1971_Buffalo_Bills_season

1971 Buffalo Bills season

1971 Buffalo Bills season

12th season in franchise history

The 1971 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's second season in the National Football League, and the 12th overall.

Quick Facts Buffalo Bills season, Owner ...

For the second time in four seasons, the Bills finished with only one victory. The Bills 1–13 record (a 0.071 winning percentage) remains the worst in franchise history. The team allowed 394 points, the most in franchise history for a 14-game season.

The season began in turmoil when coach John Rauch resigned, forcing pro personnel director Harvey Johnson to assume the position for the second time on an interim basis.[lower-alpha 1]

Buffalo lost their first ten games of the season, extending their losing streak to 15 and winless streak to 17, dating back to the previous season. They were held scoreless in four games; their minus-210 point differential is the worst in the team's history, and one of the forty worst point-differentials in NFL history.[1]

Running back O. J. Simpson would have a stellar year, despite the Billsʼ poor team record. Simpson would rush for 742 yards on 183 attempts. However, Simpson would only score 5 touchdowns, the fewest for a single season in his career. The Bills would only score 21 touchdowns as a team during the 1971 season, a franchise low.[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1971 NFL Draft

The Bills had a strong draft in 1971, selecting several players who would have long-term impact with the team.

  • Wide receiver J. D. Hill played five seasons for the Bills, making the Pro Bowl in his second season.
  • Fullback Jim Braxton was an effective blocker for star tailback O. J. Simpson for the next seven seasons.
  • Right tackle Donnie Green became a key component in the Bills' "Electric Company" offensive line for the next seven seasons.
  • Receiver Bob Chandler played with the Bills for nine seasons, making second team All-Pro in 1975 and 1977, and leading the league in receptions from '75–'77, with 176 catches.
= Pro Bowler[lower-alpha 2]
More information Round, Selection ...

[3]

Personnel

Coaches/Staff

1971 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches'

Final roster

1971 Buffalo Bills 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

More information Week, Date ...

Standings

More information AFC East, W ...

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

[4]

Game summaries

Week 11

More information Total, Scoring summary ...

[5]

Notes

  1. Lou Saban, who resigned as coach of the Denver Broncos after eight games in 1971, would return to Buffalo in 1972; Saban had previously guided the Bills to consecutive American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965.
  2. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.

References

  1. [1]
    Pro-Football-Reference.com: Team Game Finder Query Results
  2. [2]
    "1971 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  3. [3]
    "Buffalo Bills 1971 NFL Entry Draft". The Football Database.
  4. [4]
    NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Co. p. 297. ISBN 0-7611-2480-2.
  5. [5]
    "New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills — November 28th, 1971". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1971_Buffalo_Bills_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.