# 1971 New England Patriots season

The 1971 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Football League and 12th overall. The 1971 season was the first that the team played as the New England Patriots, changing their name from the Boston Patriots, briefly to the Bay State Patriots before changing it again to the New England Patriots, in an effort to regionalize the franchise's equal distance from Boston and Providence.
The Patriots finished with six wins and eight losses, third place in the AFC East Division. It was the first season the Patriots played in the new Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, after playing in three different stadiums the previous three seasons in Boston.
During training camp, the Dallas Cowboys traded disgruntled running back Duane Thomas to the Patriots for Carl Garrett and Halvor Hagen on July 31. Thomas became embroiled in a conflict with head coach John Mazur, prompting Patriots general manager Upton Bell to request that Commissioner Pete Rozelle void the trade three days after it had been made. Rozelle granted Bell's request, and the traded players returned to where they had been prior to the deal.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1971 New England Patriots draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Jim Plunkett | QB | Stanford | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 19 | Oakland Raiders | W 20–6 | 1–0 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 26 | Detroit Lions | L 7–34 | 1–1 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | October 3 | Baltimore Colts | L 3–23 | 1–2 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 10 | New York Jets | W 20–0 | 2–2 | Schaefer Stadium | Reacp |
| 5 | October 17 | at Miami Dolphins | L 3–41 | 2–3 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap |
| 6 | October 24 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 21–44 | 2–4 | Texas Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 31 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 10–27 | 2–5 | Candlestick Park | Recap |
| 8 | November 7 | Houston Oilers | W 28–20 | 3–5 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 14 | Buffalo Bills | W 38–33 | 4–5 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 21 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–27 | 4–6 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 28 | at Buffalo Bills | L 20–27 | 4–7 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | December 5 | Miami Dolphins | W 34–13 | 5–7 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 12 | at New York Jets | L 6–13 | 5–8 | Shea Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 19 | at Baltimore Colts | W 21–17 | 6–8 | Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 5–3 | 7–3–1 | 315 | 174 | W1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 8–3 | 313 | 140 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 4–4 | 6–5 | 238 | 325 | W1 |
| New York Jets | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 4–4 | 6–5 | 212 | 299 | W2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 1–7 | 1–10 | 184 | 394 | L3 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.