# 1971 Oakland Raiders season

The 1971 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 12th season. The Raiders failed to make the playoffs as their main rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, won the division title.
This was the only season between 1966 and 1977 in which the Raiders did not win the AFL/AFC West title.
This would be the final season where Wayne Valley was the majority owner of the Raiders the next season, he would be pushed out in favor general manager Al Davis who by 1976 bought out the remaining shares from Valley to become the sole owner.

## Offseason
### Draft

1971 Oakland Raiders draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 19 | Jack Tatum * | DB | Ohio State |
| 2 | 45 | Phil Villapiano * | LB | Bowling Green |
| 3 | 73 | Warren Koegel | C | Penn State |
| 4 | 97 | Clarence Davis | RB | USC |
| 5 | 123 | Bob Moore | TE | Stanford |
| 6 | 149 | Greg Slough | LB | USC |
| 7 | 157 | Don Martin | DB | Yale |
| 9 | 227 | Dave Garnett | RB | Pittsburgh |
| 10 | 238 | Bill West | DB | Tennessee State |
| 10 | 253 | Tim Oesterling | DT | UCLA |
| 11 | 279 | Jim Poston | DT | South Carolina |
| 12 | 305 | Horace Jones | DE | Louisville |
| 13 | 334 | Mick Natzel | DB | Central Michigan |
| 14 | 357 | Tom Gipson | DT | North Texas State |
| 15 | 383 | Andy Giles | LB | William & Mary |
| 16 | 412 | Tony Stawarz | DB | Miami (FL) |
| 17 | 442 | Charles Hill | WR | Sam Houston State |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 19 | at New England Patriots | L 6–20 | 0–1 | Shaefer Stadium | 55,405 | Recap |
| 2 | September 26 | at San Diego Chargers | W 34–0 | 1–1 | San Diego Stadium | 54,084 | Recap |
| 3 | October 4 | at Cleveland Browns | W 34–20 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 84,285 | Recap |
| 4 | October 10 | at Denver Broncos | W 27–16 | 3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 | Recap |
| 5 | October 17 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 34–10 | 4–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,615 | Recap |
| 6 | October 24 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 31–27 | 5–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,699 | Recap |
| 7 | October 31 | Kansas City Chiefs | T 20–20 | 5–1–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,715 | Recap |
| 8 | November 7 | at New Orleans Saints | T 21–21 | 5–1–2 | Tulane Stadium | 83,102 | Recap |
| 9 | November 14 | Houston Oilers | W 41–21 | 6–1–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,705 | Recap |
| 10 | November 21 | San Diego Chargers | W 34–33 | 7–1–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,681 | Recap |
| 11 | November 28 | Baltimore Colts | L 14–37 | 7–2–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,689 | Recap |
| 12 | December 5 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 13–24 | 7–3–2 | Atlanta Stadium | 58,850 | Recap |
| 13 | December 12 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 14–16 | 7–4–2 | Municipal Stadium | 51,215 | Recap |
| 14 | December 19 | Denver Broncos | W 21–13 | 8–4–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,651 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||
    The sites of the two games with the Denver Broncos were switched.

### Game notes
#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 3 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 34 |
| Chargers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 3 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 27 |
| Broncos | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| • Raiders | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 4–1–1 | 8–2–1 | 302 | 208 | W3 |
| Oakland Raiders | 8 | 4 | 2 | .667 | 4–1–1 | 7–3–1 | 344 | 278 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2–4 | 4–7 | 311 | 341 | L1 |
| Denver Broncos | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 1–5 | 3–6–1 | 203 | 275 | L2 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.