1971 New England Patriots season

1971 New England Patriots season
Head coach John Mazur
General manager Upton Bell
Owner Billy Sullivan
Home field Schaeffer Stadium
Results
Record 6–8
Division place T-3rd AFC East
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers none
AP All-Pros none
Uniform

The 1971 season New England Patriots season was the team's twelfth, and second in the National Football League. The 1971 season was the first that the team played as the New England Patriots, changing their name from the Boston Patriots, briefly to the Bay State Patriots before changing it again to the New England Patriots, in an effort to regionalize the franchise's equal distance from Boston and Providence.[1]

The Patriots finished the season with a record of six wins and eight losses, and finished third in the AFC East division. It was the first season the Patriots played in Schaeffer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts after playing in three different stadiums the previous three seasons in Boston.

During training camp, the Dallas Cowboys traded disgruntled running back Duane Thomas to the Patriots for Carl Garrett and Halvor Hagen. Thomas became embroiled in a conflict with coach John Mazur, prompting Patriots general manager Upton Bell to request that Commissioner Pete Rozelle void the trade three days after it had been made. Rozelle granted Bell's request, and the traded players returned to where they had been prior to the deal.

Staff

New England Patriots 1971 staff
Front Office

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Offensive Backs/Receivers – Sam Rutigliano
  • Receivers – Jerry Stoltz
  • Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty
  

Defensive Coaches

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Attendance
PF PA Rst
1 September 19 Oakland Raiders 20 6 W Schaeffer Stadium 1–0 55,405
2 September 26 Detroit Lions 7 34 L Schaeffer Stadium 1–1 61,057
3 October 3 Baltimore Colts 3 23 L Schaeffer Stadium 1–2 61,232
4 October 10 New York Jets 20 0 W Schaeffer Stadium 2–2 61,357
5 October 17 at Miami Dolphins 3 41 L Miami Orange Bowl 2–3 58,822
6 October 24 at Dallas Cowboys 21 44 L Texas Stadium 2–4 65,708
7 October 31 at San Francisco 49ers 10 27 L Candlestick Park 2–5 45,092
8 November 7 Houston Oilers 28 20 W Schaeffer Stadium 3–5 53,155
9 November 14 Buffalo Bills 38 33 W Schaeffer Stadium 4–5 57,446
10 November 21 at Cleveland Browns 7 27 L Cleveland Municipal Stadium 4–6 65,238
11 November 28 at Buffalo Bills 20 27 L War Memorial Stadium 4–7 27,166
12 December 5 Miami Dolphins 34 13 W Schaeffer Stadium 5–7 61,457
13 December 12 at New York Jets 6 13 L Shea Stadium 5–8 63,175
14 December 19 at Baltimore Colts 21 17 W Memorial Stadium 6–8 57,942

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Miami Dolphins 10 3 1 .769 5–3 7–3–1 315 174 W1
Baltimore Colts 10 4 0 .714 6–2 8–3 313 140 L1
New England Patriots 6 8 0 .429 4–4 6–5 238 325 W1
New York Jets 6 8 0 .429 4–4 6–5 212 299 W2
Buffalo Bills 1 13 0 .071 1–7 1–10 184 394 L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. [2]

Roster

All of the following players appeared in at least one game for the 1971 New England Patriots.

Name Position Notes
Randy Vataha WR
Jim Plunkett QB
Jim Nance RB
Carl Garrett RB
Tom Neville Tackle
Bill Lenkaitis C
Julius Adams DE
Tom Beer TE
Ron Berger DE
Randy Beverly CB
Hubie Bryant WR
James Cheyunski LB
Bob Gladieux WR
Charlie Gogolak K
Rickie Harris S
Tom Janik P
Odell Lawson RB
Jack Maitland RB
Mike Montler Tackle
Ed Philpott LB
David Rowe DT
Dennis Wirgowski DT
Don Webb S
Al Sykes WR
Ron Sellers WR
John Outlaw DB
Steve Kiner DB
Reggie Rucker WR
Halvor Hagen OT
Bob Gladieux RB
Eric Crabtree WR
Phil Clark DB
Roland Moss TE
Houston Antwine DE

References

  1. ↑ New England Is Their Third Name
  2. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297


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