1971 Kansas City Chiefs season The 1971 Kansas City Chiefs season saw the club bounce back from a 7 – 5 – 2 campaign in 1970 to record a 10 – 3 – 1 mark and win the AFC West division championship , the Chiefs ' first division title since 1966 . The Chiefs tied with the Miami Dolphins for the best record in the AFC and were tied for the third - best record overall in the NFL , trailing only the 11 – 3 marks of the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings . Most of the pieces of the team which won Super Bowl IV two years earlier were still in place . Left defensive end Jerry Mays retired after the 1970 season , with Marvin Upshaw taking his spot , but the other 10 defensive starters were the same as they were two years prior . Middle linebacker Willie Lanier was a unanimous All - Pro selection following the season , and would likely have been named NFL Defensive Player of the Year had not Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page become the second defensive player to win the league ' s Most Valuable Player award . Outside linebacker Bobby Bell , defensive tackle Buck Buchanan and cornerback Emmitt Thomas joined Lanier on the AFC Pro Bowl squad following the season . Bell , Buchanan , Lanier and Thomas are all members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame . On offense , fullback Robert Holmes was traded to the San Diego Chargers midway through the season , leaving Wendell Hayes to assume the fullback duties next to third - year pro Ed Podolak , who had become the starting halfback slot when Mike Garrett was traded to San Diego in 1970 . Morris Stroud , the tallest player in NFL history at 6 - foot - 10 , and Willie Frazier , acquired from San Diego , alternated at tight end for the retired Fred Arbanas , but the rest of the offensive line , save for center Jack Rudnay , remained the same from the Super Bowl winning team . Rudnay assumed the starting center spot in 1970 over veteran E . J . Holub . At wide receiver , rookie Elmo Wright , the Chiefs ' first - round pick in the 1971 NFL Draft from the University of Houston , assumed the slot opposite all - pro Otis Taylor , as Frank Pitts had moved on to the Cleveland Browns . Taylor earned selection to the Pro Bowl , along with guard Ed Budde , quarterback Len Dawson , and tackle Jim Tyrer . Kansas City ' s special teams remained among the league ' s elite units , thanks to the combination of kicker Jan Stenerud and punter Jerrel Wilson , both of whom were named to the Pro Bowl . Podolak and Warren McVea handled the bulk of the return duties . The season was the last for the Chiefs in Municipal Stadium , as owner Lamar Hunt and general manager Jack Steadman were overseeing the construction of Arrowhead Stadium , located at the junction of Interstate 70 and Interstate 435 in Jackson County , Missouri , at the eastern edge of the Kansas City city limits . Arrowhead , along with Royals Stadium , being constructed for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball , would form the Truman Sports Complex , bucking the trend of multi - purpose stadium s in vogue at the time . The season ended in heartbreak , as the Miami Dolphins won the longest game in National Football League history on Christmas Day , defeating the Chiefs 27 – 24 in double overtime on a 37 - yard field goal by Garo Yepremian in the last football game in Municipal Stadium , as well as the last game for safety Johnny Robinson , who was an original member of the Dallas Texans in 1960 . Coach Hank Stram often called the 1971 Chiefs the franchise ' s best - ever squad , and this loss haunted Stram for the rest of his life , even after his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003 . Stram died July 4 , 2005 at age 82 . The loss to Miami began a nosedive in the Chiefs ' fortunes . Kansas City backslid to 8 – 6 and 7 – 5 – 2 in 1972 and 1973 , before falling to 5 – 9 and last in the AFC West in 1974 , leading to the Stram ' s firing following the season . Kansas City would not reach the playoffs again until 1986 , did not host ( or win ) another playoff game until 1991 , and did not win the AFC West division title until 1993 . Roster . This is a list of the 1971 Kansas City Chiefs ' regular starters .