# 1971 Denver Broncos season

The 1971 Denver Broncos season was the team's twelfth season in professional football and second in the National Football League (NFL). Led by fifth-year head coach and general manager Lou Saban, the Broncos finished the season with four wins, nine losses, and one tie, again fourth in the AFC West. Fifth-year running back Floyd Little became the thirteenth in professional football history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season; the future Hall of Famer ran for 1,133 yards, averaging four yards per carry.
On Wednesday, November 17, Saban stepped down as head coach but remained as general manager; offensive line coach Jerry Smith led the team for the final five games, with two wins. Several days after the season finale, Saban was hired as head coach of the Buffalo Bills, who had just one victory in 1971. The Bills improved to 9–5 in 1973 and made the playoffs in 1974.
In early January 1972, the Broncos hired John Ralston as head coach and general manager; he was previously the head coach for nine years at Stanford University, upset winners of the last two Rose Bowls.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1971 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 12 | Marv Montgomery | OT | USC | From Green Bay |
| 2 | 35 | Dwight Harrison | WR | Texas A&I | |
| 4 | 79 | Lyle Alzado * | DE | Yankton | |
| 4 | 87 | Cleo Johnson | DB | Alcorn A&M | |
| 6 | 139 | Harold Phillips | DB | Michigan State | |
| 7 | 165 | Doug Adams | LB | Ohio State | |
| 8 | 187 | Tom Beard | C | Michigan State | |
| 9 | 217 | John Handy | LB | Purdue | |
| 10 | 243 | Carlis Harris | WR | Idaho State | |
| 11 | 269 | Roger Roitsch | DT | Rice | |
| 12 | 295 | Floyd Franks | WR | Ole Miss | |
| 13 | 321 | Craig Blackford | QB | Evansville | |
| 14 | 350 | Tommy Lyons | C | Georgia | |
| 15 | 373 | Larry James | RB | Norfork State | |
| 16 | 399 | Steve Thompson | DT | Minnesota | |
| 17 | 425 | Jack Simcsak | K | Virginia Tech | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 19 | Miami Dolphins | T 10–10 | 0–0–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,228 |
| 2 | September 26 | at Green Bay Packers | L 13–34 | 0–1–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 47,957 |
| 3 | October 3 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 3–16 | 0–2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 |
| 4 | October 10 | Oakland Raiders | L 16–27 | 0–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 |
| 5 | October 17 | San Diego Chargers | W 20–16 | 1–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 |
| 6 | October 24 | at Cleveland Browns | W 27–0 | 2–3–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 75,674 |
| 7 | October 31 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 16–17 | 2–4–1 | Veterans Stadium | 65,358 |
| 8 | November 7 | Detroit Lions | L 20–24 | 2–5–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 |
| 9 | November 14 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–24 | 2–6–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 |
| 10 | November 21 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–28 | 2–7–1 | Municipal Stadium | 49,945 |
| 11 | November 28 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 22–10 | 3–7–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 39,710 |
| 12 | December 5 | Chicago Bears | W 6–3 | 4–7–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,200 |
| 13 | December 12 | at San Diego Chargers | L 17–45 | 4–8–1 | San Diego Stadium | 44,347 |
| 14 | December 19 | at Oakland Raiders | L 13–21 | 4–9–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,651 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||
    The sites of the two games with the Oakland Raiders were switched.

### 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.