1971 NFL season

1971 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration	September 19, 1971–December 19, 1971
Playoffs
Start date	December 25, 1971
AFC Champions	Miami Dolphins
NFC Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl VI
Date	January 16, 1972
Site	Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Pro Bowl
Date	January 23, 1972
Site	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
National Football League seasons  < 1970 1972 >

The 1971 NFL season was the 52nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl VI when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins. Before the season, the Boston Patriots changed their name to New England Patriots after they moved to their new home field, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Major rule changes

• Teams will not be charged a time out for an injured player unless the injury occurs inside the last two minutes of a half.

Division races

Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play. (More tiebreakers were provided in 1971 because, in 1970, changing just one game's outcome would have led to a coin toss between Dallas and Detroit for the NFC wild-card berth.)

National Football Conference

Week	Eastern		Central		Western		Wild Card
1	3 teams	1-0-0	2 teams	1-0-0	2 teams	1-0-0	3 teams	1-0-0
2	2 teams	2-0-0	CHICAGO	2-0-0	ATLANTA	1-0-1	2 teams	2-0-0
3	WASHINGTON	3-0-0	4 teams	2-1-0	SAN FRANCISCO	2-1-0	5 teams	2-1-0
4	WASHINGTON	4-0-0	CHICAGO*	3-1-0	LOS ANGELES	2-1-1	3 teams	3-1-0
5	WASHINGTON	5-0-0	MINNESOTA*	4-1-0	LOS ANGELES	3-1-1	DETROIT	4-1-0
6	WASHINGTON	5-1-0	MINNESOTA	5-1-0	LOS ANGELES	4-1-1	4 teams	4-2-0
7	WASHINGTON	6-1-0	MINNESOTA	6-1-0	SAN FRANCISCO	5-2-0	CHICAGO	5-2-0
8	WASHINGTON	6-1-0	MINNESOTA	6-2-0	SAN FRANCISCO	6-2-0	DETROIT	5-2-1
9	WASHINGTON	6-2-1	MINNESOTA	7-2-0	SAN FRANCISCO	6-3-0	CHICAGO*	6-3-0
10	DALLAS	7-3-0	MINNESOTA	8-2-0	LOS ANGELES	6-3-1	WASHINGTON*	6-3-1
11	DALLAS	8-3-0	MINNESOTA	9-2-0	SAN FRANCISCO	7-4-0	WASHINGTON*	7-3-1
12	DALLAS	9-3-0	MINNESOTA	9-3-0	LOS ANGELES	7-4-1	WASHINGTON	8-3-1
13	DALLAS	10-3-0	MINNESOTA	10-3-0	SAN FRANCISCO	8-5-0	WASHINGTON	9-3-1
14	DALLAS	11-3-0	MINNESOTA	11-3-0	SAN FRANCISCO	9-5-0	WASHINGTON	9-4-1

American Football Conference

Week	Eastern		Central		Western		Wild Card
1	2 teams	1-0-0	2 teams	1-0-0	SAN DIEGO	1-0-0	2 teams	1-0-0
2	MIAMI	1-0-1	CLEVELAND	2-0-0	OAKLAND*	1-1-0	6 teams	1-1-0
3	BALTIMORE	2-1-0	PITTSBURGH*	2-1-0	OAKLAND*	2-1-0	2 teams	2-1-0
4	BALTIMORE	3-1-0	CLEVELAND	3-1-0	OAKLAND*	3-1-0	KANSAS CITY	3-1-0
5	BALTIMORE	4-1-0	CLEVELAND	4-1-0	OAKLAND*	4-1-0	KANSAS CITY	4-1-0
6	MIAMI	4-1-1	CLEVELAND	4-2-0	OAKLAND*	5-1-0	KANSAS CITY	5-1-0
7	MIAMI	5-1-1	CLEVELAND	4-3-0	OAKLAND*	5-1-1	KANSAS CITY	5-1-1
8	MIAMI	6-1-1	CLEVELAND*	4-4-0	OAKLAND	5-1-2	BALTIMORE	6-2-0
9	MIAMI	7-1-1	CLEVELAND*	4-5-0	OAKLAND	6-1-2	BALTIMORE	7-2-0
10	MIAMI	8-1-1	CLEVELAND*	5-5-0	OAKLAND	7-1-2	KANSAS CITY	7-2-1
11	MIAMI	9-1-1	CLEVELAND	6-5-0	OAKLAND	7-2-2	BALTIMORE	8-3-0
12	MIAMI	9-2-1	CLEVELAND	7-5-0	KANSAS CITY	8-3-1	BALTIMORE	9-3-0
13	BALTIMORE	10-3-0	CLEVELAND	8-5-0	KANSAS CITY	9-3-1	MIAMI	9-3-1
14	MIAMI	10-3-1	CLEVELAND	9-5-0	KANSAS CITY	10-3-1	BALTIMORE	10-4-0

Final standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

  x  - clinched wild card berth,   y  - clinched division title

Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Miami Dolphins	10	3	1	.769	315	174
x-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
AFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	285	273
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	246	292
Houston Oilers	4	9	1	.308	251	330
Cincinnati Bengals	4	10	0	.286	284	265
AFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Kansas City Chiefs	10	3	1	.769	302	208
Oakland Raiders	8	4	2	.667	344	278
San Diego Chargers	6	8	0	.429	311	341
Denver Broncos	4	9	1	.308	203	275

NFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Dallas Cowboys	11	3	0	.786	406	222
x-Washington Redskins	9	4	1	.692	276	190
Philadelphia Eagles	6	7	1	.462	221	302
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.308	231	279
New York Giants	4	10	0	.286	228	362
NFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-Minnesota Vikings	11	3	0	.786	245	139
Detroit Lions	7	6	1	.538	341	286
Chicago Bears	6	8	0	.429	185	276
Green Bay Packers	4	8	2	.333	274	298
NFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
y-San Francisco 49ers	9	5	0	.643	300	216
Los Angeles Rams	8	5	1	.615	313	260
Atlanta Falcons	7	6	1	.538	274	277
New Orleans Saints	4	8	2	.333	266	347

Tiebreakers

• New England finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better point differential in head to head games, 13 points.

Playoffs

Main article: 1971–72 NFL playoffs

Note: Prior to the 1975 season, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly rotation.

	Divisional Playoffs				Conf. Championship Games				Super Bowl VI
	December 26 - Candlestick Park
	Washington Redskins	20
					January 2 - Texas Stadium
	San Francisco 49ers	24
					San Francisco 49ers	3
	December 25 - Metropolitan Stadium
					Dallas Cowboys	14
	Dallas Cowboys	20
									January 16 – Tulane Stadium
	Minnesota Vikings	12
									Dallas Cowboys	24
	December 26 - Cleveland Stadium
									Miami Dolphins	3
	Baltimore Colts	20
					January 2 - Miami Orange Bowl
	Cleveland Browns	3
					Baltimore Colts	0
	December 25 - Municipal Stadium
					Miami Dolphins	21
	Miami Dolphins (2OT)	27
	Kansas City Chiefs	24

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Alan Page, Defensive Tackle, Minnesota
Coach of the Year	George Allen, Washington
Defensive Player of the Year	Alan Page, Defensive Tackle, Minnesota
Offensive Rookie of the Year	John Brockington, Running Back, Green Bay
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Isiah Robertson, Linebacker, L.A. Rams

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1971-1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• 1971 season in details
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)