The 1971 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints' fifth season. The Saints drafted Archie Manning with their first round pick, the second overall.
Manning led the Saints to their first opening day victory in franchise history, scoring a touchdown run on a rollout on the final play of a 24–20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans' first over Los Angeles following four consecutive losses, including the Saints' inaugural game in 1967. Four weeks later, Manning engineered a 24–14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, who would return to Tulane Stadium in January and win Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 19 Los Angeles Rams W 24–20 1–0 Tulane Stadium 70,915 2 September 26 San Francisco 49ers L 20–38 1–1 Tulane Stadium 81,595 3 October 3 at Houston Oilers T 13–13 1–1–1 Astrodome 47,966 4 October 10 at Chicago Bears L 14–35 1–2–1 Soldier Field 55,049 5 October 17 Dallas Cowboys W 24–14 2–2–1 Tulane Stadium 83,088 6 October 24 at Atlanta Falcons L 6–28 2–3–1 Atlanta Stadium 58,850 7 October 31 at Washington Redskins L 14–24 2–4–1 RFK Stadium 53,041 8 November 7 Oakland Raiders T 21–21 2–4–2 Tulane Stadium 83,102 9 November 14 at San Francisco 49ers W 26–20 3–4–2 Candlestick Park 45,138 10 November 21 Minnesota Vikings L 10–23 3–5–2 Tulane Stadium 83,130 11 November 28 at Green Bay Packers W 29–21 4–5–2 Milwaukee County Stadium 48,035 12 December 5 at Los Angeles Rams L 28–45 4–6–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 73,610 13 December 12 Cleveland Browns L 17–21 4-7-2 Tulane Stadium 72,794 14 December 19 Atlanta Falcons L 20–24 4-8-2 Tulane Stadium 75,954 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
References
External links 1971 New Orleans Saints at JT-SW.com 1971 New Orleans Saints at Pro-Football-Reference.com