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NFL team season
George Allen and members of the 1971 team with President Richard Nixon , two days before Thanksgiving . The 1971 Washington Redskins National Football League , and its 35th in Washington, D.C. The Redskins were led by first-year head coach George Allen , who had been the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams for the previous five seasons.
Coming into the 1971 season, the team had not made the postseason in 26 years . The Redskins had had only four winning seasons since their last playoff berth in 1945 , the most recent a 7–5–2 campaign in 1969 under Vince Lombardi , who died of colon cancer in September 1970.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
Allen was Washington's fourth head coach in as many seasons. Lombardi succeeded Otto Graham , and assistant Bill Austin took over when Lombardi fell mortally ill in the summer of 1970 , and posted a 6–8 record.
Despite a broken left ankle suffered by leading receiver Charley Taylor in a Week 6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that forced him to miss the remainder of the season, the Redskins went 9–4–1, good for second place in the NFC East . They earned a wild card berth , but lost in the opening divisional round at San Francisco , 24–20.[ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
Off-season
NFL Draft
Roster
Pre season
Schedule
Pre season Game summaries
Regular season
Schedule
Week
Date
Opponent
Time
TV
Result
Record
Venue
Attendance
Recap
1
September 19
at St. Louis Cardinals
2:00 p.m. EDT
CBS
W 24–17
1–0
Busch Memorial Stadium
46,805
Recap
2
September 26
at New York Giants
W 30–3
2–0
Yankee Stadium
62,795
Recap
3
October 3
at Dallas Cowboys
W 20–16
3–0
Cotton Bowl
61,554
Recap
4
October 10
Houston Oilers
W 22–13
4–0
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
5
October 17
St. Louis Cardinals 1:00 p.m. EDT
CBS
W 20–0
5–0
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
6
October 24
at Kansas City Chiefs
L 20–27
5–1
Municipal Stadium
51,989
Recap
7
October 31
New Orleans Saints
W 24–14
6–1
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
8
November 7
Philadelphia Eagles
T 7–7
6–1–1
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
9
November 14
at Chicago Bears
L 15–16
6–2–1
Soldier Field
55,049
Recap
10
November 21
Dallas Cowboys
L 0–13
6–3–1
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
11
November 28
at Philadelphia Eagles
W 20–13
7–3–1
Veterans Stadium
65,358
Recap
12
December 5
New York Giants
W 23–7
8–3–1
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
13
at Los Angeles Rams
W 38–24
9–3–1
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
80,402
Recap
14
December 19
Cleveland Browns
L 13–20
9–4–1
RFK Stadium
53,041
Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Regular Season Game summaries
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(August 2014 )
Week 1: Washington Redskins at St. Louis Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter
1
2
3 4 Total
Redskins (1–0)
7
0
14 3 24
Cardinals (0–1)
0
10
0 7 17
at Busch Memorial Stadium • St. Louis, Missouri
Date : September 19, 1971Game time : 2:00 p.m. EDT Game weather : 58 °F (14 °C); relative humidity 100%; wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn) (Light rain)Game attendance : 46,805Referee : Fred Silva TV announcers (CBS ) : Jack Drees (play-by-play), George Connor (color commentator) and Bruce Roberts (studio reporter)[ 7]
Team
Category
Player
Statistics
WAS
Passing
Billy Kilmer 6/17, 65 YDS, 1 TD
Rushing
Larry Brown 18 CAR, 79 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving
Jerry Smith 2 REC, 35 YDS, 1 TD
STL
Passing
Jim Hart 5/15, 74 YDS, 1 TD, 3 INTs
Rushing
MacArthur Lane 19 CAR, 54 YDS
Receiving
Jackie Smith 5 REC, 63 YDS, 2 TDs
Redskins
Game Statistics
Cardinals
10
First downs
13
38–148
Rushes–yards
38–117
65
Passing yards
138
6–17–0
Passes
10–27–4
0–0
Sacked–yards
0–0
65
Net passing yards
138
213
Total yards
255
171
Return yards
138
7–40.9
Punts
5–39.8
2–1
Fumbles–lost
3–3
3–25
Penalties–yards
6–39
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
1
2 3 4 Total
• Redskins
7
7 3 3
20
Cowboys
0
9 0 7
16
Scoring summary 1 Redskins Charlie Harraway 57 yard run (Curtis Knight kick)Redskins 7–0 2 Cowboys Mike Clark 22 yard field goalRedskins 7–3 2 Redskins Roy Jefferson 50 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curtis Knight kick)Redskins 14–3 2 Cowboys Mike Clark 9 yard field goal Redskins 14–6 2 Cowboys Mike Clark 27 yard field goal Redskins 14–9 3 Redskins Curtis Knight 25 yard field goal Redskins 17–9 4 Redskins Curtis Knight 32 yard field goal Redskins 20–9 4 Cowboys Calvin Hill 1 yard run (Mike Clark kick)Redskins 20–16
Week 5: St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Redskins – Game summary
Quarter
1
2
3 4 Total
Cardinals (2–3)
0
0
0 0 0
Redskins (5–0)
10
0
3 7 20
at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.
Team
Category
Player
Statistics
STL
Passing
Rushing
Receiving
WAS
Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Cardinals
Game Statistics
Redskins
First downs
Rushes–yards
Passing yards
Passes
Sacked–yards
Total yards
Return yards
Punts
Fumbles–lost
Penalties–yards
|}
1
2 3 4 Total
Eagles
0
0 7 0
7
Redskins
0
0 0 7
7
Date: November 7Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C) • Wind 17 mph (27 km/h)Referee: Fred Silva
[ 9]
Postseason
Playoff Game summaries
Richard Nixon play
There was a rumor that President Richard Nixon called a key play that caused the Redskins to lose to the 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs. Nixon, a friend of George Allen, once attended a practice game where he tried the same play to much better results.[ 10]
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(July 2010 )
References
^ "Lombardi dies of cancer" . Milwaukee Journal . press dispatches. September 3, 1970. p. 1, part 1.^ "Lombardi loses fight" . Pittsburgh Press . UPI. September 3, 1970. p. 39.^ "State to mourn Lombardi in rites" . Milwaukee Sentinel . September 4, 1970. p. 1, part 1.^ "49ers, Colts march into finals" . Milwaukee Sentinel . UPI. September 27, 1971. p. 1, part 2.^ "Go-for-broke pass pays off for 49ers" . Free Lance-Star . (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Associated Press. December 27, 1971. p. 16.^ Maule, Tex (January 3, 1972). "The Cowboys fly – the Redskins die" . Sports Illustrated . p. 15.^ Pro Football Reference Washington Redskins at St. Louis Cardinals – September 19, 1971 ^ Pro Football Reference St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Redskins – October 17, 1971 ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
^ "Did Richard Nixon call a key Redskins play?" . 13 September 2012.
Formerly the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), and Washington Football Team (2020–2021)
Based in Landover, Maryland
Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia Franchise Stadiums Key personnel Culture and lore Rivalries Division championships (15) Conference championships (5) League championships (2) Super Bowl championships (3) Retired numbers Hall of Famers Affiliations
Formerly the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), and Washington Football Team (2020–2021)
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