1971 Baltimore Colts season

The 1971 Baltimore Colts season was the 19th season for the team in the National Football League. The Colts appeared to be on the verge of winning the AFC East again after beating the Miami Dolphins 14-3 in the next-to-last game of the season. However, the Colts would drop the final game of the season to the New England Patriots, forcing them to settle for the Wild Card with a 10-4 record. They lost to the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. The Baltimore defense gave up a total of 140 points for 14 regular season (10 PPG) & in their four defeats, they lost by 15 points total.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
1	September 19, 1971	New York Jets	W 22–0	1–0	Memorial Stadium	56,458
2	September 26, 1971	Cleveland Browns	L 13–14	1–1	Memorial Stadium	56,837
3	October 3, 1971	at New England Patriots	W 23–3	2–1	Schaefer Stadium	61,232
4	October 10, 1971	at Buffalo Bills	W 43–0	3–1	War Memorial Stadium	46,206
5	October 17, 1971	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, 1971	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, 1971	at New York Jets	W 14–13	7–2	Shea Stadium	63,947
10	November 21, 1971	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–17	7–3	Miami Orange Bowl	75,312
11	November 28, 1971	at Oakland Raiders	W 37–14	8–3	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,689
12	December 5, 1971	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, 1971	New England Patriots	L 17–21	10–4	Memorial Stadium	57,942

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 0 0 0 0 0 • Colts 10 9 0 3 22 Date: September 19 Location: Memorial Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 56,458 Game weather: 72°F; wind 8

Scoring summary 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

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins	10	3	1	.769	5–3	7–3–1	315	174	W1
Baltimore Colts	10	4	0	.714	6–2	8–3	313	140	L1
New England Patriots	6	8	0	.429	4–4	6–5	238	325	W1
New York Jets	6	8	0	.429	4–4	6–5	212	299	W2
Buffalo Bills	1	13	0	.071	1–7	1–10	184	394	L3

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

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 3 times as they were shut out by the Dolphins 21–0.

Playoff Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
Divisional	December 26, 1971	at Cleveland Browns (4)	W 20–3	1–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	70,734
Conference Championship	January 2, 1972	at Miami Dolphins (1)	L 0–21	1–1	Miami Orange Bowl	76,622

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry