1971 San Francisco 49ers season

1971 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Josephine Morabito Jane Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Dick Nolan
Home stadium	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoffs	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Redskins) 24–20 Lost NFC Championship (at Cowboys) 3–14
Pro Bowlers	C Forrest Blue TE Ted Kwalick WR Gene Washington RB Vic Washington OLB Dave Wilcox CB Jimmy Johnson CB Bruce Taylor
←  1970 49ers seasons 1972  →

The 1971 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 22nd season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 26th overall. The 49ers appeared in the NFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year. The team moved into a new home, eleven-year-old Candlestick Park, which they shared with the baseball Giants.

After winning two of their first three games on the road, the 49ers lost their first game at Candlestick Park to the Los Angeles Rams 20–13. The 49ers rebounded and successfully defended their NFC West title by posting a 9–5 record. For a second year in a row, the 49ers’ season ended in disappointment with a 14–3 loss in the NFC Championship Game to the Dallas Cowboys, this time on the road.

Offseason

Main article: 1971 NFL draft

1971 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	23	Tim Anderson	DB	Ohio State	Signed with Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
2	37	Ernie Janet	G	Washington
2	49	Joe Orduna	RB	Nebraska
3	55	Sam Dickerson	WR	USC
3	75	Willie Parker	C	North Texas State
4	101	Tony Harris	DB	Toledo
5	114	Dean Shaternick	T	Kansas State
5	122	George Wells	LB	New Mexico State	Signed with Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
5	127	Marty Huff	LB	Michigan	Made roster in 1972
6	153	Al Bresler	WR	Auburn
7	179	John Watson	G	Oklahoma
8	205	Jim McCann	P	Arizona State
9	231	Therman Couch	LB	Iowa State
10	236	Ron Cardo	RB	Wisconsin–Oshkosh
10	257	Ernie Jennings	WR	Air Force
11	283	Joe Reed	QB	Mississippi State	Made roster in 1972
12	309	Jim Bunch	DT	Wisconsin–Platteville
13	335	John Bullock	RB	Purdue
14	361	Bill Dunstan	DT	Utah State
15	387	John Lennon	T	Colgate
16	414	Dave Pursell	DT	Kentucky
17	438	Leroy Charlton	DB	Florida A&M
Made roster

Source: ^[1]

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1971 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Team Owner(s) - Josephine Morabito & Jane Morabito General manager / Team President – Louis Spadia Personnel Scout - Dick Gallagher Head coaches Head coach - Dick Nolan Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator - Jim Shofner Quarterbacks / Wide Receivers – Jim Shofner Offensive Backs – Doug Scovil Offensive Line / Blocking – Dick Stanfel

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Mike Giddings Defensive Backfield / Secondary – Don Heinrich Special teams coaches Chet Franklin

Roster

1971 San Francisco 49ers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 John Brodie 11 Steve Spurrier Running backs (RB) 42 Doug Cunningham 17 John Isenbarger 35 Larry Schreiber 22 Vic Washington 40 Ken Willard Wide receivers (WR) 85 Preston Riley 24 Jimmy Thomas 18 Gene Washington 88 Dick Witcher Tight ends (TE) 82 Ted Kwalick 89 Bob Windsor

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Cas Banaszek T 65 Randy Beisler G 75 Forrest Blue C 66 Elmer Collett G 69 Woody Peoples G 76 Len Rohde T 67 John Watson T Defensive linemen (DL) 72 Bill Belk DE 74 Earl Edwards DT 86 Cedrick Hardman DE 53 Tommy Hart DE 80 Stan Hindman DT 56 Bob Hoskins DT 70 Charlie Krueger DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Ed Beard MLB 57 Frank Nunley MLB 58 Jim Sniadecki OLB 52 Skip Vanderbundt OLB 64 Dave Wilcox OLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Johnny Fuller SS/FS 37 Jimmy Johnson CB 32 Mel Phillips SS 38 Mike Simpson CB/S 25 Roosevelt Taylor FS 44 Bruce Taylor CB Special teams (ST) 30 Bruce Gossett K 15 Jim McCann P

Practice squad -- Bill Dunstan DT 20 Tony Harris CB 54 Marty Huff LB -- Ernie Janet G -- Joe Orduna RB -- Willie Parker C 19 Joe Reed QB Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 8	Cleveland Browns	W 38–24	1–0	Candlestick Park	40,000
2	August 13	at Miami Dolphins	T 17–17	1–0–1	Miami Orange Bowl	57,008
3	August 22	San Diego Chargers	W 28–17	2–0–1	Candlestick Park	40,000
4	August 28	vs. Denver Broncos	W 33–17	3–0–1	Joe Albi Stadium	33,184
5	September 4	at Oakland Raiders	L 28–34	3–1–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,696
6	September 9	at Los Angeles Rams	L 20–23	3–2–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	55,607

^[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 19	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–20	0–1	Atlanta Stadium	56,990
2	September 26	at New Orleans Saints	W 38–20	1–1	Tulane Stadium	81,595
3	October 3	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–3	2–1	Veterans Stadium	65,358
4	October 10	Los Angeles Rams	L 13–20	2–2	Candlestick Park	44,000
5	October 17	Chicago Bears	W 13–0	3–2	Candlestick Park	44,000
6	October 24	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 26–14	4–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,419
7	October 31	New England Patriots	W 27–10	5–2	Candlestick Park	45,092
8	November 7	at Minnesota Vikings	W 13–9	6–2	Metropolitan Stadium	49,784
9	November 14	New Orleans Saints	L 20–26	6–3	Candlestick Park	45,138
10	November 21	at Los Angeles Rams	L 6–17	6–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	80,050
11	November 28	at New York Jets	W 24–21	7–4	Shea Stadium	63,936
12	December 6	Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–26	7–5	Candlestick Park	45,306
13	December 12	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–3	8–5	Candlestick Park	44,582
14	December 19	Detroit Lions	W 31–27	9–5	Candlestick Park	45,580
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	9	5	0	.643	2–4	7–4	300	216	W2
Los Angeles Rams	8	5	1	.615	4–1–1	7–3–1	313	260	W1
Atlanta Falcons	7	6	1	.538	3–2–1	4–6–1	274	277	W1
New Orleans Saints	4	8	2	.333	2–4	4–7	266	347	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason

See also: 1971–72 NFL playoffs

Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 26	Washington Redskins	W 24–20	1–0	Candlestick Park	45,327
NFC Championship	January 2, 1972	at Dallas Cowboys	L 3–14	1–1	Texas Stadium	63,409

Game summaries

NFC Championship: vs. Dallas Cowboys

NFC Championship: Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	0	3	0	3
Cowboys	0	7	0	7	14

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

• Date: January 2, 1972
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. EST/12:30 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 63,409
• Referee: Tommy Bell
• TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck and Pat Summerall

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SF DAL 2 Cowboys Calvin Hill 1-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good 0 7 3 49ers 28-yard field goal by Bruce Gossett 3 7 4 Cowboys Duane Thomas 2-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good 3 14 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 3 14

References

1. "1971 San Francisco 49ers Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
2. "1971 San Francisco 49ers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved October 31, 2023.

External links

• 1971 49ers on Pro Football Reference
• 49ers Schedule on jt-sw.com