1971 Baltimore Colts season

19th season in franchise history; final one under ownership of Carroll Rosenbloom August 2023 March 2026 Baltimore Colts 1971 10–4 2nd AFC East Carroll Rosenbloom Don Klosterman Don McCafferty Memorial Stadium Won Divisional Playoffs(at Browns) 20–3Lost AFC Championship(at Dolphins) 0–21 Colts seasons thumb|310px|The Colts playing against the Browns in the 1971 AFC Divisional Playoffs Game. The 1971 Baltimore Colts season was the 19th season for the team in the National Football League. Led by second-year head coach Don McCafferty, the Colts appeared to be on the verge of winning the AFC East again after beating the Miami Dolphins 14–3 in the penultimate game of the regular season. However, the Colts lost the final game of the season at home to the New England Patriots, dropping them to 10–4 and the wild card berth.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GXdQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IhEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2695%2C4455609 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press Plunkett bumps Colts from lead December 20, 1971 1, part 2 June 2023 InternetArchiveBot yes They lost to the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. The Baltimore defense gave up a total of 140 points for 14 regular season games, an average of ten points a game. In their four defeats, they lost by a combined total of 15 points. Only the Vikings had a better defense in football that year, giving up only 139 points. This was the final season under the ownership of Carroll Rosenbloom, who traded franchises with the Los Angeles Rams in July 1972, with players and coaching staffs remaining intact.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bHhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uxEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6023%2C4498088 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press Colts owner trades club for Rams July 14, 1972 1, part 2 June 2023 InternetArchiveBot yes https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-1JYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g_cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4192%2C221364 The Bulletin Bend, Oregon UPI Colts' owner now sole owner of Rams July 14, 1972 12 https://www.si.com/vault/1972/08/14/613140/nay-on-the-neighs-yea-on-the-baas Sports Illustrated Maule Tex Tex Maule Nay on the neighs, yea on the baas August 14, 1972 67 The Colts divisional round win against Cleveland would ultimately be their final playoff victory as a Baltimore franchise. It would be another 24 years before the team, now based on Indianapolis, won another postseason game. Offseason NFL draft 1971 NFL draft Round Pick Player Position School/Club team Personnel Staff/coaches 1971 Baltimore Colts staff Front office Owner/president and treasurer – Carroll Rosenbloom General manager – Don Klosterman Coaching staff Head coach – Don McCafferty Offensive coaches Receivers/offensive ends – Dick Bielski Offensive coordinator – John Idzik Offensive line coach – Red Miller Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/defensive line – John Sandusky Defensive backfield – Bobby Boyd Linebackers coach – Hank Bullough Roster 1971 Baltimore Colts 15 Earl Morrall 19 Johnny Unitas 41 Tom Matte 23 Don McCauley y 48 Don Nottingham y 42 Charlie Pittman 17 Sam Havrilak 33 Eddie Hinton American football 27 Ray Perkins 87 Willie Richardson 88 John Mackey American football 84 Tom Mitchell American football 50 Bill Curry C 61 Cornelius Johnson offensive lineman G 67 Lynn Larson T 57 Ken Mendenhall C 68 Dennis Nelson American football T 62 Glenn Ressler G 72 Bob Vogel T 65 John Williams offensive lineman, born 1945 G 79 Jim Bailey American football DT 85 Roy Hilton DE 76 Fred Miller defensive lineman DT 81 Billy Newsome DT 78 Bubba Smith DE 74 George Wright American football DT 53 Tom Beutler MLB 32 Mike Curtis American football MLB 83 Ted Hendricks OLB 51 Bill Laskey American football OLB 56 Ray May OLB 34 Tom Nowatzke OLB 25 Tom Curtis American football FS 43 Lonnie Hepburn y CB 44 Rex Kern y CB 20 Jerry Logan SS 47 Charlie Stukes CB 21 Rick Volk FS 49 David Lee punter P 80 Jim O'Brien American football K 36 Norm Bulaich RB IR 35 Jim Duncan cornerback CB IR 46 Lenny Dunlap y CB IR 52 Robbie Nichols LB IR 28 Cotton Speyrer y WR IR 71 Dan Sullivan American football T IR 63 Bobby Wuensch y G IR 86 John Andrews American football y TE 19 Karl Douglas y QB 69 Rusty Ganas y DT Regular season 1971 NFL season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 19 New York Jets W 22–0 1–0 Memorial Stadium 56,458 2 September 26 Cleveland Browns L 13–14 1–1 Memorial Stadium 56,837 3 October 3 at New England Patriots W 23–3 2–1 Schaefer Stadium 61,232 4 October 10 at Buffalo Bills W 43–0 3–1 War Memorial Stadium 46,206 5 October 17 at New York Giants W 31–7 4–1 Yankee Stadium 62,860 6 October 25, 1971 at Minnesota Vikings L 3–10 4–2 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784 7 October 31 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–21 5–2 Memorial Stadium 60,238 8 November 8, 1971 Los Angeles Rams W 24–17 6–2 Memorial Stadium 57,722 9 November 14 at New York Jets W 14–13 7–2 Shea Stadium 63,947 10 November 21 at Miami Dolphins L 14–17 7–3 Miami Orange Bowl 75,312 11 November 28 at Oakland Raiders W 37–14 8–3 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 54,689 12 December 5 Buffalo Bills W 24–0 9–3 Memorial Stadium 58,476 13 December 11, 1971 Miami Dolphins W 14–3 10–3 Memorial Stadium 60,238 14 December 19 New England Patriots L 17–21 10–4 Memorial Stadium 57,942 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1 Jets 0 0 0 0 Colts 10 9 0 3 September 19 Memorial Stadium 4:00 p.m. EDT 56,458 72 F; wind 8 mph on yes Q1 BAL O'Brien 38 yard field goal BAL 3–0 Q1 BAL Matte 1 yard run (O'Brien kick) BAL 10–0 Q2 BAL O'Brien 21 yard field goal BAL 13–0 Q2 BAL Bulaich 67 yard run (kick failed) BAL 19–0 Q4 BAL O'Brien 21 yard field goal BAL 22–0 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Aug-14. Standings NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 297 Postseason 1971–72 NFL playoffs The team made it to the playoffs as a No. 4 seed and traveled to Cleveland to play the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round. The Colts led 14–0 at the half and would cruise to a 20–3 win. They then traveled south to play the Miami Dolphins and tried to make it to their second consecutive Super Bowl. Colts QB Johnny Unitas was intercepted three times as they were shut out 21–0. Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Divisional December 26 at Cleveland Browns W 20–3 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,734 AFC Championship January 2, 1972 at Miami Dolphins L 0–21 1–1 Miami Orange Bowl 76,622 See also History of the Indianapolis Colts Indianapolis Colts seasons Colts–Patriots rivalry References External links 1971 Baltimore Colts at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1971 Baltimore Colts at JT-SW.com 1971 Baltimore Colts Season. Classic Sports via YouTube.com, Jan. 12, 2021. (Video.) Baltimore Colts Category:Baltimore Colts seasons Baltimore Colts