1971 Cincinnati Bengals season

1971 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1971 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's fourth year in professional football and the second with the National Football League (NFL). Cornerback Lemar Parrish set a team record with seven interceptions, including one for a 65-yard score, Cincinnati's first-ever interception return for a touchdown. The Bengals, coming off their first division winning season of 1970, drafted quarterback Ken Anderson in the third round of the 1971 NFL Draft. Anderson would go on to play 16 seasons for the club and set numerous team passing records. While 1971 proved to be a disappointment, losing six games by four points or less, statically this was the first year the Bengals led their opponents in almost every category.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1971 NFL Draft

1971 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	15	Vernon Holland	Offensive tackle	Tennessee State
2	41	Steve Lawson	Guard	Kansas
3	67	Ken Anderson *	Quarterback	Augustana
4	93	Fred Willis	Running back	Boston College
5	110	Art May	Defensive end	Tuskegee
7	171	Neal Craig	Defensive back	Fisk
8	197	Fred Herring	Defensive back	Tennessee State
9	223	Gary Gustafson	Linebacker	Montana State
10	249	Jack Stambaugh	Guard	Oregon
11	275	Ed Marshall	Wide receiver	Cameron
12	301	James Hayden	Defensive end	Memphis
13	327	David Knapman	Tight end	Central Washington
14	353	Irvin Mallory	Defensive back	Virginia Union
15	379	Bob Thomas	Running back	Arizona State
16	405	Mark Debevc	Linebacker	Ohio State
17	432	Sam Pearson	Defensive back	Western Kentucky
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1971 Cincinnati Bengals staff
	Front office President – John Sawyer Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach/General Manager – Paul Brown Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Bill Walsh Offensive Backfield – Jack Donaldson Offensive Line – Bill Johnson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backfield – Chuck Weber Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Vince Costello

Roster

1971 Cincinnati Bengals roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Ken Anderson 11 Virgil Carter Running backs 44 Doug Dressler 19 Essex Johnson 40 Ron Lamb 30 Jess Phillips (footballer) 18 Paul Robinson 33 Fred Willis Wide receivers 10 Eric Crabtree 35 Mike Haffner 83 Ed Marshall 25 Chip Myers 17 Speedy Thomas		Tight ends 88 Bruce Coslet 87 Mike Kelly 84 Bob Trumpy Offensive linemen 63 Guy Dennis G/C 72 Howard Fest G 76 Vernon Holland T 54 Bob Johnson C 68 Steve Lawson G 73 Pat Matson G 71 Rufus Mayes T 75 Ernie Wright T		Defensive linemen 82 Royce Berry DE 70 Ron Carpenter DE 79 Steve Chomyszak DT 80 Ken Johnson DE/DT 78 Willie Jones DT 74 Mike Reid DT 81 Nick Roman DE Linebackers 52 Doug Adams MLB 51 Ken Avery OLB 58 Al Beauchamp OLB 66 Bill Bergey MLB 59 Larry Ely MLB 53 Bill Peterson OLB		Defensive backs 23 Al Coleman S 34 Neal Craig S 29 Sandy Durko S 27 Ken Dyer S 26 Jimmy Harris CB 20 Lemar Parrish CB 13 Ken Riley CB 31 Fletcher Smith S Special teams 15 Dave Lewis P 16 Horst Muhlmann K Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Season results
Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Attendance	Location
September 19	Philadelphia Eagles	W	37–14	55,880	Riverfront Stadium
September 26	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L	10–21	48,448	Three Rivers Stadium
October 3	at Green Bay Packers	L	17–20	56,263	Lambeau Field
October 10	Miami Dolphins	L	13–23	60,099	Riverfront Stadium
October 17	Cleveland Browns	L	24–27	60,284	Riverfront Stadium
October 24	at Oakland Raiders	L	27–31	54,699	Oakland Coliseum
October 31	at Houston Oilers	L	6–10	37,947	Astrodome
November 7	Atlanta Falcons	L	6–9	59,604	Riverfront Stadium
November 14	at Denver Broncos	W	24–10	51,200	Mile High Stadium
November 21	Houston Oilers	W	28–13	59,390	Riverfront Stadium
November 28	San Diego Chargers	W	31–0	59,580	Riverfront Stadium
December 5	at Cleveland Browns	L	27–31	82,705	Cleveland Stadium
December 12	Pittsburgh Steelers	L	13–21	60,022	Riverfront Stadium
December 19	at New York Jets	L	21–35	63,151	Shea Stadium

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	5–1	7–4	285	273	W5
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	4–2	5–6	246	292	L1
Houston Oilers	4	9	1	.308	2–4	4–7	251	330	W3
Cincinnati Bengals	4	10	0	.286	1–5	3–8	284	265	L3

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

Team stats

1971 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS	Bengals	Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS	236	213
Rushing	109	93
Passing	115	102
Penalty	12	18
TOTAL NET YARDS	4266	3906
Avg Per Game	304.7	279.0
Total Plays	867	811
Avg. Per Play	4.9	4.8
NET YARDS RUSHING	2142	1778
Avg. Per Game	153.0	127.0
Total Rushes	462	446
NET YARDS PASSING	2124	2128
Avg. Per Game	151.7	152.0
Sacked Yards Lost	40–303	30–254
Gross Yards	2427	2382
Att. Completions	365–214	335–157
Completion Pct.	58.6	46.9
Intercepted	11	27
PUNTS-AVERAGE	73–44.7	73–40.9
PENALTIES-YARDS	82-921	72–722
FUMBLES-BALL LOST	29–12	21–12
TOUCHDOWNS	32	32
Rushing	14	11
Passing	15	19
Returns	3	2

Score by Periods	1	2	3	4	Tot
Bengals	58	64	91	71	284
Opponents	44	71	48	102	265

Team leaders

• Passing: Virgil Carter (222 Att, 138 Comp, 1624 Yds, 62.2 Pct, 10 TD, 7 Int, 86.2 Rating)
• Rushing: Fred Willis (135 Att, 590 Yds, 4.4 Avg, 36 Long, 7 TD)
• Receiving: Bob Trumpy (40 Rec, 531 Yds, 13.3 Avg, 44 Long, 3 TD)
• Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 91 points (20 FG; 31 PAT)

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selections

• CB Lemar Parrish

External links

• 1971 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com