1971 Miami Dolphins

The 1971 Miami Dolphins season was the team's sixth, and second in the National Football League.

1971 Miami Dolphins season
Head Coach	Don Shula
Home Field	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	10–3–1
Place	1st AFC East
Playoff Finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Chiefs) 27–24 (2OT) Won AFC Championship (Colts) 21–0 Lost Super Bowl VI (Cowboys) 24–3
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1970	1972

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.

Season summary

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 (.941) overall in the next two seasons (1972, 1973), both ending with Super Bowl victories.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1971 Miami Dolphins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	47	Otto Stowe	Wide receiver	Iowa State
3	74	Dale Farley	Linebacker	West Virginia
4	99	Joe Theismann *	Quarterback	Notre Dame
6	151	Dennis Coleman	Linebacker	Mississippi
7	178	Ron Dickerson	Defensive back	Kansas State
9	230	Vern Den Herder	Defensive end	Central (IA)
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)
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1971 Miami Dolphins final staff
	Front Office Team Owner / President – Joe Robbie Vice president – Don Shula Director of player personnel – Joe Thomas Head Coaches Head coach – Don Shula Offensive Coaches Offense/receivers – Howard Schnellenberger Offensive backs – Carl Taseff Offensive line – Monte Clark			Defensive Coaches Defense/linebackers – Bill Arnsparger Defensive line – Mike Scarry Defensive backs – Tom Keane Special Teams Coaches None - N/A Strength and Conditioning None - N/A

Roster

1971 Miami Dolphins final roster
	Quarterbacks 12 Bob Griese 10 George Mira Running backs 21 Jim Kiick 39 Larry Csonka FB 31 Terry Cole FB 32 Hubert Ginn 15 Charlie Leigh FB 22 Mercury Morris Wide receivers 81 Howard Twilley 42 Paul Warfield 89 Karl Noonan 87 Willie Richardson 82 Otto Stowe Tight ends 80 Marv Fleming 88 Jim Mandich		Offensive linemen 77 Doug Crusan T 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 61 Bob DeMarco C 66 Larry Little G 73 Norm Evans T 62 Jim Langer C 78 Wayne Mass G 79 Wayne Moore T Defensive linemen 70 Jim Riley DE 75 Manny Fernandez DT 72 Bob Heinz DT 84 Bill Stanfill DE 71 Frank Cornish DE 86 Vern Den Herder DE 74 John Richardson DT		Linebackers 59 Doug Swift 85 Nick Buoniconti 57 Mike Kolen 58 Dale Farley 53 Bob Matheson 56 Jesse Powell Defensive backs 25 Tim Foley CB 45 Curtis Johnson CB 40 Dick Anderson SS 13 Jake Scott FS 49 Ray Jones CB 26 Lloyd Mumphord CB 48 Bob Petrella S Special teams 1 Garo Yepremian K 20 Larry Seiple P		Reserve lists Practice squad 11 Jim Del Gaizo QB Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 19, 1971	at Denver Broncos	T 10–10	0–0–1	51,228
2	September 26, 1971	at Buffalo Bills	W 29–14	1–0–1	45,139
3	October 3, 1971	New York Jets	L 14–10	1–1–1	70,670
4	October 10, 1971	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 23–13	2–1–1	60,099
5	October 17, 1971	New England Patriots	W 41–3	3–1–1	58,822
6	October 24, 1971	at New York Jets	W 30–14	4–1–1	62,130
7	October 31, 1971	at Los Angeles Rams	W 20–14	5–1–1	72,903
8	November 7, 1971	Buffalo Bills	W 34–0	6–1–1	61,016
9	November 14, 1971	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–21	7–1–1	66,435
10	November 21, 1971	Baltimore Colts	W 17–14	8–1–1	75,312
11	November 29, 1971	Chicago Bears	W 34–3	9–1–1	75,312
12	December 5, 1971	at New England Patriots	L 34–13	9–2–1	61,457
13	December 11, 1971	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–3	9–3–1	60,238
14	December 19, 1971	Green Bay Packers	W 27–6	10–3–1	76,812

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 25	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–24 (2 OT)	45,822
AFC Championship	January 2	Baltimore Colts	W 21–0	76,622
Super Bowl VI	January 16	N Dallas Cowboys	L 24–3	80,591

Standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Miami Dolphins	10	3	1	.769	315	174
Baltimore Colts	10	4	0	.714	313	140
New England Patriots	6	8	0	.429	238	325
New York Jets	6	8	0	.429	212	299
Buffalo Bills	1	13	0	.071	184	394

Postseason

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 Yeprmeniam, 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, 24–3)

External links

• 1971 Miami Dolphins season article at Wikipedia
• Miami Dolphins on Pro Football Reference
• Miami Dolphins on jt-sw.com