1971 New York Giants season

The 1971 New York Giants season was the franchise's 47th season in the National Football League (NFL).^[1] The Giants had a 4–10 record for the season and finished in last place in the National Football Conference East Division.^[2]

1971 New York Giants season
Owner	Wellington Mara
Head coach	Alex Webster
Home field	Yankee Stadium
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	5th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1970 Giants seasons 1972 →

The Giants selected Rocky Thompson in the 1971 NFL draft, with the 18th overall pick.^[3] After a winless preseason, New York began the regular season with a 2–1 record before posting a 2–9 mark in its final eleven games. The team was affected by numerous injuries, including a thigh injury suffered by running back Ron Johnson, who had gained more than 1,000 rushing yards in 1970. The 1971 season was the last for quarterback Fran Tarkenton with the Giants; after he requested a trade, the Giants dealt him to the Minnesota Vikings in 1972 for three players and a pair of draft picks.^[4]

Roster

1971 New York Giants roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 19 Ed Baker 11 Randy Johnson 10 Fran Tarkenton Running backs (RB) 34 Junior Coffey 28 Bobby Duhon 31 Charlie Evans 24 Tucker Frederickson 30 Ron Johnson 40 Joe Morrison 22 Rocky Thompson Wide receivers (WR) 85 Don Herrmann 84 Rich Houston 18 Clifton McNeil 88 Coleman Zeno Tight ends (TE) 87 Rich Kotite 38 Bob Tucker

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Dick Hanson T 61 Charlie Harper T 70 Bob Hyland G 53 Greg Larson C 63 Doug Van Horn G 78 Wayne Walton 69 Willie Young T Defensive linemen (DL) 89 Fred Dryer DE 73 Jim Kanicki DT 70 Roland Lakes DT 71 Bob Lurtsema DE 80 Henry Reed DE 74 Dave Roller DT 75 Jerry Shay DT 71 Dave Tipton DE 79 Vern Vanoy DT

Linebackers (LB) 51 John Douglas 58 Jim Files 55 Ralph Heck 67 Ron Hornsby 56 Pat Hughes Defensive backs (DB) 21 Otto Brown CB 20 Scott Eaton CB 44 Richmond Flowers S 43 Spider Lockhart FS 26 Bennie McRae 41 Willie A. Williams Special teams 15 Tom Blanchard P 83 Skip Butler K 3 Pete Gogolak K

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 19	at Green Bay Packers	W 42–40	1–0	56,263
2	September 26	Washington Redskins	L 3–30	1–1	62,795
3	October 3	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 21–20	2–1	49,571
4	October 11	at Dallas Cowboys	L 13–20	2–2	68,378
5	October 17	Baltimore Colts	L 7–31	2–3	62,860
6	October 24	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–23	2–4	65,358
7	October 31	Minnesota Vikings	L 10–17	2–5	62,829
8	November 7	San Diego Chargers	W 35–17	3–5	62,905
9	November 14	at Atlanta Falcons	W 21–17	4–5	58,850
10	November 21	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–17	4–6	50,008
11	November 28	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–24	4–7	62,878
12	December 5	at Washington Redskins	L 7–23	4–8	53,401
13	December 12	Dallas Cowboys	L 14–42	4–9	62,815
14	December 19	Philadelphia Eagles	L 28–41	4–10	62,774

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	11	3	0	.786	7–1	8–3	406	222	W7
Washington Redskins	9	4	1	.692	6–1–1	8–2–1	276	190	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	6	7	1	.462	4–3–1	5–5–1	221	302	W3
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.308	1–7	2–8–1	231	279	L2
New York Giants	4	10	0	.286	1–7	3–8	228	362	L5

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

References

1. "New York Giants Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
2. "1971 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
3. "1971 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
4. Whittingham, Richard (2005). Illustrated History of the New York Giants. Chicago: Triumph Books. pp. 155–160. ISBN 1-57243-641-7.