1971 Buffalo Bills season

1971 Buffalo Bills season
Head Coach	Harvey Johnson
Home Field	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	1-13
Place	5th AFC East
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1970	1972

The 1971 Buffalo Bills season was the 12th season for the club and its 2nd in the National Football League.

For the second time in four seasons, the Bills finished with a 1-13 record. 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. Lou Saban, who resigned as coach of the Denver Broncos after eight games in 1971, returned to Buffalo for 1972. Saban guided the Bills to the American Football League championship in 1964 and 1965.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	4	J.D. Hill	Wide Receiver	Arizona State
2	29 (3rd in the round)	Jan White	Tight End	Ohio State
3	53 (1st in the round)	Bruce Jarvis	Center	Washington
3	57 (4th in the round)	Jim Braxton	Fullback	West Virginia
5	107 (2nd in the round)	Donnie Green	Offensive Tackle	Purdue
5	113 (6th in the round)	Tim Beamer	Defensive Back	Illinois
6	145 (10th in the round)	Bill McKinley	Defensive End	Arizona
7	160 (3rd in the round)	Bob Chandler	Wide Receiver	Southern California
8	183 (1st in the round)	Louis Ross	Defensive End	South Carolina State

^[1]

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Streak	Attendance
1	Sept. 19	vs. Dallas Cowboys	Loss 49-37	0-1	L1	46,206
2	Sept. 26	vs. Miami Dolphins	Loss 29-14	0-2	L2	45,139
3	Oct. 3	at Minnesota Vikings	Loss 19-0	0-3	L3	47,900
4	Oct. 10	vs. Baltimore Colts	Loss 43-0	0-4	L4	46,206
5	Oct. 17	at New York Jets	Loss 28-17	0-5	L5	61,948
6	Oct. 23	at San Diego Chargers	Loss 20-3	0-6	L6	49,261
7	Oct. 31	vs. St. Louis Cardinals	Loss 28-23	0-7	L7	40,040
8	Nov. 7	at Miami Dolphins	Loss 34-0	0-8	L8	61,016
9	Nov. 14	at New England Patriots	Loss 38-33	0-9	L9	57,446
10	Nov. 21	vs. New York Jets	Loss 20-7	0-10	L10	41,577
11	Nov. 28	vs. New England Patriots	Win 27-20	1-10	W1	27,166
12	Dec. 5	at Baltimore Colts	Loss 24-0	1-11	L1	58,476
13	Dec. 12	vs. Houston Oilers	Loss 20-14	1-12	L2	28,107
14	Dec. 19	at Kansas City Chiefs	Loss 22-9	1-13	L3	48,121

^[2]

Standings[]

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
AFC East
Miami Dolphins	10	3	1	.769	315	174
Baltimore Colts	10	4	0	.714	313	140
New England Patriots	6	8	0	.429	238	325
New York Jets	6	8	0	.429	212	299
Buffalo Bills	1	13	0	.071	184	394

^[3]

Game summaries[]

Week 1: Dallas Cowboys[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	21	7	14	49
Bills	14	10	6	7	37

at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York

Date: September 19
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 55°F, wind 9 mph
Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring Information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring Information	Cowboys	Bills
1					Cowboys	Calvin Hill 2-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good	7	0
1					Bills	Haven Moses 73-yard touchdown reception from Dennis Shaw, Grant Guthrie kick good	7	7
1					Bills	O.J. Simpson 6-yard touchdown run, Grant Guthrie kick good	7	14
2					Cowboys	Bob Hayes 76-yard touchdown reception from Craig Morton, Mike Clark kick good	14	14
2					Cowboys	Walt Garrison 3-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good	21	14
2					Bills	40-yard field goal by Grant Guthrie	21	17
2					Bills	Marlin Briscoe 75-yard touchdown reception from Dennis Shaw, Grant Guthrie kick good	21	24
2					Cowboys	Calvin Hill 3-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good	28	24
3					Bills	Marlin Briscoe 23-yard touchdown reception from Dennis Shaw, Grant Guthrie kick no good	28	30
3					Cowboys	Reggie Rucker 19-yard touchdown reception from Craig Morton, Mike Clark kick good	35	30
4					Cowboys	Calvin Hill 1-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good	42	30
4					Cowboys	Calvin Hill 1-yard touchdown run, Mike Clark kick good	49	30
4					Bills	Ike Hill 26-yard touchdown reception from Dennis Shaw, Grant Guthrie kick good	49	37
"TOP" = Time of Possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							49	37

Roster[]

Awards and honors[]

References[]

↑ Buffalo Bills 1971 NFL Entry Draft
↑ [1], 1971 Buffalo Bills Schedule
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297

1971 NFL seasonv · d · e
AFC	East	Central	West	NFC	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
1971 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl VI

[Buffalo_Bills_1971_NFL_Entry_Draft-1] Buffalo Bills 1971 NFL Entry Draft

[test-2] [1], 1971 Buffalo Bills Schedule

[3] NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297

[1]

[2]

[3]