1971 Cincinnati Bengals season

1971 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head Coach	Paul Brown
Home Field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	4–10–0
Place	4th AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1970	1972

The 1971 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's fourth year in professional football and its second with the National Football League. Cornerback Lemar Parrish set a team record with seven interceptions, including one for a 65-yard score, Cincinnati's first-ever interception return for a touchdown.

The Bengals, coming off their first division winning season of 1970, drafted quarterback Ken Anderson in the third round. Anderson would go on to play 16 seasons for the club and set numerous team passing records.

While 1971 proved to be a disappointment, losing six games by four points or less, statically this was the first year the Bengals led their opponents in almost every category.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1971 Cincinnati Bengals Draft
Round	Pick #	Overall	Name	Position	College
1	15	15	Vernon Holland	Offensive Tackle	Tennessee State
2	15	41	Steve Lawson	Guard	Kansas
3	15	67	Ken Anderson	Quarterback	Augustana
4	15	93	Fred Willis	Running Back	Boston College
5	6	110	Arthur May	Defensive End	Tuskegee
7	11	167	Cornelius Craig	Defensive Back	Fisk
8	15	197	Fred Herring	Defensive Back	Tennessee State
9	15	223	Gary Gustafson	Linebacker	Montana State
10	15	249	Jack Stambaugh	Guard	Oregon
11	15	275	Edward Marshall	Wide Receiver	Cameron State
12	15	301	James Hayden	Defensive End	Memphis State
13	15	327	David Knapman	Tight End	Central Washington
14	15	353	Irvin Mallory	Defensive Back	Virginia Union
15	15	379	Bob Thomas	Running Back	Arizona State
16	15	405	Mark Debevc	Linebacker	Ohio State
17	16	432	Sam Pearson	Defensive Back	Western Kentucky

Regular season

Schedule

Season results
Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Attendance	Location
September 19	Philadelphia Eagles	W	37–14	55,880	Riverfront
September 26	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L	10–21	48,448	Three Rivers
October 3	at Green Bay Packers	L	17–20	56,263	Lambeau Field
October 10	Miami Dolphins	L	13–23	60,099	Riverfront
October 17	Cleveland Browns	L	24–27	60,284	Riverfront
October 24	at Oakland Raiders	L	27–31	54,699	Oakland Coliseum
October 31	at Houston Oilers	L	6–10	37,947	Astrodome
November 7	Atlanta Falcons	L	6–9	59,604	Riverfront
November 14	at Denver Broncos	W	24–10	51,200	Mile High
November 21	Houston Oilers	W	28–13	59,390	Riverfront
November 28	San Diego Chargers	W	31–0	59,580	Riverfront
December 5	at Cleveland Browns	L	27–31	82,705	Cleveland
December 12	Pittsburgh Steelers	L	13–21	60,022	Riverfront
December 19	at New York Jets	L	21–35	63,151	Shea

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	285	273	W-5
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	246	292	L-1
Houston Oilers	4	9	1	.308	251	330	W-3
Cincinnati Bengals	4	10	0	.286	284	265	L-3

Team stats

1971 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS	Bengals	Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS	236	213
Rushing	109	93
Passing	115	102
Penalty	12	18
TOTAL NET YARDS	4266	3906
Avg Per Game	304.7	279.0
Total Plays	867	811
Avg. Per Play	4.9	4.8
NET YARDS RUSHING	2142	1778
Avg. Per Game	153.0	127.0
Total Rushes	462	446
NET YARDS PASSING	2124	2128
Avg. Per Game	151.7	152.0
Sacked Yards Lost	40–303	30–254
Gross Yards	2427	2382
Att. Completions	365–214	335–157
Completion Pct.	58.6	46.9
Intercepted	11	27
PUNTS-AVERAGE	73–44.7	73–40.9
PENALTIES-YARDS	82-921	72–722
FUMBLES-BALL LOST	29–12	21–12
TOUCHDOWNS	32	32
Rushing	14	11
Passing	15	19
Returns	3	2

Score by Periods	1	2	3	4	Tot
Bengals	58	64	91	71	284
Opponents	44	71	48	102	265

Team leaders

• Passing: Virgil Carter (222 Att, 138 Comp, 1624 Yds, 62.2 Pct, 10 TD, 7 Int, 86.2 Rating)
• Rushing: Fred Willis (135 Att, 590 Yds, 4.4 Avg, 36 Long, 7 TD)
• Receiving: Bob Trumpy (40 Rec, 531 Yds, 13.3 Avg, 44 Long, 3 TD)
• Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 91 points (20 FG; 31 PAT)

Roster

Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks 11 Virgil Carter 12 Greg Cook 14 Ken Anderson Running Backs 18 Paul Robinson 19 Essex Johnson 30 Jess Phillips 33 Fred Willis 40 Ron Lamb 44 Doug Dressler Wide Receivers 10 Eric Crabtree 17 Speedy Thomas 25 Chip Myers 35 Mike Haffner 83 Ed Marshall Tight Ends 88 Bruce Coslet 84 Bob Trumpy 87 Mike Kelly		Offensive Linemen 54 Bob Johnson C 63 Guy Dennis G 68 Steve Lawson G 71 Rufus Mayes T 72 Howard Fest G 73 Pat Matson G 75 Ernie Wright T 76 Vernon Holland T Defensive Linemen 70 Ron Carpenter DT 74 Mike Reid DT 78 Willie Lee Jones DT 79 Steve Chomyszak DT 80 Ken Johnson DE 81 Nick Roman DE 82 Royce Berry DE		Linebackers 51 Ken Avery LB 52 Doug Adams LB 53 Bill Peterson LB 58 Al Beauchamp LB 59 Larry Ely LB 66 Bill Bergey LB Defensive Backs 13 Ken Riley CB 20 Lamar Parrish CB 23 Al Coleman S 26 Jim Harris CB 27 Ken Dyer S 34 Neal Craig S 29 Sandy Durko S 31 Fletcher Smith CB Special Teams 15 Dave Lewis P 16 Horst Muhlmann K

Awards and records

Pro Bowl Selections

• CB Lemar Parrish

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site