1971 New England Patriots season

Last updated

1971 New England Patriots season
Owner Billy Sullivan
General manager Upton Bell
Head coach John Mazur
Home field Schaefer Stadium
Results
Record6–8
Division placeT-3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers None
AP All-Pros None
Uniform
AFC-1971-Uniform-NE.PNG

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. [1]

Contents

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, [2] [3] 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. [4] Thomas became embroiled in a conflict with head coach John Mazur, [5] 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. [6]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1971 New England Patriots draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
11 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

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches




Roster

1971 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

  • 26 Clarence Scott SS

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1September 19 Oakland Raiders W 20–61–0 Schaefer Stadium Recap
2September 26 Detroit Lions L 7–341–1Schaefer Stadium Recap
3October 3 Baltimore Colts L 3–231–2Schaefer Stadium Recap
4October 10 New York Jets W 20–02–2Schaefer Stadium Reacp
5October 17at Miami Dolphins L 3–412–3 Miami Orange Bowl Recap
6October 24at Dallas Cowboys L 21–442–4 Texas Stadium Recap
7October 31at San Francisco 49ers L 10–272–5 Candlestick Park Recap
8November 7 Houston Oilers W 28–203–5Schaefer Stadium Recap
9November 14 Buffalo Bills W 38–334–5Schaefer Stadium Recap
10November 21at Cleveland Browns L 7–274–6 Cleveland Stadium Recap
11November 28at Buffalo Bills L 20–274–7 War Memorial Stadium Recap
12December 5 Miami Dolphins W 34–135–7Schaefer Stadium Recap
13December 12at New York Jets L 6–135–8 Shea Stadium Recap
14December 19at Baltimore Colts W 21–176–8 Memorial 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.

[7]

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References

  1. ↑ New England Is Their Third Name
  2. ↑ "New England opens park with victory". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 16, 1971. p. 6B.
  3. ↑ "Traffic situation 'hard to forget'". The Telegraph. (Nashua, New Hampshire). Associated Press. August 16, 1971. p. 18.
  4. ↑ "Cowboys unload Thomas, obtain Garret from Pats". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 1, 1971. p. 4B.
  5. ↑ "Thomas packs bags, exits Patriot camp". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 4, 1971. p. 2B.
  6. ↑ "Thomas trade called off". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 5, 1971. p. 2B.
  7. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 297


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