1971 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerJohn W. Mecom, Jr.
General managerVic Schwenk
Head coachJ. D. Roberts
Home fieldTulane Stadium
Results
Record4–8–2
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

The 1971 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints' fifth season. The Saints drafted Archie Manning with their first round pick, the second overall.

Manning led the Saints to their first opening day victory in franchise history, scoring a touchdown run on a rollout on the final play of a 24–20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans' first over Los Angeles following four consecutive losses, including the Saints' inaugural game in 1967. Four weeks later, Manning engineered a 24–14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, who would return to Tulane Stadium in January and win Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1971 NFL draft
1971 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 2 Archie Manning *  Quarterback Mississippi
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1971 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

  • President – John W. Mecom, Jr.
  • General manager – Vic Schwenk

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches



[2] [3]

Roster

1971 New Orleans Saints 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 Record Venue Attendance
1 September 19 Los Angeles Rams W 24–20 1–0 Tulane Stadium 70,915
2 September 26 San Francisco 49ers L 20–38 1–1 Tulane Stadium 81,595
3 October 3 at Houston Oilers T 13–13 1–1–1 Astrodome 47,966
4 October 10 at Chicago Bears L 14–35 1–2–1 Soldier Field 55,049
5 October 17 Dallas Cowboys W 24–14 2–2–1 Tulane Stadium 83,088
6 October 24 at Atlanta Falcons L 6–28 2–3–1 Atlanta Stadium 58,850
7 October 31 at Washington Redskins L 14–24 2–4–1 RFK Stadium 53,041
8 November 7 Oakland Raiders T 21–21 2–4–2 Tulane Stadium 83,102
9 November 14 at San Francisco 49ers W 26–20 3–4–2 Candlestick Park 45,138
10 November 21 Minnesota Vikings L 10–23 3–5–2 Tulane Stadium 83,130
11 November 28 at Green Bay Packers W 29–21 4–5–2 Milwaukee County Stadium 48,035
12 December 5 at Los Angeles Rams L 28–45 4–6–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 73,610
13 December 12 Cleveland Browns L 17–21 4-7-2 Tulane Stadium 72,794
14 December 19 Atlanta Falcons L 20–24 4-8-2 Tulane Stadium 75,954
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
Rams 0 3314 20
• Saints 0 3147 24
Scoring summary
2NOSkip Butler 32 yard field goalSaints 3–0
2LADavid Ray 31 yard field goalTie 3–3
3NODave Parks 6 yard pass from Archie Manning (Skip Butler kick)Saints 10–3
3NOBob Gresham 2 yard run (Skip Butler kick)Saints 17–3
3LADavid Ray 27 yard field goalSaints 17–6
4LALes Josephson 29 yard pass from Roman Gabriel (David Ray kick)Saints 17–13
4LALes Josephson 1 yard run (David Ray kick)Rams 20–17
4NOArchie Manning 1 yard run (Skip Butler kick)Saints 24–20

[4]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers 9 5 0 .643 2–4 7–4 300 216 W2
Los Angeles Rams 8 5 1 .615 4–1–1 7–3–1 313 260 W1
Atlanta Falcons 7 6 1 .538 3–2–1 4–6–1 274 277 W1
New Orleans Saints 4 8 2 .333 2–4 4–7 266 347 L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  1. ^ "1971 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  2. ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  3. ^ "Scouting Report ... New Orleans Saints". Corsicana Daily Sun. Corsicana, Texas. October 14, 1971. p. 27. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links


New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints seasons
1971 NFL season
Categories