1971 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1971 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 11th in the National Football League. They finished with an 11–3 record to win the NFC Central title and return to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season; however, they lost 20–12 at home to the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round.

1971 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coachBud Grant
General managerJim Finks
Home fieldMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record11–3
Division place1st NFC Central
Playoff finishLost NFC Divisional Playoff (Cowboys) 12–20

In 2007, ESPN.com ranked the 1971 Vikings as the fourth-greatest defense in NFL history,[1] saying, "[c]onsidering that their motto was 'Meet at the quarterback,' it's no surprise that the Purple People Eaters held opposing QBs to a 40.4 rating, one of the lowest ever." ESPN also noted that the 1971 Vikings "shut out three opponents, and only one team scored more than 20 points against them. As a result, Alan Page became the first defensive player to ever be named NFL MVP. Carl Eller, Jim Marshall and safety Paul Krause joined Page on the All-Pro team."

Offseason

1971 Draft
Main article: 1971 NFL draft
1971 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
124 Leo Hayden Running Back Ohio State
250 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles[a]
3 76 Eddie Hackett Wide receiver Alcorn A&M
4 102 Vince Clements Running back Connecticut
5 128 Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers[b]
6 154 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles[a]
7 180 Gene Mack Linebacker Texas–El Paso
8 208 John Farley Defensive end Johnson C. Smith originally Colts pick[c]
9 232 Tim Sullivan Running back Iowa
10 258 Chris Morris Guard Indiana
11 284 Mike Walker Linebacker Tulane
12 310 Reggie Holmes Defensive back Wisconsin–Stout
13 336 Benny Fry Center Houston
14 362 Jim Gallagher Linebacker Yale
15 388 Jeff Wright Defensive back Minnesota
16 413 Greg Edmonds Wide receiver Penn State originally 49ers pick[d]
17 439 Ken Duncan Punter Tulsa originally 49ers pick[e]
^[a] The Vikings traded their second- and sixth-round selections (50th and 154th overall), their 1972 third-round selection (76th overall) and OL Steve Smith to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for QB Norm Snead.
^[b] The Vikings traded their fifth-round selection (128th overall) to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for QB Kent Nix.
^[c] The Vikings originally chose 206th overall, but passed, allowing Dallas and Baltimore to move up before the Vikings eventually took the 208th overall pick.
^[d] The Vikings originally chose 414th overall, but moved up to the 413th overall selection when San Francisco passed.
^[e] The Vikings originally chose 440th overall, but moved up to the 439th overall selection when Oakland passed on the 435th overall selection and allowed Los Angeles, Detroit, Miami, San Francisco, Minnesota, Dallas, and Baltimore to move up.

Roster
1971 Minnesota Vikings final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics
 54 active, 4 inactive, 0 practice squad

Preseason
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance[2]
1August 8New England PatriotsL 10–170–1Memorial Stadium (Minneapolis)31,813
2August 14at San Diego ChargersW 34–71–1San Diego Stadium49,267
3August 21Chicago BearsW 34–142–1Metropolitan Stadium47,900
4August 28at Pittsburgh SteelersW 26–213–1Three Rivers Stadium46,276
5September 4at Denver BroncosL 7–143–2Mile High Stadium43,000
6September 11Miami DolphinsW 24–04–2Metropolitan Stadium47,990

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 20 at Detroit Lions W 16–13 1–0 Tiger Stadium 54,418
2 September 26 Chicago Bears L 17–20 1–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,900
3 October 3 Buffalo Bills W 19–0 2–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,900
4 October 10 at Philadelphia Eagles W 13–0 3–1 Veterans Stadium 65,358
5 October 17 at Green Bay Packers W 24–13 4–1 Lambeau Field 56,263
6 October 25 Baltimore Colts W 10–3 5–1 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
7 October 31 at New York Giants W 17–10 6–1 Yankee Stadium 62,829
8 November 7 San Francisco 49ers L 9–13 6–2 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
9 November 14 Green Bay Packers W 3–0 7–2 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
10 November 21 at New Orleans Saints W 23–10 8–2 Tulane Stadium 83,130
11 November 28 Atlanta Falcons W 24–7 9–2 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
12 December 5 at San Diego Chargers L 14–30 9–3 San Diego Stadium 54,505
13 December 11 Detroit Lions W 29–10 10–3 Metropolitan Stadium 49,784
14 December 19 at Chicago Bears W 27–10 11–3 Soldier Field 55,049

Week 6
Week 6: Baltimore Colts at Minnesota Vikings – Game summary
1 2 34Total
Colts 0 0 033
Vikings 7 0 3010

at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota

Playoffs
Round Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Divisional December 25 Dallas Cowboys L 12–20 Metropolitan Stadium 47,307

Standings
NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings 11 3 0 .786 5–1 9–2 245 139 W2
Detroit Lions 7 6 1 .538 2–3–1 3–6–1 341 286 L2
Chicago Bears 6 8 0 .429 2–4 5–6 185 276 L5
Green Bay Packers 4 8 2 .333 2–3–1 2–7–2 274 298 L1

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

Awards, records, and honors

All-Pros

First team

Pro Bowlers

League leaders
  • Bob Lee – Most punts (89), most punting yards (3515)
  • Charlie West – Longest interception return (89 yards)
  • Alan Page – Most safeties (2)

Statistics

Team leaders
Category Player(s) Value
Passing yardsGary Cuozzo842
Passing touchdownsGary Cuozzo6
Rushing yardsClint Jones675
Rushing touchdownsDave Osborn5
Receiving yardsBob Grim691
Receiving touchdownsBob Grim7
PointsFred Cox91
Kickoff return yardsCharlie West556
Punt return yardsCharlie West94
InterceptionsCharlie West7

League rankings
Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 26)
Passing offense1,655118.225th
Rushing offense1,695121.117th
Total offense3,350239.323rd
Passing defense1,806129.03rd
Rushing defense1,600114.36th
Total defense3,406243.32nd

References
  1. The List: Best NFL defense of all-time, 2007
  • "1971 Minnesota Vikings Statistics & Players". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
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