1971 Philadelphia Eagles season
# 1971 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1971 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 39th in the National Football League. They improved on their previous output of 3–10–1, winning six games. Despite the improvement, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eleventh consecutive season. This was the team's inaugural season in Veterans Stadium.

After the Eagles lost their first three games of the season, head coach Jerry Williams was fired and replaced by Ed Khayat.

## Offseason

### NFL Draft

The table shows the Eagles' selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.

| = Pro Bowler | = Hall of Famer |
| - | - |
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 5 | Richard Harris | Defensive End | Grambling |
| 2 | 30 | $_{PickTakenByDetroitLions}$ | | |
| 2 | 50 | Hank $Allison_{AcquiredMinnVikingsPick}$ | Guard | San Diego State |
| 3 | 55 | $_{PickTakenBySanFrancisco49ers}$ | | |
| 4 | 83 | Happy Feller | Kicker | Texas |
| 5 | 108 | Tom Shellabarger | Tackle | San Diego State |
| 6 | 133 | Jack Smith | Defensive back | Troy State |
| 6 | 154 | Wyck Neely | Defensive back | Mississippi |
| 7 | 161 | Harold Carmichael | Wide receiver | Southern |
| 8 | 186 | Leonard Gotschalk | Center | Humboldt State |
| 9 | 211 | Len Pettigrew | Linebacker | Ashland |
| 10 | 239 | $_{PickTakenByNewOrleansSaints}$ | | |
| 10 | 256 | Tom Bailey | Running back | Florida State |
| 11 | 264 | Albert Davis | Running back | Tennessee State |
| 12 | 289 | Rich Saathoff | Defensive end | Northern Arizona |
| 13 | 317 | Danny Lester | Defensive back | Texas |
| 14 | 342 | Robert Creech | Linebacker | Texas Christian |
| 15 | 367 | Ed Fisher | Guard | Prairie View A&M |
| 16 | 395 | Bruce James | Linebacker | Arkansas |
| 17 | 420 | John Sage | Linebacker | Louisiana State |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | September 19 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 14–37 | 0–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 55,880 |
| 2 | September 26 | Dallas Cowboys | L 7–42 | 0–2 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 3 | October 3 | San Francisco 49ers | L 3–31 | 0–3 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 4 | October 10 | Minnesota Vikings | L 0–13 | 0–4 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 5 | October 17 | at Oakland Raiders | L 10–34 | 0–5 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,615 |
| 6 | October 24 | New York Giants | W 23–7 | 1–5 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 7 | October 31 | Denver Broncos | W 17–16 | 2–5 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 8 | November 7 | at Washington Redskins | T 7–7 | 2–5–1 | RFK Stadium | 53,041 |
| 9 | November 14 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 7–20 | 2–6–1 | Texas Stadium | 60,178 |
| 10 | November 21 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 37–20 | 3–6–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,658 |
| 11 | November 28 | Washington Redskins | L 13–20 | 3–7–1 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 12 | December 5 | at Detroit Lions | W 23–20 | 4–7–1 | Tiger Stadium | 54,418 |
| 13 | December 12 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 19–7 | 5–7–1 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 14 | December 19 | at New York Giants | W 41–28 | 6–7–1 | Yankee Stadium | 62,774 |

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings

NFC East :

| viewtalkedit | 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.

## Awards and honors

Records Breakers

* Al Nelson 102 yard missed field goal return, Eagles vs Dallas on September 26, 1971

Pro Bowl

* Bill Bradley named Pro Bowl starter

League Leaders

* Bill Bradley leads league with 11 interceptions.
