1971 Miami Dolphins season

6th season in franchise history; first Super Bowl appearance and loss December 2013 March 2026 Miami Dolphins 1971 10–3–1 1st AFC East Don Shula Miami Orange Bowl Won Divisional Playoffs(at Chiefs) 27–24 (2OT Double overtime)Won AFC Championship(vs. Colts) 21–0Lost Super Bowl VI(vs. Cowboys) 3–24 7 QB Bob Griese FS Jake Scott DE Bill Stanfill G Larry Little WR Paul Warfield RB Mercury Morris FB Larry Csonka Dolphins seasons 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 y overall in the next two seasons (1972, 1973), both ending with Super Bowl victories. Offseason NFL draft 1971 NFL draft 1971 Miami Dolphins 2 47 Otto Stowe Wide receiver Iowa State yes 3 74 Dale Farley Linebacker West Virginia yes 4 99 Joe Theismann Quarterback Notre Dame yes 6 151 Dennis Coleman Linebacker Mississippi 7 178 Ron Dickerson Defensive back Kansas State 9 230 Vern Den Herder Defensive end Central College (Iowa) yes 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) no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/1971_draft.htm 1971 Miami Dolphins draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com October 18, 2014 Personnel Staff 1971 Miami Dolphins President – Joe Robbie Vice president – Don Shula Director of player personnel – Joe Thomas Head coach – Don Shula Offense/receivers – Howard Schnellenberger Offensive backs – Carl Taseff Offensive line – Monte Clark Defense/linebackers – Bill Arnsparger Defensive line – Mike Scarry Defensive backs – Tom Keane Roster 1971 Miami Dolphins 12 Bob Griese 10 George Mira 31 Terry Cole American football 39 Larry Csonka 32 Hubert Ginn 21 Jim Kiick 15 Charles Leigh American football 22 Mercury Morris 89 Karl Noonan 82 Otto Stowe y 81 Howard Twilley 42 Paul Warfield 80 Marv Fleming 88 Jim Mandich 77 Doug Crusan T 61 Bob DeMarco C 73 Norm Evans T 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 62 Jim Langer C/G 66 Larry Little G 79 Wayne Moore American football T 71 Frank Cornish Jr. DT 86 Vern Den Herder DE y 75 Manny Fernandez American football DT 72 Bob Heinz DT/DE 70 Jim Riley American football DE 84 Bill Stanfill DE 85 Nick Buoniconti MLB 57 Mike Kolen OLB 53 Bob Matheson OLB 56 Jesse Powell American football OLB 59 Doug Swift OLB 40 Dick Anderson SS 25 Tim Foley defensive back CB 45 Curtis Johnson cornerback CB 26 Lloyd Mumphord CB 48 Bob Petrella SS 13 Jake Scott FS 20 Larry Seiple P  1 Garo Yepremian K 41 Ron Dickerson y CB IR 58 Dale Farley y LB IR 74 John Richardson American football DT IR 24 Jack Clancy WR 11 Jim Del Gaizo y QB 76 Bill Griffin y no T 49 Ray Jones American football CB 78 Wayne Mass G 35 Stan Mitchell American football RB 65 Maulty Moore y DT Schedule 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 Bowl66,435 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 Week 2 Dolphins 3 9 7 10 Bills 7 0 7 0 September 26 War Memorial Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 54 F • Wind 11 mph on Dick Jorgensen yes 1 MIA Garo Yepremian 15 yard field goal Dolphins 3–0 1 BUF Wayne Patrick 1 yard run (Grant Guthrie kick) Bills 7–3 2 MIA Garo Yepremian 46 yard field goal Bills 7–6 2 MIA Garo Yepremian 13 yard field goal Dolphins 9–7 2 MIA Garo Yepremian 9 yard field goal Dolphins 12–7 3 MIA Larry Csonka 1 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick) Dolphins 19–7 3 BUF O.J. Simpson 46 yard run (Grant Guthrie kick) Dolphins 19–14 4 MIA Paul Warfield 23 yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) Dolphins 26–14 4 MIA Garo Yepremian 48 yard field goal Dolphins 29–14 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297 Postseason Schedule 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 Miami Dolphins 27 K.C. Chiefs 24 (20T) AFC Championship Game Miami Dolphins 21 Baltimore Colts 0 Super Bowl VI Dallas Cowboys 24 Miami Dolphins 3 Scoring summary 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 External links 1971 Miami Dolphins at Pro-Football-Reference.com Miami Category:1971 in sports in Florida Category:Miami Dolphins seasons Category:AFC East championship seasons Category:American Football Conference championship seasons