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1971 Buffalo Bills season

12th season in franchise history

12th season in franchise history

FieldValue
teamBuffalo Bills
year1971
record1–13
division_place5th AFC East
coachHarvey Johnson
ownerRalph Wilson
stadiumWar Memorial Stadium
playoffsDid not qualify
pro_bowlersNone
shortnavlinkBills seasons

The 1971 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's second season in the National Football League, and the 12th overall. For the second time in four seasons, the Bills finished with only one victory. The Bills 1–13 record (a 0.071 winning percentage) remains the worst in franchise history. The team allowed 394 points, the most in franchise history for a 14-game season.

The season began in turmoil when coach John Rauch resigned, forcing pro personnel director Harvey Johnson to assume the position for the second time on an interim basis.

Buffalo lost their first ten games of the season, extending their losing streak to 15 and winless streak to 17, dating back to the previous season. The Bills were held scoreless in four games; and their minus 210-point differential is the worst in the team's history, and one of the forty worst point-differentials in NFL history.

Running back O. J. Simpson would have a stellar year, despite the Billsʼ poor team record. Simpson would rush for 742 yards on 183 attempts. However, Simpson would only score 5 touchdowns, the fewest for a single season in his career. The Bills would only score 21 touchdowns as a team during the 1971 season, a franchise low.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1971 NFL draft

The Bills had a strong draft in 1971, selecting several players who would have long-term impact with the team.

  • Wide receiver J. D. Hill played five seasons for the Bills, making the Pro Bowl in his second season.
  • Fullback Jim Braxton was an effective blocker for star tailback O. J. Simpson for the next seven seasons.
  • Right tackle Donnie Green became a key component in the Bills' "Electric Company" offensive line for the next seven seasons.
  • Receiver Bob Chandler played with the Bills for nine seasons, making second team All-Pro in 1975 and 1977, and leading the league in receptions from '75–'77, with 176 catches.
name="Pro Bowler notePlayers are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.}}
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollegeNotes14229353575107113614571608183185921311263122911331614341153691639417419
J. D. HillWRArizona State
Jan WhiteTEOhio State
Bruce JarvisCWashington
Jim BraxtonFBWest Virginia
Donnie GreenOTPurdue
Tim BeamerDBIllinois
Bill McKinleyDEArizona
Bob ChandlerWRUSC
Louis RossDESouth Carolina State
Tyrone WallsRBMissouri
Bob StricklandLBAuburn
Andy BrowderTTexas A&I
Jim SheffieldKTexas A&M
Busty UnderwoodQBTCU
Jim HootsDEMissouri Southern
Charles ColeRBToledo
Billy HunterDBUtah
Pat MorrisonTEArkansas

Personnel

Coaches/Staff

1971 Buffalo Bills staff
  • Source: https://pro-football-history.com/franchise/7/buffalo-bills-coaches

Final roster

  • James Harris

Regular season

Schedule

Buffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"WeekBuffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"DateBuffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"OpponentBuffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"ResultBuffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"RecordBuffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"VenueBuffalo Billsyear=1971border=2}}"Recap1234567891011121314
September 19Dallas CowboysL 37–490–1War Memorial StadiumRecap
September 26Miami DolphinsL 14–290–2War Memorial StadiumRecap
October 3at Minnesota VikingsL 0–190–3Metropolitan StadiumRecap
October 10Baltimore ColtsL 0–430–4War Memorial StadiumRecap
October 17at New York JetsL 17–280–5Shea StadiumRecap
at San Diego ChargersL 3–200–6San Diego StadiumRecap
October 31St. Louis CardinalsL 23–280–7War Memorial StadiumRecap
November 7at Miami DolphinsL 0–340–8Miami Orange BowlRecap
November 14at New England PatriotsL 33–380–9Schaefer StadiumRecap
November 21New York JetsL 7–200–10War Memorial StadiumRecap
November 28New England PatriotsW 27–201–10War Memorial StadiumRecap
December 5at Baltimore ColtsL 0–241–11Memorial StadiumRecap
December 12Houston OilersL 14–201–12War Memorial StadiumRecap
December 19at Kansas City ChiefsL 9–221–13Municipal StadiumRecap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Game summaries

Week 11

Notes

References

References

  1. [http://pfref.com/tiny/3TUFM Pro-Football-Reference.com: Team Game Finder Query Results]
  2. "1971 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players".
  3. "Buffalo Bills 1971 NFL Entry Draft".
  4. "NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book". Workman Publishing Co.
  5. "New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills — November 28th, 1971".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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