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1971 Denver Broncos season
| 1971 Denver Broncos season |
|---|
| Gerald Phipps |
| Lou Saban |
| Lou Saban (first 9 games, 2–6–1)Jerry Smith (last 5 games, 2–3) |
| Mile High Stadium |
| 4–9–1 |
| 4th AFC West |
| Did not qualify |
The 1971 Denver Broncos season was the team's twelfth season in professional football and second in the National Football League (NFL). Led by fifth-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos finished the season with four wins, nine losses, and one tie, again fourth in the AFC West. Fifth-year running back Floyd Little became the thirteenth in professional football history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season; the future Hall of Famer ran for 1,133 yards, averaging four yards per carry.
On Wednesday, November 17, Saban stepped down as head coach but remained as general manager; offensive line coach Jerry Smith led the team for the final five games, with two wins. Several days after the season finale, Saban was hired as head coach of the Buffalo Bills, who had just one victory in 1971. The Bills improved to 9–5 in 1973 and made the playoffs in 1974.
In early January 1972, the Broncos hired John Ralston as head coach and general manager; he was previously the head coach for nine years at Stanford University, upset winners of the last two Rose Bowls.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 Denver Broncos draft | |||||
| 1 | 12 | Marv Montgomery | OT | USC | From Green Bay |
| 2 | 35 | Dwight Harrison | WR | Texas A&I | |
| 4 | 79 | Lyle Alzado * | DE | Yankton | |
| 4 | 87 | Cleo Johnson | DB | Alcorn A&M | |
| 6 | 139 | Harold Phillips | DB | Michigan State | |
| 7 | 165 | Doug Adams | LB | Ohio State | |
| 8 | 187 | Tom Beard | C | Michigan State | |
| 9 | 217 | John Handy | LB | Purdue | |
| 10 | 243 | Carlis Harris | WR | Idaho State | |
| 11 | 269 | Roger Roitsch | DT | Rice | |
| 12 | 295 | Floyd Franks | WR | Ole Miss | |
| 13 | 321 | Craig Blackford | QB | Evansville | |
| 14 | 350 | Tommy Lyons | C | Georgia | |
| 15 | 373 | Larry James | RB | Norfork State | |
| 16 | 399 | Steve Thompson | DT | Minnesota | |
| 17 | 425 | Jack Simcsak | K | Virginia Tech | |
| .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front office |
Team Owner / Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps Team President – Allan Phipps Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy Head coaches
General manager/head coach – Lou Saban Offensive coaches
Offensive Backfield – Hunter Enis Offensive Line – Jerry Smith (interim Head Coach) | | | Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Defensive Secondary – Joe Collier Special teams coaches
Special Teams/Tight Ends – Whitey Dovell |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks (QB) | ||||||
| 10 Steve Ramsey | ||||||
| 12 John Stofa | ||||||
| Running backs (RB) |
11 Bobby Anderson 33 Joe Dawkins 44 Floyd Little 22 Fran Lynch 35 Clem Turner Wide receivers (WR)
40 Jack Gehrke 82 Dwight Harrison 80 Jerry Simmons 42 Billy Van Heusen P Tight ends (TE)
81 Billy Masters 85 John Mosier | | Offensive linemen (OL) 56 Jay Bachman C 74 Mike Current T 67 George Goeddeke C/G 68 Larron Jackson G 61 Tommy Lyons G 78 Marv Montgomery T 64 Mike Schnitker G 75 Roger Shoals T Defensive linemen (DL)
77 Lyle Alzado DE 79 Carter Campbell DE 63 Dave Costa DT/DE 76 Tom Domres DT 62 Jerry Inman DT 70 Paul Smith DT/DE | | Linebackers (LB) 52 Fred Forsberg MLB 58 Bill McKoy OLB 54 Chip Myrtle OLB 50 Olen Underwood OLB 56 Dave Washington OLB Defensive backs (DB)
24 Butch Byrd FS/CB 28 Cornell Gordon SS 20 Charlie Greer SS 41 Leroy Mitchell CB 21 Randy Montgomery CB 26 George Saimes FS 36 Bill Thompson CB Special teams (ST)
15 Jim Turner K | | Practice squad 73 Walt Barnes DT 60 Tom Beard C 89 Gordon Bowdell WR 88 Tom Buckman TE 57 Bob Geddes LB 8 Jack Simcsak K/P 14 Bobby Stewart QB Reserve
72 Sam Brunelli G (IR) 53 Ken Criter LB (IR) 55 Pete Duranko DE (IR) -- Mckinney Evans CB (IR) 13 Don Horn QB (IR) 87 Rich Jackson DE (IR) 59 Larry Kaminski C (IR)
Rookies in italics |
Source:
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 19 | Miami Dolphins | T 10–10 | 0–0–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,228 | |
| September 26 | at Green Bay Packers | L 13–34 | 0–1–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 47,957 | |
| October 3 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 3–16 | 0–2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | |
| October 10 | Oakland Raiders | L 16–27 | 0–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | |
| October 17 | San Diego Chargers | W 20–16 | 1–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | |
| October 24 | at Cleveland Browns | W 27–0 | 2–3–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 75,674 | |
| October 31 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 16–17 | 2–4–1 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 | |
| November 7 | Detroit Lions | L 20–24 | 2–5–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | |
| November 14 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–24 | 2–6–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | |
| November 21 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–28 | 2–7–1 | Municipal Stadium | 49,945 | |
| November 28 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 22–10 | 3–7–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 39,710 | |
| December 5 | Chicago Bears | W 6–3 | 4–7–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | |
| December 12 | at San Diego Chargers | L 17–45 | 4–8–1 | San Diego Stadium | 44,347 | |
| December 19 | at Oakland Raiders | L 13–21 | 4–9–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,651 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |
The sites of the two games with the Oakland Raiders were switched.
| AFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 4–1–1 | 8–2–1 | 302 | 208 | W3 |
| Oakland Raiders | 8 | 4 | 2 | .667 | 4–1–1 | 7–3–1 | 344 | 278 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2–4 | 4–7 | 311 | 341 | L1 |
| Denver Broncos | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 1–5 | 3–6–1 | 203 | 275 | L2 |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
- Denver Broncos – 1971 media guide
- 1971 Denver Broncos season at jt-sw.com
- 1971 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com
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