1971 Los Angeles Rams season

The 1971 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 34th year with the National Football League, and the 26th season in Los Angeles. The team looked to improve on its 9–4–1 record from 1970, but finished only one game below their goal, as they finished 8–5–1 and finished 2nd in the NFC West, behind the San Francisco 49ers (9–5).

1971 Los Angeles Rams season
Owner	estate of Dan Reeves
Head coach	Tommy Prothro
Home field	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	8–5–1
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The Rams started out strong at 4–1–1, but split their final eight games. Despite sweeping the 49ers on the season, a crucial tie against the Atlanta Falcons in week 2 proved to doom the Rams, because had they beaten Atlanta, they would've clinched the NFC West by virtue of their sweep over the 49ers.

Team owner Dan Reeves died of cancer prior to the season in April.

NFL Draft

Main article: 1971 NFL Draft

= Pro Bowler

1971 Los Angeles Rams Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	10	Isiah Robertson	Linebacker	Southern
	20	Jack Youngblood	Defensive end	Florida
3	63	Dave Elmendorf	Strong safety	Texas A&M
4	101	Steve Worster	Running back	Texas
8	202	Tony Garay	Defensive end	Hofstra
9	228	Joe Schmidt	Wide receiver	Miami (FL)
10	254	Don Popplewell	Center	Colorado
11	280	Charlie Richards	Quarterback	Richmond
12	306	Kirk Behrendt	Tackle	Whitewater
13	331	Russell Harrison	Running back	Kansas State
14	358	Lionel Coleman	Defensive back	Oregon
15	384	Vontez Norman VI	Guard	Notre Dame
16	409	Ross Boice	Linebacker	Pacific Lutheran
17	418	Randy Vataha	Wide receiver	Stanford
	435	Joe Sweet		Tennessee State

Roster

1971 Los Angeles Rams roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 18 Roman Gabriel 17 Jerry Rhome 11 John Walton Running backs (RB) 33 Willie Ellison 34 Les Josephson 36 Larry Smith 35 Bob Thomas 44 Lee White 25 Travis Williams Wide receivers (WR) 48 Matt Maslowski 13 Lance Rentzel 84 Jack Snow Tight ends (TE) 88 Pat Curran 80 Bob Klein

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Rich Buzin T 63 Joe Carollo T 73 Charlie Cowan T 50 Ken Iman C 64 Mike LaHood G 65 Tom Mack G 61 Rich Saul C 76 Harry Schuh T 71 Joe Scibelli G Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Coy Bacon DE 75 Deacon Jones DE 67 Bill Nelson DT 74 Merlin Olsen DT 72 Phil Olsen DT 78 Gregory Wojcik DT 85 Jack Youngblood DE

Linebackers (LB) 36 Ken Geddes 56 Dean Halverson 86 Marlin McKeever 52 John Pergine 53 Jim Purnell 64 Jack Reynolds MLB 58 Isiah Robertson Defensive backs (DB) 39 Kermit Alexander SS 23 Alvin Haymond CB 42 Dave Elmendorf SS 20 Gene Howard CB 19 Jim Nettles CB 24 Clancy Williams CB Special teams 27 David Ray K 28 Pat Studstill P

Rookies in italics

Regular season

As they had in 1970, the Rams and 49ers staged a season long battle for the NFC West title that came down to the season's final game. The Rams season got off to a rocky and controversial start in New Orleans against the Saints and their rookie quarterback Archie Manning. The Saints trailed 20–17 in the final seconds and faced 4th and goal from the Rams' 1-yard line. Instead of settling for a tie (there was no overtime for regular season games in the NFL in 1971), the Saints gambled and went for the win. Manning ran a quarterback sneak in which the officials signaled touchdown, although television replays showed that Manning was stopped short of the goal line. So instead of a 20–17 win, the Rams lost 24–20. In week 2 the Rams needed a last second field goal to tie the Atlanta Falcons, 20–20.

The Rams appeared to right their ship by winning their next four games, including a 20–13 win in San Francisco. But back-to-back losses to the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Colts left the 4–3–1 Rams 1+1⁄2 games behind the 6–2 49ers. Then the Rams won 2 straight, including a 17–6 win in San Francisco; that gave the Rams a 1⁄2-game lead in the division and they held the tiebreaker over the 49ers by virtue of their season sweep of S.F. The Rams then lost a Thanksgiving game in Dallas 28–21, but re-took the division lead with two games to play by beating the Saints 45–28. However, just as they had the year before, the Rams lost a Monday night game at home, this time to the Redskins, coached by former Rams head coach George Allen, 38–24. And just like the previous season's Monday night home loss to the Lions, this one ended up costing the Rams both the division title and the wild card berth (won by the Redskins). The Rams won their final game in Pittsburgh 23–14, but learned on their flight home that the 49ers rallied beat the Lions with a 4th-quarter touchdown, 31–27.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 19	at New Orleans Saints	L 20-24	0–1	Tulane Stadium	70,915
2	September 26	Atlanta Falcons	T 20–20	0–1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	57,895
3	October 3	Chicago Bears	W 17–3	1–1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	66,957
4	October 10	at San Francisco 49ers	W 20–13	2–1–1	Candlestick Park	44,000
5	October 17	at Atlanta Falcons	W 24–16	3–1–1	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
6	October 24	Green Bay Packers	W 30–13	4–1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	75,351
7	October 31	Miami Dolphins	L 14-20	4–2–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	72,903
8	November 8	at Baltimore Colts	L 17–24	4–3–1	Memorial Stadium	57,722
9	November 14	at Detroit Lions	W 21–13	5–3–1	Tiger Stadium	54,418
10	November 21	San Francisco 49ers	W 17–6	6–3–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	80,050
11	November 25	at Dallas Cowboys	L 21–28	6–4–1	Texas Stadium	66,595
12	December 5	New Orleans Saints	W 45–28	7–4–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	73,610
13	December 13	Washington Redskins	L 24-38	7–5–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	80,402
14	December 19	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–14	8–5–1	Three Rivers Stadium	45,233
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	9	5	0	.643	2–4	7–4	300	216	W2
Los Angeles Rams	8	5	1	.615	4–1–1	7–3–1	313	260	W1
Atlanta Falcons	7	6	1	.538	3–2–1	4–6–1	274	277	W1
New Orleans Saints	4	8	2	.333	2–4	4–7	266	347	L3

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