1971 Chicago Bears season

1971 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
Head coach	Jim Dooley
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1971 Chicago Bears season was their 52nd regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 6–8 record, another below .500 showing, eventually costing head coach Jim Dooley his job. This was their 1st season at Soldier Field.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1971 NFL draft

1971 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	11	Joe Moore	Running back	Missouri
2	28	Jim Harrison	Running back	Missouri
2	36	Charlie Ford	Cornerback	Houston
3	64	Tony McGee	Defensive end	Bishop
3	71	Bob Newton	Tackle	Nebraska
4	89	Jerry Moore	Defensive back	Arkansas
6	135	Earl Thomas	Wide receiver	Houston
7	167	Buddy Lee	Quarterback	LSU
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1971 Chicago Bears final roster

	Quarterbacks 11 Jack Concannon 10 Bobby Douglass 16 Kent Nix Running backs 33 Jim Grabowski FB 35 Jim Harrison FB 22 Cyril Pinder 24 Don Shy 34 Bill Tucker Wide receivers 43 George Farmer 45 Dick Gordon 84 Jim Seymour 21 Cecil Turner Tight ends 82 Earl Thomas 89 Bob Wallace		Offensive linemen 72 Jim Cadile G 70 Jeff Curchin T 52 Rich Coady C 50 Gene Hamlin C 61 Glen Holloway G 65 Randy Jackson T 78 Bob Newton G 73 Steve Wright T Defensive linemen 75 Dave Hale DT 79 John Hoffman DE 85 Willie Holman DE 71 Tony McGee DE 87 Ed O'Bradovich DE 67 George Seals DT 76 Bill Staley DT		Linebackers 31 Ross Brupbacher 55 Doug Buffone 51 Dick Butkus 30 Jimmy Gunn 53 Larry Rowden Defensive backs 32 Charlie Ford CB 17 Cliff Hardy 29 Bob Jeter CB 18 Jerry Moore 44 Garry Lyle FS 48 Ron Smith SS 20 Joe Taylor CB Special teams 88 Bobby Joe Green P 83 Mac Percival K		Reserve lists 46 Craig Baynham RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 40 Gale Sayers RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad -- Leo Johnson WR Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 19	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–15	1–0	Soldier Field	55,049
2	September 26	at Minnesota Vikings	W 20–17	2–0	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900
3	October 3	at Los Angeles Rams	L 3–17	2–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	66,957
4	October 10	New Orleans Saints	W 35–14	3–1	Soldier Field	55,049
5	October 17	at San Francisco 49ers	L 0–13	3–2	Candlestick Park	44,000
6	October 24	at Detroit Lions	W 28–23	4–2	Tiger Stadium	54,418
7	October 31	Dallas Cowboys	W 23–19	5–2	Soldier Field	55,049
8	November 7	Green Bay Packers	L 14–17	5–3	Soldier Field	55,049
9	November 14	Washington Redskins	W 16–15	6–3	Soldier Field	55,049
10	November 21	Detroit Lions	L 3–28	6–4	Soldier Field	55,049
11	November 29	at Miami Dolphins	L 3–34	6–5	Miami Orange Bowl	75,312
12	December 5	at Denver Broncos	L 3–6	6–6	Mile High Stadium	51,200
13	December 12	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–31	6–7	Lambeau Field	56,263
14	December 19	Minnesota Vikings	L 10–27	6–8	Soldier Field	55,049
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

See also: 1971 Pittsburgh Steelers season

Week One: Pittsburgh Steelers (0–0) at Chicago Bears (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Steelers	0	6	6	3	15
Bears	0	3	0	14	17

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: September 19, 1971
• Game time: 2:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C)
• Game attendance: 55,049
• Referee: Bernie Ulman
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

Second quarter PIT – Preston Pearson fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed). Steelers 6–0. Drive: CHI – Mac Percival 33-yard field goal. Steelers 6–3. Drive: Third quarter PIT – Roy Gerela 32-yard field goal. Steelers 9–3. Drive: PIT – Roy Gerela 29-yard field goal. Steelers 12–3. Drive: Fourth quarter PIT – Roy Gerela 42-yard field goal. Steelers 15–3. Drive: CHI – Ross Brupbacher 30-yard fumble return (Mac Percival kick). Steelers 15–10. CHI – George Farmer 8-yard pass from Kent Nix (Mac Percival kick). Bears 17–15. Drive: Top passers PIT – Terry Bradshaw – 10/24, 129 yards, 4 INT CHI – Jack Concannon – 15/26, 116 yards, INT Top rushers PIT – John Fuqua – 17 rushes, 114 yards CHI – Don Shy – 9 rushes, 19 yards Top receivers PIT – Ron Shanklin – 6 receptions, 113 yards CHI – George Farmer – 4 receptions, 59 yards, TD

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 0 0 3 17 20 Vikings 0 7 10 0 17 Date: September 26 Location: Metropolitan Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); wind 13 mph (21 km/h) Referee: Fred Silva

Scoring summary Q2 MIN Grim 4 yard pass from Cuozzo (Cox kick) MIN 7–0 Q3 CHI Percival 45 yard field goal MIN 7–3 Q3 MIN Grim 52 yard pass from Cuozzo (Cox kick) MIN 14–3 Q3 MIN Cox 14 yard field goal MIN 17–3 Q4 CHI Gordon 36 yard pass from Nix (Percival kick) MIN 17–10 Q4 CHI Percival 45 yard field goal MIN 17–13 Q4 CHI Gordon 19 yard pass from Nix (Percival kick) CHI 20–17

• Dick Gordon 10 Rec, 115 Yds

Week 6

See also: 1971 Detroit Lions season and Bears–Lions rivalry

Week Six: Chicago Bears (3–2) at Detroit Lions (4–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	0	7	28
Lions	6	14	3	0	23

at Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

• Date: October 24, 1971
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
• Game attendance: 54,418
• Referee: Jack Reader
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter DET – Errol Mann 28-yard field goal. Lions 3–0. Drive: CHI – Don Shy 21-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Bears 7–3. Drive: DET – Errol Mann 49-yard field goal. Bears 7–6. Drive: Second quarter CHI – George Farmer 54-yard pass from Bobby Douglass (Mac Percival kick). Bears 14–6. Drive: DET – Ron Jessie 102-yard kickoff return (Errol Mann kick). Bears 14–13. DET – Larry Walton 16-yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick). Lions 20–14. Drive: CHI – Bob Wallace 15-yard pass from Bobby Douglass (Mac Percival kick). Bears 21–20. Drive: Third quarter DET – Errol Mann 29-yard field goal. Lions 23–21. Drive: Fourth quarter CHI – Bobby Douglass 1-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Bears 28–23. Drive: Top passers CHI – Bobby Douglass – 15/21, 160 yards, 2 TD DET – Greg Landry – 11/26, 173 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers CHI – Don Shy – 18 rushes, 99 yards, TD DET – Steve Owens – 16 rushes, 81 yards Top receivers CHI – George Farmer – 6 receptions, 95 yards, TD DET – Altie Taylor – 4 receptions, 41 yards

Chuck Hughes became the first NFL player to die on the field during a game.

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	11	3	0	.786	5–1	9–2	245	139	W2
Detroit Lions	7	6	1	.538	2–3–1	3–6–1	341	286	L2
Chicago Bears	6	8	0	.429	2–4	5–6	185	276	L5
Green Bay Packers	4	8	2	.333	2–3–1	2–7–2	274	298	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.