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1971 Miami Dolphins season

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1971 Miami Dolphins season
Head coachDon Shula
Home fieldMiami Orange Bowl
Results
Record10–3–1
Division place1st AFC East
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(at Chiefs) 27–24 (2OT)
Won AFC Championship
(vs. Colts) 21–0
Lost Super Bowl VI
(vs. Cowboys) 3–24
Pro Bowlers7
QB Bob Griese
FS Jake Scott
DE Bill Stanfill
G Larry Little
WR Paul Warfield
RB Mercury Morris
FB Larry Csonka

The 1971 Miami Dolphins season was the team's sixth, and second in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their 10–4 record from 1970 and finished at 10–3–1 to win the first of four consecutive AFC East titles. They opened the season with a tie at Denver, split the next two, then won eight consecutive to improve to 9–1–1.

The Dolphins won their first division title, finishing first in the AFC East, and then defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round in a second overtime (the game is considered the longest in NFL history by time). They advanced to their first AFC championship game and shut out the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts 21–0. However, in Super Bowl VI, Miami was walloped 24–3 by the Dallas Cowboys. After losing that Super Bowl, the Dolphins did not lose another game until week 2 of the 1973 season, going 32–2 (.941) overall in the next two seasons (1972, 1973), both ending with Super Bowl victories.

Offseason

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NFL Draft

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Main article: 1971 NFL draft
1971 Miami Dolphins draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 47 Otto Stowe  Wide receiver Iowa State
3 74 Dale Farley  Linebacker West Virginia
4 99 Joe Theismann *  Quarterback Notre Dame
6 151 Dennis Coleman  Linebacker Mississippi
7 178 Ron Dickerson  Defensive back Kansas State
9 230 Vern Den Herder  Defensive end Central College (Iowa)
10 255 Ron Maree  Defensive tackle Purdue
11 282 Vic Surma  Tackle Penn State
12 307 Leroy Byras  Running back Alcorn A&M
13 333 Lonnie Hepburn  Defensive back Texas Southern
14 359 David Vaughn  Tight end Memphis State
15 386 Bob Richards  Guard California
16 410 Chris Myers  Wide receiver Kenyon
17 437 Curt Mark  Linebacker Mayville (ND)
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

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Staff

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1971 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Don Shula

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches




Roster

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1971 Miami Dolphins 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

Practice squad
Rookies in italics

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance Recap
1 September 19 at Denver Broncos T 10–10 0–0–1 Mile High Stadium 51,228
2 September 26 at Buffalo Bills W 29–14 1–0–1 War Memorial Stadium 45,139
3 October 3 New York Jets L 10–14 1–1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 70,670
4 October 10 at Cincinnati Bengals W 23–13 2–1–1 Riverfront Stadium 60,099
5 October 17 New England Patriots W 41–3 3–1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 58,822
6 October 24 at New York Jets W 30–14 4–1–1 Shea Stadium 62,130
7 October 31 at Los Angeles Rams W 20–14 5–1–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 72,903
8 November 7 Buffalo Bills W 34–0 6–1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 61,016
9 November 14 Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–21 7–1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 66,435
10 November 21 Baltimore Colts W 17–14 8–1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 75,312
11 November 29 Chicago Bears W 34–3 9–1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 75,312
12 December 5 at New England Patriots L 13–34 9–2–1 Schaefer Stadium 61,457
13 December 11 at Baltimore Colts L 3–14 9–3–1 Memorial Stadium 60,238
14 December 19 Green Bay Packers W 27–6 10–3–1 Miami Orange Bowl 76,812
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Monday (November 29), Saturday (December 11)

Game summaries

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Week 2

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1 234Total
• Dolphins 3 9710 29
Bills 7 070 14
Scoring summary
1MIAGaro Yepremian 15 yard field goalDolphins 3–0
1BUFWayne Patrick 1 yard run (Grant Guthrie kick)Bills 7–3
2MIAGaro Yepremian 46 yard field goalBills 7–6
2MIAGaro Yepremian 13 yard field goalDolphins 9–7
2MIAGaro Yepremian 9 yard field goalDolphins 12–7
3MIALarry Csonka 1 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick)Dolphins 19–7
3BUFO.J. Simpson 46 yard run (Grant Guthrie kick)Dolphins 19–14
4MIAPaul Warfield 23 yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick)Dolphins 26–14
4MIAGaro Yepremian 48 yard field goalDolphins 29–14

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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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Schedule

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Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
Divisional December 25 at Kansas City Chiefs W 27–24 (2OT) 1–0 Municipal Stadium 45,822
AFC Championship January 2, 1972 Baltimore Colts W 21–0 2–0 Orange Bowl 76,622
Super Bowl VI January 16, 1972 Dallas Cowboys L 3–24 2–1 Tulane Stadium 80,591

AFC Divisional Playoff

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Miami Dolphins 27 K.C. Chiefs 24 (20T)

AFC Championship Game

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Miami Dolphins 21 Baltimore Colts 0

Super Bowl VI

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Dallas Cowboys 24 Miami Dolphins 3

Scoring summary

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  • Dallas Mike Clark, FG 14 yds (3–0)
  • Dallas L.Alworth, 9 yd pass from Staubach (Mike Clark kick, 10–0)
  • Miami Yepremian, FG 23 yds (10–3)
  • Dallas Duane Thomas, 5 yd run (Mike Clark kick, 17–3)
  • Dallas Mike Ditka, 4 yd pass from Staubach (Mike Clark kick, 3–24)

References

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  1. ^ "1971 Miami Dolphins draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  3. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297
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