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1971 Baltimore Colts season

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1971 Baltimore Colts season
OwnerCarroll Rosenbloom
General managerDon Klosterman
Head coachDon McCafferty
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record10–4
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(at Browns) 20–3
Lost AFC Championship
(at Dolphins) 0–21
The Colts playing against the Browns in the 1971 AFC Divisional Playoffs Game.

The 1971 Baltimore Colts season was the 19th season for the team in the National Football League. Led by second-year head coach Don McCafferty, the Colts appeared to be on the verge of winning the AFC East again after beating the Miami Dolphins 14–3 in the penultimate game of the regular season. However, the Colts lost the final game of the season at home to the New England Patriots, dropping them to 10–4 and the wild card berth.[1] They lost to the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. The Baltimore defense gave up a total of 140 points for 14 regular season games, an average of ten points a game. In their four defeats, they lost by a combined total of 15 points.

This was the final season under the ownership of Carroll Rosenbloom, who traded franchises with the Los Angeles Rams in July 1972, with players and coaching staffs remaining intact.[2][3][4]

Offseason

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NFL draft

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Main article: 1971 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Personnel

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Staff/coaches

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1971 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Roster

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1971 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Regular season

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Main article: 1971 NFL season

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 19 New York Jets W 22–0 1–0 Memorial Stadium 56,458
2 September 26 Cleveland Browns L 13–14 1–1 Memorial Stadium 56,837
3 October 3 at New England Patriots W 23–3 2–1 Schaefer Stadium 61,232
4 October 10 at Buffalo Bills W 43–0 3–1 War Memorial Stadium 46,206
5 October 17 at New York Giants W 31–7 4–1 Yankee Stadium 62,860
6 October 25 at Minnesota Vikings L 3–10 4–2 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
7 October 31 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–21 5–2 Memorial Stadium 60,238
8 November 8 Los Angeles Rams W 24–17 6–2 Memorial Stadium 57,722
9 November 14 at New York Jets W 14–13 7–2 Shea Stadium 63,947
10 November 21 at Miami Dolphins L 14–17 7–3 Miami Orange Bowl 75,312
11 November 28 at Oakland Raiders W 37–14 8–3 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 54,689
12 December 5 Buffalo Bills W 24–0 9–3 Memorial Stadium 58,476
13 December 11 Miami Dolphins W 14–3 10–3 Memorial Stadium 60,238
14 December 19 New England Patriots L 17–21 10–4 Memorial Stadium 57,942
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 1

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1 234Total
Jets 0 000 0
• Colts 10 903 22
  • Date: September 19
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game attendance: 56,458
  • Game weather:
    72 °F (22 °C); wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
Scoring summary
Q1BALO'Brien 38 yard field goalBAL 3–0
Q1BALMatte 1 yard run (O'Brien kick)BAL 10–0
Q2BALO'Brien 21 yard field goalBAL 13–0
Q2BALBulaich 67 yard run (kick failed)BAL 19–0
Q4BALO'Brien 21 yard field goalBAL 22–0

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Standings

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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.

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Postseason

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Main article: 1971–72 NFL playoffs

The team made it to the playoffs as a No. 4 seed and traveled to Cleveland to play the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round. The Colts led 14–0 at the half and would cruise to a 20–3 win. They then traveled south to play the Miami Dolphins and tried to make it to their second consecutive Super Bowl. Colts QB Johnny Unitas was intercepted three times as they were shut out 21–0.

Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
Divisional December 26 at Cleveland Browns W 20–3 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,734
AFC Championship January 2, 1972 at Miami Dolphins L 0–21 1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 76,622

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Plunkett bumps Colts from lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 20, 1971. p. 1, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Colts owner trades club for Rams". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. July 14, 1972. p. 1, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Colts' owner now sole owner of Rams". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. July 14, 1972. p. 12.
  4. ^ Maule, Tex (August 14, 1972). "Nay on the neighs, yea on the baas". Sports Illustrated. p. 67.
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14.
  6. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297
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