1971 New Orleans Saints season

1971 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	J. D. Roberts
General manager	Vic Schwenk
Owner	John W. Mecom, Jr.
Home field	Tulane Stadium
Results
Record	4–8–2
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

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

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

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Personnel

Roster

1971 New Orleans Saints roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Ed Hargett 8 Archie Manning Running backs 35 Bob Gresham 43 Dave Kopay 42 Jim Strong Wide receivers 46 Danny Abramowicz 25 Al Dodd 41 Bob Newland		Tight ends 36 Don Burchfield 83 Dave Parks Offensive linemen 78 Glen Ray Hines T 50 Jake Kupp G 76 Don Morrison T		Defensive linemen 89 Dave Long DT 72 Joe Owens DE 82 Bob Pollard DT Linebackers 59 Wayne Colman 55 Jim Flanigan 54 Tom Roussel		Defensive backs 22 Dee Martin CB 23 Doug Wyatt FS Special teams  3 Skip Butter K 15 Charlie Durkee K 10 Julian Fagan P Rookies in italics

Staff

1971 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. General Manager – Vic Schwenk Head coaches Head Coach – J. D. Roberts Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ken Shipp Offensive Backfield – Charlie Tate Offensive Line – Jim Royer			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Jim Champion Linebackers – Marv Matuszak Defensive Backfield – Bud Whitehead

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 19, 1971	Los Angeles Rams	W 24–20	70,915
2	September 26, 1971	San Francisco 49ers	L 38–20	81,595
3	October 3, 1971	at Houston Oilers	T 13–13	47,966
4	October 10, 1971	at Chicago Bears	L 35–14	55,049
5	October 17, 1971	Dallas Cowboys	W 24–14	83,088
6	October 24, 1971	at Atlanta Falcons	L 28–6	58,850
7	October 31, 1971	at Washington Redskins	L 24–14	53,041
8	November 7, 1971	Oakland Raiders	T 21–21	83,102
9	November 14, 1971	at San Francisco 49ers	W 26–20	45,138
10	November 21, 1971	Minnesota Vikings	L 23–10	83,130
11	November 28, 1971	at Green Bay Packers	W 29–21	48,035
12	December 5, 1971	at Los Angeles Rams	L 45–28	73,610
13	December 12, 1971	Cleveland Browns	L 21–17	72,794
14	December 19, 1971	Atlanta Falcons	L 24–20	75,954

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 3 14 20 • Saints 0 3 14 7 24 Date: September 19 Location: Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT Game weather: 86°F • Wind 6 S Referee: Bob Frederic

Scoring summary 2 NO Skip Butler 32 yard field goal Saints 3–0 2 LA David Ray 31 yard field goal Tie 3–3 3 NO Dave Parks 6 yard pass from Archie Manning (Skip Butler kick) Saints 10–3 3 NO Bob Gresham 2 yard run (Skip Butler kick) Saints 17–3 3 LA David Ray 27 yard field goal Saints 17–6 4 LA Les Josephson 29 yard pass from Roman Gabriel (David Ray kick) Saints 17–13 4 LA Les Josephson 1 yard run (David Ray kick) Rams 20–17 4 NO Archie Manning 1 yard run (Skip Butler kick) Saints 24–20

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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. 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

• Saints on Pro Football Reference