–490–1 War Memorial Stadium Recap
2September 26 Miami Dolphins L 14–290–2War Memorial Stadium Recap
3October 3at Minnesota Vikings L 0–190–3 Metropolitan Stadium Recap
4October 10 Baltimore Colts L 0–430–4War Memorial Stadium Recap
5October 17at New York Jets L 17–280–5 Shea Stadium Recap
6October 23at San Diego Chargers L 3–200–6 San Diego Stadium Recap
7October 31 St. Louis Cardinals L 23–280–7War Memorial Stadium Recap
8November 7at Miami DolphinsL 0–340–8 Miami Orange Bowl Recap
9November 14at New England Patriots L 33–380–9 Schaefer Stadium Recap
10November 21New York JetsL 7–200–10War Memorial Stadium Recap
11November 28New England PatriotsW 27–201–10War Memorial Stadium Recap
12December 5at Baltimore ColtsL 0–241–11 Memorial Stadium Recap
13December 12 Houston Oilers L 14–201–12War Memorial Stadium Recap
14December 19at Kansas City Chiefs L 9–221–13 Municipal Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Miami Dolphins 1031.7695–37–3–1315174W1
Baltimore Colts 1040.7146–28–3313140L1
New England Patriots 680.4294–46–5238325W1
New York Jets 680.4294–46–5212299W2
Buffalo Bills 1130.0711–71–10184394L3
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

[4]

Game summaries

Week 11

1234Total
Patriots337720
• Bills01701027
  • Date: November 28
  • Location: War Memorial Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 27,166
  • Game weather: 38 °F (3.3 °C); wind 12 mph (19 km/h)
Scoring summary
Q1NE Gogolak 40 yard field goalNE 3–0
Q2BUF Hill 11 yard pass from Shaw (Leypoldt kick)BUF 7–3
Q2NEGogolak 17 yard field goalBUF 7–6
Q2BUFHill 47 yard pass from Shaw (Leypoldt kick)BUF 14–6
Q2BUFLeypoldt 48 yard field goalBUF 17–6
Q3NE Nance 1 yard run (Gogolak kick)BUF 17–13
Q4BUF Simpson 7 yard run (Leypoldt kick)BUF 24–13
Q4NE Sellers 12 yard pass from Plunkett (Gogolak kick)BUF 24–20
Q4BUFLeypoldt 41 yard field goalBUF 27–20

[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Lou Saban, who resigned as coach of the Denver Broncos after eight games in 1971, would return to Buffalo in 1972; Saban had previously guided the Bills to consecutive American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965.
  2. ↑ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.

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References

  1. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: Team Game Finder Query Results
  2. ↑ "1971 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Buffalo Bills 1971 NFL Entry Draft". The Football Database.
  4. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Co. p. 297. ISBN   0-7611-2480-2.
  5. ↑ "New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills — November 28th, 1971". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved April 20, 2015.
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