1971 Atlanta Falcons season

1971 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
General manager	Norm Van Brocklin
Owner	Rankin M. Smith, Sr.
Home field	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	7–6–1
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1971 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's sixth year in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first winning season in franchise history.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1971 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	7	Joe Profit	Running back	Northeast Louisiana
Made roster

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

1971 Atlanta Falcons staff
	Front office Chairman of the Board – Rankin M. Smith, Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General Manager – Norm Van Brocklin Head coaches Head Coach – Norm Van Brocklin Offensive coaches Offensive Backfield – Billy Ray Barnes Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive Line – Duane Putnam			Defensive coaches Head Defensive – Marion Campbell Defensive Line – Bob Griffin Defensive Backfield – Fred Bruney

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 19, 1971	San Francisco 49ers	W 20–17	56,990
2	September 26, 1971	at Los Angeles Rams	T 20–20	57,895
3	October 3, 1971	at Detroit Lions	L 41–38	54,418
4	October 10, 1971	St. Louis Cardinals	L 26–9	58,850
5	October 17, 1971	Los Angeles Rams	L 24–16	58,850
6	October 24, 1971	New Orleans Saints	W 28–6	58,850
7	October 31, 1971	at Cleveland Browns	W 31–14	76,825
8	November 7, 1971	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 9–6	59,604
9	November 14, 1971	New York Giants	L 21–17	58,850
10	November 22, 1971	Green Bay Packers	W 28–21	58,850
11	November 28, 1971	at Minnesota Vikings	L 24–7	49,784
12	December 5, 1971	Oakland Raiders	W 24–13	58,850
13	December 12, 1971	at San Francisco 49ers	L 24–3	44,582
14	December 19, 1971	at New Orleans Saints	W 24–20	75,954

Standings

NFC West
	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.

References

1. "1971 Atlanta Falcons draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2014.

External links

• 1971 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com