1971 New England Patriots season

The 1971 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Football League and 12th overall. 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]

1971 New England Patriots season
Head coachJohn Mazur
General managerUpton Bell
OwnerBilly Sullivan
Home fieldSchaefer Stadium
Results
Record6–8
Division placeT-3rd AFC East
Playoff finishdid not qualify
Pro Bowlersnone
AP All-Prosnone
Uniform

The Patriots finished with six wins and eight losses, third place in the AFC East Division. It was the first season the Patriots played in the new Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts,[2][3] 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 on July 31.[4] Thomas became embroiled in a conflict with head coach John Mazur,[5] 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.[6]

Offseason

NFL Draft
See also: 1971 NFL Draft
1971 New England Patriots draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 1 Jim Plunkett  QB Stanford
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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

  • Defensive Line – Dick Evans
  • Linebackers – John Meyer
  • Defensive Backfield – Tom Fletcher

Roster
1971 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Attendance
PF PA Rst
1September 19 Oakland Raiders 206W Schaeffer Stadium 1–055,405
2September 26 Detroit Lions 734L Schaeffer Stadium 1–161,057
3October 3 Baltimore Colts 323L Schaeffer Stadium 1–261,232
4October 10 New York Jets 200W Schaeffer Stadium 2–261,357
5October 17 at Miami Dolphins 341L Miami Orange Bowl 2–358,822
6October 24 at Dallas Cowboys 2144L Texas Stadium 2–465,708
7October 31 at San Francisco 49ers 1027L Candlestick Park 2–545,092
8November 7 Houston Oilers 2820W Schaeffer Stadium 3–553,155
9November 14 Buffalo Bills 3833W Schaeffer Stadium 4–557,446
10November 21 at Cleveland Browns 727L Cleveland Municipal Stadium 4–665,238
11November 28 at Buffalo Bills 2027L War Memorial Stadium 4–727,166
12December 5 Miami Dolphins 3413W Schaeffer Stadium 5–761,457
13December 12 at New York Jets 613L Shea Stadium 5–863,175
14December 19 at Baltimore Colts 2117W Memorial Stadium 6–857,942

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. [7]

References
  1. New England Is Their Third Name
  2. "New England opens park with victory". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. August 16, 1971. p. 6B.
  3. "Traffic situation 'hard to forget'". The Telegraph. (Nashua, New Hampshire). Associated Press. August 16, 1971. p. 18.
  4. "Cowboys unload Thomas, obtain Garret from Pats". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 1, 1971. p. 4B.
  5. "Thomas packs bags, exits Patriot camp". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 4, 1971. p. 2B.
  6. "Thomas trade called off". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 5, 1971. p. 2B.
  7. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297


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