1971 Cleveland Browns season

Last updated

1971 Cleveland Browns season
General manager Harold Sauerbrei
Head coach Nick Skorich
Home stadium Cleveland Stadium
Radio partner WHK
Results
Record9–5
Division place1st AFC Central
PlayoffsLost Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Colts) 3–20
Pro Bowlers RB Leroy Kelly
TE Milt Morin
The Browns hosting the Colts in the 1971 AFC Divisional Playoffs Game. 1986 Jeno's Pizza - 31 - Rick Volk and Leroy Kelly.jpg
The Browns hosting the Colts in the 1971 AFC Divisional Playoffs Game.

The 1971 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 22nd season with the National Football League.

Contents

After missing the playoffs the previous year, the Browns got off to a good start at 4–1 only to stumble losing four straight to fall to 4–5. However, the Browns would rebound to win the final five games of the season for the AFC Central Division title. Just as the 1967 Browns returned to the playoffs following a one-year absence, so, too, did the '71 club, which was in its first season under new head coach Nick Skorich after Blanton Collier's final team in 1970 had finished just 7–7, ending a string of three consecutive postseason berths.

As was the case in 1967, the '71 Browns went 9–5 and won a division crown. They captured the AFC Central for the first time, finishing three games in front of the soon-to-emerge Pittsburgh Steelers (6–8). In the playoffs the Browns would fall in the first round 20–3 to the Baltimore Colts. Running back Leroy Kelly was on the downside of his Pro Football Hall of Fame career, but he did manage to rush for 865 yards and 10 touchdowns – still good for a 14-game season. Wide receiver Fair Hooker led the team in receptions with 45. [1]

Offseason

Draft

1971 Cleveland Browns draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
114 Clarence Scott  *  DB Kansas State
240 Bo Cornell   LB Washington
366 Paul Staroba   WR Michigan Played with Browns in 1972
368 Charlie Hall  LB Houston
492 Bubba Pena   G UMass Played with Browns in 1972
5118Stan Brown WR Purdue
6142 Doug Dieken  *  T Illinois
6144Jay Dixon  DE Boston University
7170Bob Jacobs  K Wyoming
8196Larry Zelina  RB Ohio State
9222Wilmur Levels DB North Texas State
10248Steve Casteel LB Oklahoma
11274 Mike Sikich  G Northwestern
12300Tony Blanchard  TE North Carolina
13326Thad Jamula T Lehigh
14352 Rick Kingrea  LB Tulane
15378Bill Green DB Western Kentucky
16404Dave Smith WR Mississippi State
17430Leo Dillon  C Dayton
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Staff

1971 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

Roster

1971 Cleveland Browns 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 (ST)

 Practice squad


Rookies in italics

Exhibition schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1August 8at San Francisco 49ers L 24–380–1 Candlestick Park 40,000
2August 13 Los Angeles Rams L 5–170–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 52,503
3August 20at Dallas Cowboys L 15–160–3 Cotton Bowl 69,099
4August 28vs. Chicago Bears L 19–200–4 Notre Dame Stadium 43,568
5September 4 New York Giants W 30–71-4Cleveland Municipal Stadium82,710
6September 10at St. Louis Cardinals L 13–271-5 Busch Memorial Stadium 46,171

There was a doubleheader on September 4, 1971 Jets vs Steelers and Giants vs Browns.

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 19 Houston Oilers W 31–01–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 73,387 Recap
2September 26at Baltimore Colts W 14–132–0 Memorial Stadium 56,837 Recap
3October 4 Oakland Raiders L 20–342–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium84,285 Recap
4October 10 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–173–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium83,391 Recap
5October 17at Cincinnati Bengals W 27–244–1 Riverfront Stadium 60,284 Recap
6October 24 Denver Broncos L 0–274–2Cleveland Municipal Stadium75,674 Recap
7October 31 Atlanta Falcons L 14–314–3Cleveland Municipal Stadium76,825 Recap
8November 7at Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–264–4 Three Rivers Stadium 50,202 Recap
9November 14at Kansas City Chiefs L 7–134–5 Municipal Stadium 50,388 Recap
10November 21 New England Patriots W 27–75–5Cleveland Municipal Stadium65,238 Recap
11November 28at Houston Oilers W 37–246–5 Houston Astrodome 37,921 Recap
12December 5 Cincinnati Bengals W 31–277–5Cleveland Municipal Stadium82,705 Recap
13December 12at New Orleans Saints W 21–178–5 Tulane Stadium 72,794 Recap
14December 19at Washington Redskins W 20–139–5 RFK Stadium 53,041 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Houston

The Browns open the regular season by blasting the Oilers, 31-0, in Nick Skorich's first game as coach. Leroy Kelly scores the Browns' first two touchdowns on 1-yard runs, and Bill Nelsen and Mike Phipps both throw a touchdown pass. The Browns intercept five passes (two by rookie Clarence Scott) and yield just 11 first downs.

Week 2: At Baltimore

The Browns survived a late mistake and upset the defending Super Bowl-champion Colts, 14-13 at Baltimore. After Walt Sumner intercepts a Johnny Unitas pass with five seconds left (Cleveland's fifth interception), he attempts to lateral to Scott, who never touches the ball as Baltimore's Ray Perkins recovers at the Cleveland 27. But the Colts, out of timeouts, watch the clock expire before they can get off a field-goal attempt.

Week 5: At Cincinnati

The Browns edge the Bengals, 27-24, at Cincinnati on Bo Scott's third touchdown - a 4-yard run with 39 seconds remaining. The win improves Cleveland's record to 4-1 and drops Paul Brown's defending AFC Central-champion Bengals to 1-4. The Browns get a break when defensive end Jack Gregory recovers a fumble at the Cincinnati 10, setting up a Nelsen-to-Scott TD pass.

Week 7: vs. Atlanta

Week 7: Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Falcons1477331
Browns007714

at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Date: October 31
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C), relative humidity 72%, round (wind) 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 76,825
  • TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui (play–by–play), Irv Cross (color commentator) and Frank Clarke (sideline reporter)
Game information

Week 10 vs. New England

The Browns snap a four-game losing streak with a 27-7 win over the Patriots at Cleveland Stadium. Kelly rushes for 113 yards and scores two touchdowns, one on a 7-yard pass from Nelsen for the game's first score. The Browns intercept four passes by New England rookie Jim Plunkett, who has trouble adjusting on a windy day.

Week 12 vs. Cincinnati

The Browns clinch their first AFC Central Division title with a 31-27 win over Cincinnati at Cleveland. Leroy Kelly, who surpassed the 100-yard mark for the 26th time, scores the first and last touchdowns to complement a 224-yard passing performance by Nelsen.

Postseason

RoundDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
DivisionalDecember 26 Baltimore Colts L 3–200–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 74,082 Recap

Standings

AFC Central
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Cleveland Browns 950.6435–17–4285273W5
Pittsburgh Steelers 680.4294–25–6246292L1
Houston Oilers 491.3082–44–7251330W3
Cincinnati Bengals 4100.2861–53–8284265L3
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  1. ↑ "Season statistics and summary at Cleveland Browns.com". Archived from the original on October 25, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  2. ↑ "1971 Cleveland Browns Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.